It's only for retail space. Actually, I just went looking for a source explaining exactly how this works, and it seems to have been a little overblown. I think

It's only for retail space. Actually, I just went looking for a source explaining exactly how this works, and it seems to have been a little overblown. I think it might have been stories like this that are bit light on details that got this idea started: https://www.amny.com/opinion/the-sad-story-behind-nyc-vacant-storefronts-1.26023055 https://www.amny.com/opinion/the-sad-story-behind-nyc-vacant... But the only specifics I could find is that there is a tax on commercial retail rent in NYC on $250,000 a year or more rent, and now the rent has been pushed up so high that everyone is paying it, but ultimately landlords are just holding out for long term leases with big national brands, and many of them already have all the Manhattan locations they need. Apparently, there is a push to raise it to $500,000, or even put in a tax on empty retail to give landlords an incentive to take a chance renting on boutique or so-called "popup" stores. https://cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/commentary/reduce-manhattan-storefront-vacancies-fix-commercial-rent-tax.html https://cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/commentary/reduc...