Manhattan's Billionaires Row¶

The existence of Manhattan's Billionaires Row is a stark repudiation of YIMBYism. Developers bought up plots of land, left much of the plot undeveloped, and built ultra-tall skyscrapers in the middle to ensure a good view. And the ultra-rich who buy units don't even live in them. The existence of these properties, held by global billionaires as speculative wealth and tax shelters, has not "freed up market space" for lower-income housing. The exact opposite has occurred. Real estate prices have risen in direct response to this deliberate scam. Market forces do not ever push for greater accessibility. The physics of market pricing work exclusively on one principle: maximize profit. In the case of real estate, there is perceived profit to be had in hoarding, but not using. Investing millions in luxury apartments is portrayed by investment firms as the most stable way to increase wealth long-term: the property will always be there, and eventually, will spike and be able to be sold for massive gains. So they buy and they hold. At the top of the heap of this hoarding, the investment itself is also used for money laundering, tax evasion, and capital flight. Billions of dollars-worth of fake value, completely disengaged from even this "legitimate" housing market. That is the core problem with YIMBYism. The honest actors are imagining that since developers are trying to make profit, they must surely do The Thing that you do to make profit on the market, which is to offer your product to the public and find the optimal exchange price. But the profit isn't coming from free exchange. Quite the opposite: the demand for these properties from the ultra-rich comes directly from the very nature of their inaccessibility.

The same is true at a smaller scale for other developments across the country and the world. That is the secret of the real estate game. Over the past several decades, developers, investment firms, and private mega-millionaires have realigned the concept of "housing" into a giant shell game with no tether to the concept of the fundamental human need for shelter. Communists understand this concept.

We don't disagree with "build affordable housing." We scoff at the naivety of thinking an entity with the capital to build would willingly sacrifice the windfall of scam real estate in favor of the pennies on the dollar of affordable housing.