Do you ever get the feeling that we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the consequences of horrifically bad pandemic response policies? Like, we're only just beginning to realize the miserable effects of all of those dumb rules and laws politicians put in place because they were hysterically afraid of the coronavirus?

Cause I do:

Empty office buildings have set New York on an "urban doom loop" that will destroy the quality of life in the city and drive residents out.

That is the conclusion of a team of economists from NYU Stern Business School, Columbia Business School and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

It turns out that few people want to come back to the office after learning the joys of at-home work. Office space occupancy in the city went from 90% pre-pandemic to 10% at its nadir — and now it's back up a bit, but still under 50%.

Those numbers are armageddon, for obvious reasons. Businesses aren't renewing their leases for expensive offices where fewer than half of the employees show up. Buildings that were supposed to be at near-total occupancy are sitting empty. Revenue is not coming in. Bills aren't getting paid.

At this point "the contractual occupancy rate in Manhattan is at a 30-year low of 77.8% in the fourth quarter of 2022." Of course, the plummeting rates mean less tax revenue for the city. That means fewer services, higher taxes, less law enforcement, more crime, more drugs, more decay.

Those pandemic policies were probably a really, really, really bad idea. Call me crazy.