The Sun Responds

Yesterday, Edward Glaeser, Harvard Professor and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute wrote a response to Tom Wolfe's NY Times Op-Ed in the New York Sun. Like Wolfe, Glaeser looked closely at the battle over 980 Madison Avenue and criticized the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Unlike Wolfe, however, Glaeser claimed that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has done too much to save landmarks. In fact, he believes that the Commission is a powerful, unchecked government agency which has blocked or altered too many development projects. This, he believes, has contributed to the city's affordable housing crisis and has negatively affected the economy.

What do you think? Is landmark preservation really responsible for the city's housing crisis? Does a handful of apartments for millionaires really help? If landmarks is so out of control why are great buildings still being demolished all around the city?

You can read the Sun piece here and then give us your thoughts by pressing the comments link, located at the end of this blog post.