COURIER L 20 IFE, SEPT. 25-OCT. 1, 2020
OPINION
Why President Trump has the right
to defund New York City
The tide and the tsunami
About six weeks ago, I
wrote about how “dumb
money” startup companies
hoping to “disrupt” urban
transportation, offi ce,
and housing markets often
end up wrecking parts of the
city and losing all their investors’
money. The column was
written in the aftermath of
two Revel scooter riders being
killed on streets, and the
company temporarily pulling
the scooters out of New York
City. Less than two months
later, the scooters are back.
This week, the CEO of
Sunset Park’s Industry City
announced that the alreadyhip
light industrial complex
was pulling back from its
controversial plan to seek a
rezoning to allow more business
and retail space. Industry
City had previously
pressed forward with their
efforts despite the opposition
of Carlos Menchaca,
the local city councilmember.
Only after ten state and
federal representatives from
Brooklyn announced their
opposition to the proposed
change did Industry City
withdraw.
But what is truly going to
disrupt the transportation,
office, and housing markets
of New York is making
the Industry City deal — or
even the planned and then
cancelled Amazon HQ2 in
Long Island City less than
two years ago — look like a
tiny tide next to a massive
tsunami.
For many years, the largest
and most dominant industries
in New York City
were referred to as FIRE: Finance,
Insurance, and Real
Estate. The biggest and most
prestigious chunk of the real
estate industry was Class
A commercial real estate,
which housed the offices of
the finance companies and
other companies that relied
upon them, and that highgrade
real estate frequently
absorbed the packaged investments
of those firms as
well.
The ground floors of
those large buildings were
frequently occupied by large
“flagship retail” destinations
that currently seem to
be dying out almost as fast
as large reptiles did 65 million
years ago.
New York City’s Class A
commercial real estate, previously
the most expensive
in the country, is not just
those stores and those offices
— they are also most of
the skyline of the city and a
keystone for much of its tax
base, what with all the very
rich people who used to work
in them and frequently made
their money investing in its
continued existence.
All of that is gone now
and the rich and powerful
seem inclined to never
go back to the office again.
I don’t blame them. But as
the large white-collar office
and the department store
are completely disrupted,
the demand for this space
will drop significantly, and
many of those buildings are
over-leveraged with debt.
Remember WeWork or The
Wing? On their way out. The
disruptors have become the
disrupted, and now our city’s
fi nances will be disrupted.
I was wrong to compare
Industry City to a tide earlier
and post-COVID, a tsunami.
Perhaps the commercial real
estate market in New York is
like the Titanic, and Industry
City was the deck chairs.
Brace yourselves: it’s going
to get darker and colder.
Nick Rizzo is a Democratic
District Leader representing
the 50th Assembly
District and a political consultant
who lives in Greenpoint.
Follow him on Twitter
@NickRizzo.
WORDS OF
RIZZDOM
Nick Rizzo
After telegraphing the
move a few weeks ago,
the Trump administration
is now moving forward
with plans to take away federal
funds from New York,
Portland, and Seattle for allowing
rioting and crime to
skyrocket.
These cities were declared
“anarchist jurisdictions” by
the Justice Department on
Sept. 20, setting the stage for
withholding federal tax dollars
from them.
We have all seen videos of
the rioting, looting, attacks
on federal buildings, harassment
of innocent outdoor diners
by not-so-peaceful protesters,
and attacks on police
with bricks, bats, and molotov
cocktails in these three
cities.
The skyrocketing rate of
shootings here in New York
is proof of City Hall being unwilling
to protect innocent
residents.
Rather than taking aggressive
actions to restore
law and order, Mayor Bill de
Blasio and the City Council
have made cuts to the NYPD
budget, disbanded the Street
Crime Unit which long helped
to get guns off our streets, and
emboldened criminals with
their anti-police rhetoric.
Is it really so wrong for
President Donald Trump to
want these cities to perform
their most basic function,
which is to provide for public
safety and protect innocent
Americans? As Attorney
General William Barr said,
“We cannot allow federal tax
dollars to be wasted when the
safety of the citizenry hangs
in the balance. It is my hope
that the cities…will reverse
course and become serious
about performing the basic
functions of government and
start protecting their own citizens.”
Most law abiding New
Yorkers, including the relatives
of those that have been
shot and killed over the past
few months, would probably
agree.
The move to strongly persuade
these cities to control
rioters and crime, as the
Trump administration is
clearly trying to do with this
action, could not come at a
better time.
It seems rabble-rousers are
just looking for any excuse to
protest and cause chaos these
days. For example, almost 100
people calling for the abolishment
of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement were
recently taken in on charges
of disorderly conduct and resisting
arrest in Manhattan.
With President Trump announcing
that he will make a
nomination to replace Ruth
Bader Ginsberg on the Supreme
Court and the Senate
set to move forward with a
confi rmation, does anyone
doubt this will be the latest
reason for the left-wing mobs
to wreak havoc on our cities?
President Trump has said
he offered federal law enforcement
assistance to New
York to quell the violence.
Mayor de Blasio and Governor
Cuomo have allegedly refused
it.
Therefore, stronger efforts
are needed to persuade them
to perform their most basic
function to maintain public
order and safety. For the sake
of the additional lives that
surely will be lost with the
status quo, let’s hope these cities
fi nally get the message.
Bob Capano has worked
for Brooklyn Republican and
Democrat elected officials,
and has been an adjunct political
science professor for
over 15 years. Follow him on
twitter @bobcapano.
THE RIGHT
VIEW
Bob Capano