Mayor-Elect's Policy & Business Community's Concerns - The business community initially adopted a "wait and see" approach towards the new mayor, focusing on how to ensure the city thrives under his leadership [1][2] - The mayor-elect aims to make the city more affordable through measures like lower grocery prices, universal child care, free buses, and rent freezes [2] - Concerns arise that achieving affordability by raising taxes could worsen the crisis, as businesses pass costs to consumers [3] - The mayor-elect's initial focus on efficient government in his acceptance speech was encouraging to the business sector [4] Talent Attraction & Cost Competitiveness - The ability to attract top talent to New York City is crucial, with concerns about businesses and wealthy individuals potentially relocating [5] - New York needs to demonstrate it's a reasonable cost place to do business and live, as other states and countries compete for jobs and tax dollars [6] - The premium for talent in the financial industry in New York is over 20% higher compared to places like Tennessee, Florida, or Texas [6] Housing Affordability & Real Estate - The mayor-elect pledged to make New York City more affordable, particularly regarding housing, including a promise to freeze rent for 2 million New Yorkers in rent-stabilized apartments [7] - Real estate taxes account for 30% of the rent, leading to discussions on property tax reform to help rent-stabilized units, of which there are over 1 million in New York City [8] - Rent control policies could deter private capital from investing in new housing, while New York needs hundreds of thousands of new housing units [11] - Converting underused office buildings to residential is seen as a way to lower housing prices [12] Office-to-Residential Conversions - As of May, the pipeline of office-to-residential conversions totals 81 million square feet, up from 71 million square feet just months ago [17] - An incentive called 467M offers developers a tax break for 30 years for starting office-to-residential conversions, with projects breaking ground by mid-2026 [18] - Approximately 13 million square feet of office buildings in New York are currently being converted to residential due to this rule and office oversupply [19] Housing Supply & Construction - New York City needs to build more housing to accommodate its growing population and job market [22] - The challenges include the high cost of acquiring land and buildings, expensive construction, and complex regulations [23] - Cutting the amount of time it takes to build housing is a top priority, requiring city administration to empower departments to make decisions and issue permits quickly [25]