On Tuesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u00a0trumpeted\u00a0in a tweet that New York City\u2019s storefront vacancies had hit a post-pandemic low.<\/p>\n
Turns out he popped the champagne cork too soon.<\/p>\n
City Comptroller Mark Levine released a\u00a0report\u00a0on Thursday that put the numbers in context \u2014 and showed the city lagging the nation.<\/p>\n
Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani speaks during Sunday Mass services at Fordham Manor Church, Bronx, New York, June 7, 2026. Kyle Mazza\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the local retail vacancy rate stood at 10.5%.<\/p>\n
As of April, it was 11% \u2014 about 15,700 empty storefronts.<\/p>\n
The national vacancy rate was 4.08% in 2024,\u00a0below\u00a0the 2019 rate of 4.37%.<\/p>\n
In other words, New York\u2019s storefronts still haven\u2019t recovered since COVID, while the rest of the country bounced back years ago.<\/p>\n
Worse, in many city neighborhoods at least 60% of storefronts vacant in early 2026 had already been empty for at least nine months \u2014 a sign of sluggish growth.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s labor market is also hurting, having added only about\u00a013,000\u00a0private-sector jobs in 2025, down from 95,000 in 2024.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s unemployment rate was\u00a05.6%\u00a0in April, up by 0.7% in a year \u2014 higher than the state\u2019s 4.6% unemployment and the nation\u2019s\u00a04.3%<\/a>.<\/p>\n Darkened storefronts represent wasted opportunities for those who could be reaching for the American Dream.<\/p>\n Yet Mamdani still doesn\u2019t have a comprehensive economic development strategy.<\/p>\n Final days for a discount menswear store in Chelsea in New York on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n In April, he\u00a0appointed\u00a0a new \u201cMom-and-Pop Czar\u201d to help small businesses start, stay open and grow.<\/p>\n The instinct is right, but hiring a bureaucrat to fight the bureaucracy is the wrong approach.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, nearly half a year into his term Mamdani still hasn\u2019t named a head of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the city\u2019s vehicle for attracting private investment and creating jobs.<\/p>\n Past mayors had little trouble filling the role, because its mandate was simple: grow the economy by getting businesses to locate here and expand.<\/p>\n It\u2019s far more complicated for Mamdani, whose leftist base has long decried EDC for being too pro-industry, especially when it offers tax incentives to lure businesses in.<\/p>\n A leader of the city\u2019s Democratic Socialists of America chapter recently\u00a0pushed for\u00a0an EDC \u201cthat isn\u2019t afraid to fight business leaders to get the best results for the working class.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s like putting out a welcome mat that reads: \u201cGo away.\u201d<\/p>\n Julie Su, Mamdani\u2019s deputy mayor for economic justice<\/a>,\u00a0suggests\u00a0that businesses will be attracted if the city provides \u201caffordable and reliable child care; reliable transit; things like groceries.\u201d<\/p>\n Translation: more government-funded programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n But if that\u2019s what it took to make an economy hum, the city\u2019s ever-increasing budget would have seen to it already.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Like it or not, businesses exist to make profits.<\/p>\n They need a healthy local market and a cost-effective regulatory environment.<\/p>\n A growing population makes for steady demand, encouraging long-term investments.<\/p>\n New York City\u2019s population, however, is shrinking: From 2020 to 2025, Gotham\u00a0lost\u00a0nearly a quarter-million residents.<\/p>\n With the median Manhattan rent now at about\u00a0$5,100<\/a>\u00a0and Brooklyn\u2019s at $4,100, New Yorkers have less disposable income \u2014 bad news for shopkeepers.<\/p>\n On top of that, the city\u2019s tax and regulatory environment<\/a> makes doing business extraordinarily difficult and expensive.<\/p>\n Startup costs in the city run double the national baseline, according to a May\u00a0report\u00a0by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u00a0trumpeted\u00a0in a tweet that New York City\u2019s storefront vacancies had hit a post-pandemic low. Kyle Mazza\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n One-third of new storefront operators wait at least six months to open and must navigate a thicket of up to 15 agencies.<\/p>\n Only 4% of the Chamber\u2019s surveyed storefront owners rated the government effective at supporting them; 68% rated it ineffective.<\/p>\n As businesses struggle to maintain profitability, Mamdani wants to impose onerous regulations like a\u00a0$30 minimum wage<\/a>\u00a0by 2030.<\/p>\n Not only would this make businesses hire fewer workers, it would encourage automation: AI and robotics make replacing people easier and cheaper than ever.<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s repeated calls to tax the highest-earning individuals and corporations won\u2019t spur job creation.<\/p>\n Yet no one more than Mamdani should want to see the private economy grow.<\/p>\n Someone has to pay for city government\u2019s exorbitant spending growth and the mayor\u2019s expensive campaign promises.<\/p>\n Mamdani could reverse population loss and restore confidence in the local economy by deregulating housing production, so that the private sector can build more without government subsidies. <\/p>\n But rather than clear the way for private building, his housing plan mostly doubles down on government-backed housing.<\/p>\n