> First of all it's a well documented phenomenon that NYC apartments are being bought by wealthy foreigners to invest and/or launder money without actually livi

> First of all it's a well documented phenomenon that NYC apartments are being bought by wealthy foreigners to invest and/or launder money without actually living there. As a result, these wealthy areas are eerily empty: > "In a three-block stretch of Midtown, from East 56th Street to East 59th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue, 57 percent, or 285 of 496 apartments, including co-ops and condos, are vacant at least 10 months a year. From East 59th Street to East 63rd Street, 628 of 1,261 homes, or almost 50 percent, are vacant the majority of the time, according to data from the Census Bureau’s 2012 American Community Survey." The Times quote does not demonstrate your statement. It demonstrates that a significant chunk of a portion of Midtown is owned by largely-absent owners. It does not demonstrate at all that these owners are "wealthy foreigners to invest and/or launder money without actually living there".