The Cultural Upside of a Downturn

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You’ve probably heard something about New York City’s alleged descent into the “urban doom loop” — possibly from the New York Times, possibly from your Fox News-loving aunt who thinks you’re going to get shot on your way to dinner. The basic premise, hypothesized in 2022 by Columbia professor Stijn Van Nieuwerbergh, is this: The postpandemic trend of people working from home would leave office buildings empty, and moneyed commuters would relocate to the suburbs (non-white-collar workers have no say in this cataclysm, natch). As a result, property values on office buildings will plummet, property taxes will decrease, the City’s already cash-strapped bureaucracy will be further diminished, public services will decline, and NYC will devolve into a crime-ridden cesspool. The first part of Van Nieuwerbergh’s theory, so far, has been proven correct. According to a recent report by the investment management company Colliers, 18.1% of New York office space was vacant in the first quarter of 20

If the city gets sucked into a doom loop, it could be a boon to the arts. Over the course of the 1960s, SoHo slowly became an avant-garde arts district, with galleries, studios, music venues and experimental theaters. You've probably heard something about New York City's alleged descent into the "urban doom loop" — possibly from the New York Times , possibly from your Fox News -loving aunt who thinks you're going to get shot on your way to dinner. The basic premise, hypothesized in 2022 by Columbia professor Stijn Van Nieuwerbergh , is this: The postpandemic trend of people working from home w

The Cultural Upside of a Downturn

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