By George! Can a Land Value Tax Work in Gotham? - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr and Ronan C. Lyons October 22, 2025 The citizens of New York City are gearing up to pick a new mayor. On one side stands a candidate riding a wave of anger among those struggling to pay ...

Gotham’s current real estate tax system is widely considered unfair and inefficient. Can the City switch to a Land Value Tax to increase fairness and to stimulate economic growth? Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post with @ronanlyons.bsky.social
buildingtheskyline.org/lvt-nyc/

Public Housing: A View From the 21st Century - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr September 29, 2025 Public housing remains a controversial subject. On the one hand, America’s government-owned and operated housing stock is widely viewed as worse than the privately own...

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post: A review of recent writings and scholarship on America's 20th century experiment with Public Housing.

buildingtheskyline.org/public-housi...

Building the Skyline Is Decay Contagious? Building Code Violations across New York City - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr August 13, 2025 Say an apartment building begins to decay visibly, does it increase the likelihood that buildings around it will also decay? We know that tough economic conditions can im...

Check out my latest #Skynomics blog post, "Is Decay Contagious? Building Code Violations across New York City"

Gotham's low-income housing stock is decaying. In this post, I look at how much of it being driven by a possible "contagion effect"
buildingtheskyline.org/contagious-d...

The Power Author: Robert Caro, Robert Moses, and the “Fall” of New York - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr August 5, 2024 A few weeks ago, I was walking in Central Park on the Upper West Side. As I strolled past some benches near the Diana Ross Playground, I saw a young man, likely in his lat...

From the #Skynomics Blog archives (1 year ago). My thoughts on Robert Caro's "The Power Broker" at 50 and #RobertMoses.
buildingtheskyline.org/caro-and-mos...

Why Has Gotham Been in a “Housing Emergency” for 80 Years? (Part I) - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr January 22, 2025 If you google the definition of “emergency,” the search engine provides an answer from the Oxford Languages Dictionary: “a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situa...

Why has Gotham been in a housing emergency for 80 years? Read my #Skynomics Blog post (from Jan.)
buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-housing-...

Harming Tenants: The Impact of the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act on New York’s Affordable Housing - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr June 30, 2025 What is the best way to keep housing affordable? Well, to the former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (2014-2021), the obvious answer was to restrict landlords’ ability t...

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post. The 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) was supposed to help #NYC tenants. But it's causing the decline of Gotham’s low-income housing. #unintendedconsequences
buildingtheskyline.org/hstpa-mainta...

My #Skynomics Blog post on the #economics of #skyscrapers (from 6/23)

buildingtheskyline.org/long-live-th...

Why Has Gotham Been in a “Housing Emergency” for 80 Years? (Part II) - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr March 6, 2025 Note: This post is the second of two on the drivers of Gotham’s historically low vacancy rates. You can read Part I here. New York’s rental housing vacancy rate is 1.4%—the...

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post: "Why Has #Gotham Been in a " #Housing Emergency” for 80 Years? (Part II)"--I do a deep dive into the data to answer the question....
buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-housing-...

Why Has Gotham Been in a “Housing Emergency” for 80 Years? (Part I) - Skynomics Blog New York City has been in a "housing emergency" for over 80 years. This blog post discusses why this has been the case.

My new #Skynomics Blog post. Webster defines "emergency" as “an unforeseen combination of circumstances...that calls for immediate action.” Yet for 80 yrs NYC is in a "housing emergency" How is it possible to have an 80-yr streak of "unforeseen" circumstances?
buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-housing-...

Why Has Gotham Been in a “Housing Emergency” for 80 Years? (Part I) - Skynomics Blog New York City has been in a "housing emergency" for over 80 years. This blog post discusses why this has been the case.

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post, "Why Has #Gotham Been in a “#Housing Emergency” for 80 Years? (Part I)"
buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-housing-...

