In recent months, New York's political leadership has begun to plan for a future in which workers do not entirely return to their Midtown or downtown offices. This includes Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams, whose “New” New York report, released on Dec. 15, concluded that “hybrid is here to stay.”
But this acknowledgement feeds into a growing concern that the city is entering uncharted territory and is now at risk of what some scholars refer to, somewhat apocalyptically, as a "doom loop."
"The worry is that the enormous decline in people coming to the office may soon create a big shortfall in property tax revenue,” says Jonathan Bowles, the executive director of Center for an Urban Future, “and that this will necessitate spending cuts in the very things that make New York so appealing, from the transit system and culture to sanitation and safety. And if that happens, that's not good news for New York.”