00:00Let's start off with housing first, because obviously Zoran Mamdami made that a key pillar
00:04of his campaign. And I am curious that when you start to talk with business leaders and other
00:09folks who are going to have to, to some degree or another, work with this administration,
00:13are we all on the same page with regards to what needs to be done when it comes to addressing
00:16housing affordability? I think we're getting there. I think that the mayor-elect was brilliant
00:21in focusing on this issue and the campaign. It's clearly something that hit home.
00:26We're also a victim of our success. So EDC just came out with a report on the state of our economy,
00:32and there's a lot to like in there. What an all-time record for jobs, for workforce participation,
00:37people either employed or looking for work, at an all-time high for tax revenues. At the same time,
00:43we are competing very strongly against our competitor cities. We're gaining more population,
00:48particularly young people, 565,000 people, and young people, recent graduates, in the last three
00:54years. Our commercial leasing market is red-hot far beyond any of our competitor cities. So we are
01:02well-positioned. And the cost of housing is a factor of that. It's a factor of demand and supply. And we
01:09are not building enough supply. And I think that what you see is business leaders coming around to
01:15the fact that this issue of affordability is an issue of economic development and strengthening
01:23our economy. And we've just got to build more and make the city more affordable.
01:26There's two aspects to this. And I just want to touch on something you said about younger people
01:30coming in. Because it's one thing to attract people to the city. But something that has plagued New
01:33York City for quite some time, certainly prior to the pandemic, was you get a lot of young people
01:37who come here to start their careers. But once they start having families and other sort of
01:41obligations because of the affordability issues, they found out to New Jersey or Westchester or maybe
01:47leave the region altogether. Do you think some of the policies and more importantly, some of the work
01:51that you're going to do is going to actually help people stay here, make this their home long term?
01:57Absolutely. And we don't sugarcoat the challenges in our state of the economy report, right? We are,
02:03along with everybody else, suffering from some uncertainty in the national economy,
02:07tariffs, interest rates, federal cuts, and affordability issues associated with that.
02:14And at the local level, the point you are hitting on is the exact right one. So whether you're a
02:19working class New Yorker and have lived here your whole life, once you start to have a family,
02:24you are getting priced out at way too high numbers. If you're one of those young people who moves here
02:29for a job in tech or AI or life sciences, typically you're here eight to 10 years and you start to have
02:36kids, you're moving out. Where are they going? They're overwhelmingly going to the suburbs.
02:40We need to make sure we're not losing those folks. That's a real economic development,
02:45economic policy issue for the city. And the key to that is building more supply.
02:49Yeah. Do you hear that, Katie?
02:52She left. She's a former New Yorker.
02:54I moved across the river. I'm in Hoboken.
02:56It's the same story. I mean, people have maybe two kids in Hoboken and then they have to
03:01move to the proper suburbs to actually buy something that could support three or more.
03:06But I'm taking a look at your report and this line caught my eye that downside risks have emerged
03:11that could impact New York City's ability to attract population, talent, business, investment,
03:16and tourism. Talk us through some of the biggest risks there that could potentially impact those.
03:21Yeah. I mean, I think at a certain point, and I think this is why business leaders are aligned,
03:26not only with the current administration, but the incoming administration,
03:30that if we don't build the housing supply at a certain point, you know, it's going to hit a point,
03:34even though all the young people want to be here because the jobs are here,
03:37they love the quality of life, they love the diversity of New York,
03:40but it's just going to become too expensive and we're going to start to lose those young people
03:44to other commercial centers. That's a real issue for corporate New York.
03:48So we need to be laser focused on that. Look, I think there are clear concerns about federal cuts,
03:57NIH, NSF. One of the anchors of our economy are eds and meds, and we generate generally more research
04:06dollars and then try to commercialize that into businesses here than many other cities. And that
04:13is a real storm cloud on the horizon. I think tariffs as well, immigration as well. And you have seen a
04:19little bit of a slowdown in tourism, you know, particularly from Canada and Mexico, we've seen
04:25that. You know, look, even though what you see on the streets of New York is unlike what you see on
04:32any other major metropolitan city in the country and really in the globe, the dynamism, people still
04:38coming here for the shows, our hotel occupancy rate is incredibly high. Yeah, it was the tourism bit
04:43that caught my eye in particular, because we're having this conversation on December 11th and
04:48Christmas in New York City is certainly a special time. And I say that as someone who will die in New
04:53Jersey. But what are you seeing when it comes to domestic tourism? You talk about, you know,
04:58maybe those numbers coming down from Canada and Mexico, but when it comes to folks, you know,
05:02visiting from other parts of the country, do you have that data? Yeah, those numbers are strong.
05:06And, you know, it's, it's not just the rest of the country. I mean, remember,
05:09we live in the largest metro area anywhere. It's one of the largest economies in the world on its
05:15own when you count our suburbs, even the one you live in. And so there's enormous inbound for the
05:21shows on Broadway, for our cultural institutions. That is a key part of tourism for New York. And
05:27that remains strong. I am curious. I mean, how is kind of the retail sector holding up? And I,
05:33more importantly, like the restaurant sector, because I've heard a lot of anecdotes,
05:36not actual data, but anecdotes, that we are seeing maybe a little bit of struggles there.
05:41And I'm not sure what that's attributed to, whether it's just simply people not going out,
05:45or maybe people going out and spending less. Do you have any evidence here?
05:48We are, we are light years from where we were three or four years ago. Remember down,
05:52down a million jobs, people wondering whether people are going to ever come back to the offices.
05:56We now have the highest rate of return to office of any city in the country. That's not only important
06:02for the financial viability of those office buildings, but for all those small businesses,
06:06the restaurants, those numbers are solid, right? Small businesses are being created at a very fast
06:14clip in New York City. That is the backbone of our economy, even though we think of ourselves as a
06:17big corporate town. It's really the small businesses. I think retail in general is going
06:22through a metamorphosis. Last mile has changed so much. 80% of New Yorkers get a package every week
06:28at their home. You couldn't imagine that 10 years ago. Experiential retail, though, is really
06:35changing it. And it's not, it's not just the tourists, it's not just going to the shows,
06:39but it's going to an experience where you're interacting and you also have the opportunity
06:45to shop. Yeah. It reminds me of my niece came to town and she wanted to go to the Ralph Lauren store,
06:50not for the clothes, but for a cup of coffee and some, some other pastry. I don't know. All I know
06:58is she had me buy her a baseball cap that was $60, but there you go. You didn't need to know all that,
07:03but there you have it, Andrew. By the way, tell all those people who keep threatening to leave New
07:07York once the Ron gets, tell them to stop talking. Are they still making those threats? I think they're
07:13quieter now. The numbers tell it all. Yeah. And the economy is strong, but I'll just point out one
07:18other thing about the incoming mayor. That's an economic issue that he has rightly highlighted,
07:22which is childcare. And that is a key factor along with housing, childcare, energy costs
07:27are all hitting every New Yorker, whether you're low income, middle income. And we've got to do
07:33something about it. And you've heard the mayor and the governor talk positively about this. Again,
07:37for corporate New York, this is really important. Those workers who they want to stay here need to
07:42have childcare. We need to have everybody in the workforce.
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