I live in the area. West Village is quickly becoming a ghost town. I can't believe these landlords can afford to sit on empty lots for months and years. Only we

I live in the area. West Village is quickly becoming a ghost town. I can't believe these landlords can afford to sit on empty lots for months and years. Only well financed businesses can afford to move in, which feeds into the cycle of boring hyper expensive restaurants. Also, landlords can't take all the blame since you can't have every business be a restaurant. Online shopping deserves some of the blame. And the shops that do exist are just glorified catalogs, the cost of which is probably part of the companies' marketing expense. Thus, only big name luxury retailers can afford to rent these spaces. As for the article, I think they called it: high rent blight. Late stage gentrification. This is what happens when even the rich can't afford to be there. The neighborhood needs a reset.