Skyscrapers and Global Connectivity: Which Causes Which? - Skynomics Blog Do skyscrapers improve a city's global connectivity or does connectivity drive skyscraper construction? This blog post discusses the link.

From the #Skynomics Blog archives
buildingtheskyline.org/skyscrapers-...

Saint Jane and the Moses Myth: Revisiting the Robert Moses-Jane Jacobs Debate - Skynomics Blog This posts revisits the debate about Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs in New York City, and argues that we need to move on in the 21st century.

From the #Skynomics blog archives
buildingtheskyline.org/moses-jacobs...

To Boldly House Where no Housing has Gone Before (Part II): Land Reclamation and World History - Skynomics Blog This post reveals the hidden history of how urban land reclamation has influenced the rise and fall of the world's most powerful empires.

#Skynomics Blog post from Sept.
Global history might have well been very different with urban land reclamation.
buildingtheskyline.org/reclamation-2/

The Power Author: Robert Caro, Robert Moses, and the “Fall” of New York - Skynomics Blog Robert Caro’s version of Robert Moses in "The Power Broker" has scared New Yorkers for five decades. It’s time to vanquish the ghost of Moses.

As 2024 comes to a close, here are highlights from my #Skynomics Blog posts from the year -- and which aim to give us some thoughts for 2025.

1) It’s time to vanquish the ghost of Robert Moses.

buildingtheskyline.org/caro-and-mos... 1/3

Welcome to the FAR Dome: By How Much is Gotham Allowed to Grow? - Building the Skyline In 1961, NYC capped its maximum building space. This post discusses how this "dome" has changed and if it prevents new affordable housing.

From the #Skynomics Blog archives (Jan. 2022):
"Welcome to the #FAR Dome: By How Much is #Gotham Allowed to Grow?"

This post reviews how the maximum Floor Area Ratios (FARs) have changed in the last six decades.
buildingtheskyline.org/floor-area-r...

Ugly Architecture: 130 Years of Manhattan Skyscraper Complaints Critics of Manhattan's new supertall buildings have a laundry list of complaints; one is that they are ugly and out of scale with their surroundings. Today’s beefs continue a 130-year tradition of gro...

From the #Skynomics Blog archives (May 2018):
"Ugly #Architecture: 130 Years of #Manhattan #Skyscraper Complaints"

buildingtheskyline.org/ugly-archite...

The Power Author: Robert Caro, Robert Moses, and the “Fall” of New York - Skynomics Blog Robert Caro’s version of Robert Moses in "The Power Broker" has scared New Yorkers for five decades. It’s time to vanquish the ghost of Moses.

My #Skynomics Blog post from August.
"Robert Caro’s legacy is not just that he provided a chronicle of 20th-century New York’s most important public figure but has also affected the course of public policy."
buildingtheskyline.org/caro-and-mos...

The Housing Twenties: New York’s Biggest Building Boom and Its Lessons for Today - Skynomics Blog This blog post discusses New York's housing boom in the Roaring Twenties, which offers lessons for affordability today.

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post.
1921 to 1929 was the greatest #housing boom in #NYC history. It was a time of housing plenty. However, today is a time of housing scarcity. What can we learn from the Roaring Twenties?
buildingtheskyline.org/housing-twen...

To Boldly House Where no Housing has Gone Before (Part II): Land Reclamation and World History - Skynomics Blog This post reveals the hidden history of how urban land reclamation has influenced the rise and fall of the world's most powerful empires.

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post: "To Boldly House Where no Housing has Gone Before (Part II): Land Reclamation and World History" on how land reclamation is connected to and connects world history.
buildingtheskyline.org/reclamation-2/

The #EconSky should have been called #Skynomics
idk

The Power Author: Robert Caro, Robert Moses, and the “Fall” of New York - Skynomics Blog Robert Caro’s version of Robert Moses in the "Power Broker" has scared New York for five decades. It’s time to vanquish the ghost of Moses

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post.
Robert Moses held power in Gotham for three decades. Robert Caro’s version of Moses in "The Power Broker" has been in power for five decades. It’s time to vanquish the ghost of Moses.
buildingtheskyline.org/caro-and-mos...

