Vacant Stores, $30 Wages, and the Battle for New York’s Future
In this week’s issue: Curtis Sliwa’s unlikely power, the six ballot questions that could reshape city governance, the slow unraveling of Herald Square, why a $30 wage might hurt restaurant workers, and what charter schools can teach Albany.
Campaign Update
Why Curtis Sliwa is the Most Important Man in New York
Curtis Sliwa won’t be the next mayor of New York—but he may decide who is.
Zohran Mamdani is leading comfortably in the polls, with Andrew Cuomo closing the gap only if Sliwa drops out. As long as the Guardian Angels founder stays in, Mamdani wins.
That reality has turned Sliwa’s candidacy into the race’s most consequential variable—and cost him some of his biggest allies, from John Catsimatidis to the New York Post. Yet Sliwa refuses to budge.
MI’s John Ketcham looks at how Sliwa’s stubbornness could shape the outcome—and his own legacy.
Once a ‘Snake and a Liar’ to Adams, Cuomo Now Has His Support (The City)
I wrote earlier this week about how Mamdani and Cuomo are both invoking Fiorello La Guardia, but neither of them will have his secret weapon: Roosevelt’s New Deal money.
Oct. 25: The last day to register to vote in person or online.
Oct. 25 to Nov. 2: Early voting.
Nov. 4: Election Day.
Ballot Questions Explained
New Yorkers will see six proposals on this year’s ballot. Our recommendation is to support all of them.
The first fixes a long-standing legal issue at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex upstate and protects more forest land.
Proposals 2, 3, and 4 all make it easier to build more housing in the city by speeding up approvals and reducing the City Council’s power to block projects.
Proposal 5 would finally bring the city’s old paper maps online, and Proposal 6 would move local elections to the same years as presidential ones, which would likely double turnout and make city elections fairer and cheaper (only if a state constitutional amendment also passes, however).
Here’s why we support them.
Spotlight on Herald Square
On 34th Street, empty storefronts line the blocks between Fifth and Seventh Avenues. Vacancies have reached nearly 40 percent, the highest in Manhattan. Longtime landlords are facing foreclosures, court orders, and tax disputes as rents fall and stores sit dark.
The corridor built for foot traffic is struggling in an era of online shopping and fewer commuters. Now, as the city debates turning the stretch into a busway (subject to federal support), can Herald Square reinvent itself? Crain’s takes a closer look.
Why “$30 by ‘30” Wage Plan Could Leave Servers with Less
Zohran Mamdani has made food central to his politics, using New York’s restaurants and street vendors to sell voters on a more generous city. But his “$30 by ’30” minimum‑wage plan, paired with the progressive crusade to end the tipped‑wage system, could leave the very industry that sustains that vision struggling to make ends meet. MI’s Jarrett Dieterle takes a closer look.
Lessons From Charter Schools
If student learning is to improve in New York State, the Board of Regents needs to change course, former member of the Massachusetts Board of Education Roberta Rubel Schaefer writes in City Journal. Why is it so complicated?
The Regents should follow the charters’ lead and adopt proven teaching methods in traditional academic subjects. Teachers and schools should be held accountable for enabling students to learn demanding curricula. And schools must hold parents and students responsible for attending regularly, meeting high expectations, completing homework assignments on time, and behaving properly in school.
Extra! Extra!
NYC School Bus Companies Threaten Shutdown Next Week Over Contract Fight (Chalkbeat)
New Yorkers Don’t Care if Buses Are Free. They Want Transit That Works (City Journal)
What Would It Mean for New York City If Trump Cuts Its Federal Funds? The city’s budget for fiscal year 2026 includes more than $7 billion in federal funds. (The City)
‘Subway Builder’ Video Game lets you design your own subway system in 26 U.S. cities. Could it lead to better transit?
The Bigger Apple Podcast
The Bigger Apple Podcast is here — a new weekly show from the Manhattan Institute exploring how New York works (and doesn’t). In our first episode, hosts Nicole Gelinas and I dove into the city’s biggest issue: public safety, what’s changed since 2020, and what the next mayor will need to fix.
Substack Recommendation
For a more balanced understanding of NYC schools, you may want to supplement Chalkbeat with Danyela Souza Egorov’s Substack Families for New York. Danyela is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and her recent writing focuses on school choice and policy transparency in the NYC education system.
MI & Reason Event
Please join the Manhattan Institute and Reason for a co-hosted screening of the new mini documentary “The Socialist Housing Plan for New York.” Following the screening, Reason Editor at Large Nick Gillespie will host a panel discussion with producer Justin Zuckerman, Manhattan Institute Director of Cities John Ketcham, and American Enterprise Institute’s Howard Husock.
The film features profiles of tenants, landlords, a private investigator, and the Harvard economist Edward Glaeser. New York’s housing debate too often skips the people living it. This short documentary blends human stories with hard numbers to explore how rent control shapes neighborhoods, incentives, and opportunity.
Village Underground (130 West 3rd Street New York, NY 10012), Oct 29 at 6:00 PM