Manhattan Institute Proposes 50 Practical Solutions for New York City

New York City faces persistent challenges in areas like housing, education, and public safety, issues that a new Manhattan Institute paper argues should be addressed regardless of political affiliation. The paper, titled "A Better Everyday Life in New York: 50 Practical Ideas to Renew NYC’s Promise of Opportunity," suggests that focusing on tangible improvements can build trust in governance.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani himself has observed that "quality of life has come to be seen as somehow a right-wing concern," along with efficiency and rooting out waste. The paper contends that the left should not cede these concerns to political opponents, posing the question, "If politics cannot deliver on the block where you live, why would you trust it to deliver anywhere in your city?"

The city grapples with record-high rents, substantial child care costs, and underperforming schools, despite high per-pupil spending. While murders and shootings have declined to record lows, felony assaults remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels. Subway homicides have also seen a notable increase compared to historical averages.

The Manhattan Institute paper offers specific proposals to tackle these issues:

Housing Affordability

To address the estimated 57,000 vacant rent-regulated apartments, the city should collaborate with Albany to allow rents to increase sufficiently for rehabilitation. This, the paper suggests, could add units to the market without public subsidies.

Education and Child Care

For schools, accountability for chronic absenteeism is proposed, with the Department of Education required to intervene early when students fall behind. The paper also calls for more frequent reporting of absenteeism data, similar to neighboring states. Regarding child care, the administration's plan should modernize building requirements and streamline approval for qualified home-based providers.

Public Services and Safety

Instead of free public transit, the paper recommends increasing service on crowded routes and speeding up trips. To potentially lower grocery prices, zoning limits that restrict supermarkets in manufacturing districts could be lifted. The Office of Technology and Innovation could leverage data from 311 complaints, police incidents, and transit ridership to preemptively address potential disorder. On the streets and subways, consistent enforcement, starting with fare evasion, is emphasized as crucial for restoring certainty in penalties.

Environmental Policy and Budget

The paper advocates for the repeal of Local Law 97, the city's carbon-reduction law for large buildings, arguing it increases housing costs with negligible global impact and that New York already has low per-capita carbon emissions. It also suggests that instead of raising taxes to close a projected budget gap, the city should cut less essential spending and implement a temporary hiring freeze for non-uniformed employees.

The authors, John Ketcham and Sean Speer, note that Mamdani owes less to traditional interests that often impede change, suggesting he is freer to pursue reforms. The paper concludes by stating that the city's future will be judged by its results, block by block, based on the mayor's own stated standard.