To Boldly House Where no Housing has Gone Before (Part I): New York’s Land Reclamation History - Skynomics Blog This post--focusing on New York City--is Part I of a series on the past, present, and future of urban land reclamation.

In 2022, I proposed expanding #Manhattan 1760 acres to protect it from storm surges & to build 180,000 housing units. Many criticized it as radical. But creating new land has been part of NY's history since day 1. My #Skynomics Blog reviews the history.
buildingtheskyline.org/reclamation-1/

The Jenney Myth: How the Home Insurance Building Falsely Became the “First Skyscraper” (Part II) - Skynomics Blog This blog post documents why William Le Baron Jenney falsely convinced the world that his Home Insurance Building was the first skyscraper.

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post--Part II in the series on the greatest story ever sold--Why William Le Baron Jenney falsely convinced the world that the Home Insurance Building was the "first skyscraper." #MythBusting #History #Chicago #skyscrapers
buildingtheskyline.org/jenney-myth-2/

Busting Skyscraper Myths - Building the Skyline Skyscrapers are often shrouded by myths and misconceptions. This post busts several of those myths--both historical and in the present day.

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post. #Skyscrapers are so big—and tall—so they are shrouded in myth, mystery, and controversy. Based on my deep dives into the data, this post busts myths--historical and present--about tall buildings.
buildingtheskyline.org/busting-skys...

Why Do We Build Cities in the Sky? - Skynomics Blog This blog post previews my forthcoming book, "Cities in the Sky: The Quest to Build the World's Tallest Skyscrapers" from Scribner Books.

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post which previews my forthcoming #CitiesintheSkyBook and why we build upward. From @scribnerbooks.bsky.social
buildingtheskyline.org/cities-in-th...

How Gotham Got Its Grid (Part IV): Green and Greensward - Skynomics Blog This blog post--4th in a series on the 1811 Manhattan grid plan--details how changes to the plan were made in the 19th century.

Check out my new #Skynomics Blog post on the #Manhattan #Gridplan of 1811. One of the great ironies of the plan was that it led to the creation of #CentralPark
buildingtheskyline.org/grid-plan-4/

How Gotham Got Its Grid (Part III): The Great Unfurling - Skynomics Blog This post--part III in a series--discusses how New York implemented its grid plan after it was enacted in 1811.

Just posted: Part 3 of my #Skynomics Blog series on the #Manhattan #Gridplan
How did #NYC implement its 1811 Grid Plan? Were there changes to the original maps? What's the biggest irony of the grid plan? Read on....
buildingtheskyline.org/grid-plan-3/

The Plot Thickens (Part II): Sticky Gotham - Skynomics Blog This post reviews why some New York City blocks have generated a lot of new housing, while others are stuck at their current levels.

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post: "The Plot Thickens (Part II): Sticky Gotham," which reviews why some #NewYorkCity blocks have generated a lot of new housing, while others are stuck at their current levels.
buildingtheskyline.org/land-values-2/

The Plot Thickens (Part I): Do High Land Values Reduce Housing Affordability? - Skynomics Blog This post discusses the connection between land values and housing affordability. High land values are a symptom of too little construction

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post: "The Plot Thickens (Part I): Do High Land Values Reduce Housing Affordability?" In the #AffordableHousing debate, it’s easy to blame the high cost of land, but high land prices are a symptom not the cause.
buildingtheskyline.org/land-values-1/

Our Economic Future (Part I): How Come We’re Not Getting Happier? - Skynomics Blog This blog post reviews why Americans are not getting happier in the 21st century. Technological change has made our lives more uncertain.

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post. Economic growth was supposed to bring the good life, but why are we not getting happier?
buildingtheskyline.org/economic-fut...