There are three kinds of cities.
The first kind is built for its citizens and funded primarily by the people and industries that thrive there: Boston. Houston. Austin. San Francisco.
The second kind is built for its citizens but largely subsidized by visitors: Miami. Orlando. Las Vegas.
And then there’s the rare third type. The city that threads the needle. A city funded by its residents and its visitors: New York. Los Angeles.
New York has always been a city with swagger. A city that never had to beg. A city that attracted dreamers and tourists without discounts, gimmicks, or incentives. A magnet.
If you asked me what ONE move a Mayor could make to quietly tank the city, I’d say this:
“Threaten a double digit real estate tax increase in a city that already feels unaffordable.”
If you implement it, you drive out the very residents you claim to protect.
If you threaten it and don’t implement it, you erode credibility and trust. Either way, you weaken it.
New York has always succeeded because it balanced the equation. It welcomed the dreamer and charged the visitor. It created opportunity and exported culture. It didn’t apologize for its ambition.
Other cities work hard to lure residents. Some go to extreme lengths. Florida is now advancing a constitutional amendment that would eliminate most non-school property taxes on homesteaded primary residences. If approved by voters, it would dramatically reduce the tax burden for full time homeowners beginning in 2027.
That’s not swagger. That’s incentive.
You don’t hear people move to Miami because of its museums or architectural legacy. They move because the math works in their favor.
New York doesn’t win on math. It wins on gravity. But gravity weakens when the cost of staying begins to feel punitive.
We would be better served charging a premium to the people who visit our city than threatening the people who build their lives here. Hotels, tourism, short-term stays are elastic revenue. Residents are not. And if you start to penalize them, they will have no other choice than to leave.
For decades, New York could afford to be cocky. The assumption was that dreamers would always absorb the cost. That assumption is no longer safe.
If we want to remain the city that threads the needle — the city that attracts both ambition and admiration — we need to reward permanence and price transience.
Protect the resident.
Charge the visitor.
Let’s do this!
Shaun