In This Week’s Edition:

Election night delivered a paradox. While headlines focused on Zohran Mamdani’s upset mayoral victory and the city’s political direction, developers quietly scored a major win.

Three ballot measures passed to streamline housing approvals, modernize land-use reviews, and expand by-right conversions. A fourth will create a citywide housing-supply task force, and a fifth moves local elections to even-numbered years to increase participation.

Even as politics shifted left, policy moved toward pragmatism.

Yet, leading up to the election this week, a familiar refrain had resurfaced: the wealthy will flee. This was a myth and not rooted in the realities of the market. This isn’t about the new administration. It’s about rejecting a myth built on anecdote and fear rather than fact.

Leading up to the election, a Westchester colleague, a top broker in the area, told a group of us "my business is booming with New Yorkers wanting to move out of the city." I was genuinely curious and dug deep: who is moving? After a few questions, it turned out that her "booming business" consisted of a *single* family who had for months been searching for a home outside the city. It was clearly more wishful thinking than the reality!

A month before the election, I organized a panel discussion with a few top NYC brokers and a top attorney, a partner in one of the largest and most established law firms in the city. He had polled all attorneys at the firm to understand how many of the deals were being affected, or derailed, because of the "Mamdani effect." He said the result: less than 1%!

My team has not had a single client ask to sell because of the new Mayor, nor has a single buyer client paused their search.

Now let's look at the data & the story it actually tells.

The so-called “Mamdani effect” ignores every meaningful indicator:

The alarmist narrative instead relies on selective polling, social-media hyperbole, and political theater. In reality, wealthy New Yorkers aren’t fleeing—they’re transacting, investing, and adapting within a city that remains the global capital of opportunity, liquidity, and cultural magnetism.

Far from panic, what I see daily is confidence. The affluent continue to buy, build, and reinvest, quietly affirming what the data keeps proving: Manhattan doesn’t empty out; it recalibrates, reinvents, and returns stronger every cycle.

I remember vividly during COVID, when pundits declared the “death of New York.” I pushed back immediately. Yes, some New Yorkers moved to the suburbs, but most were families already on the fence, making a transition they had long planned. Many others bought second homes, not replacements. Within months, many were back, drawn by the energy, the culture, and the very sense of belonging that makes this city incomparable. The same dynamic is unfolding now.

Every few years, a new political headline triggers a wave of panic through real estate circles. And every time, New York proves the doomsayers wrong.

My role isn’t to debate politics. It’s to interpret what policies and economic shifts actually mean for the market, and more often than not, they don’t mean what people assume.

The current “flight” narrative ignores the fundamentals: Manhattan’s wealth base, infrastructure, and global desirability remain intact, and in many ways stronger than ever.

Before we sound the alarm over another supposed “turning point,” let’s zoom out. New York has outperformed every “NYC is over” prediction in modern memory:

Time and again, this city refuses to follow the panic narrative.

The lesson? Markets move on fundamentals, not fear. And moments like this when the noise is loud and confidence wavers are often when the best opportunities emerge.

If history is any guide, the same resilience that has defined New York through every cycle will define it again. Opportunity rarely announces itself calmly, it hides inside the panic.

For those wondering whether to act or wait, history keeps offering the same answer: bet on New York before the next rebound.

Elections may shift rhetoric, but the fundamentals of this city, its talent, resilience, and sheer magnetism, remain unchanged.

Sotheby’s officially opened its doors yesterday in the landmark Breuer Building, a stunning moment for Manhattan’s cultural and commercial rhythm. Designed by architect Marcel Breuer in 1966 and previously home to the Whitney Museum of American Art, the space carries iconic weight.

Sotheby’s investment in this Upper East Side address signals more than a relocation, it marks a renewed commitment to New York’s art-market gravity and to the city’s elite real-estate and cultural nexus. According to Sotheby’s CEO Charles F. Stewart, the move is part of a “reawakening” of the space, where museum-calibre architecture meets the high-stakes auction world.

Inside, the building blends preservation and modern functionality: the building’s signature bluestone floors, bush-hammered concrete walls and trapezoidal windows remain, while updates such as a dedicated art-freight elevator, upgraded lighting, and modular auction-space galleries bring it fully into the 21st century.

For Manhattan’s intertwined worlds of art and luxury real estate, the significance is twofold: a globally visible flagship for Sotheby’s, and a reaffirmation that Madison Avenue and the Upper East Side remain not just relevant but central to the world’s cultural and investment circuits.

Change is coming to East 79th Street. Six buildings along Lexington Avenue, from 150 to 154 East 79th Street and 1131 to 1135 Lexington Avenue, are slated for demolition, paving the way for a new luxury condominium from Chinese developer Zhang Xin, founder of Closer Properties.

Xin, whose portfolio spans over $5 billion in assets, acquired the prime Upper East Side parcels for a combined $76 million. The project, her firm’s first ground-up development in New York City, will introduce an amenity-rich, boutique-scale condominium with ground-floor retail under the address 150 East 79th Street.

Demolition is expected to begin in early 2026, with the design still under wraps. Known globally for shaping skylines through SOHO China, including collaborations with architects like Zaha Hadid and Kengo Kuma, Xin is now bringing her distinctive, design-forward vision to one of Manhattan’s most established neighborhoods.

As new development sites become increasingly rare on the Upper East Side, this marks one of the most notable ground-up projects in recent years, signaling continued confidence in boutique luxury living, even amid tighter supply and elevated rates.

New York thrives on its contradictions — energy and stillness, density and openness, chaos and calm. It’s what makes this city unlike anywhere else. Amid its towers and transit lines, what often feels most rare, and most human, is open space.

For generations, New Yorkers have found refuge in the city’s green pockets — parks, community gardens, and riverfronts that serve as our collective backyard. They are places of joy and reinvention, where quinceañeras, yoga classes, and quiet lunches coexist alongside city sounds. In a place where private gardens are scarce, these shared landscapes hold extraordinary value.

But as New York faces its most acute housing shortage in nearly 60 years, the tension between preservation and progress is growing sharper. Every open plot is both possibility and loss — a chance to create homes, or a space that reminds us to breathe. From Randall’s Island to Queens church lots, from community gardens to waterfront parks, the city continues to wrestle with how to balance necessity and nature.

Beyond their beauty, these green spaces serve essential roles — cooling our neighborhoods, filtering air, and protecting the city from floods. They are also stages for everyday life: art performances, weekend soccer, morning stretches, and quiet moments that connect us back to one another.

New York’s greatest strength has always been its capacity for reinvention. As new developments rise, perhaps the challenge isn’t choosing between growth and green space, but learning how to make both thrive together.

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