Jason Barr

Since the mid-1980s historians have known that the Home Insurance Building in Chicago was not the first skyscraper. Yet the public didn't get the message. Why is there such a big disconnect? The answer is revealed my latest pub. in the J. of Urban History. doi.org/10.1177/0096...
@sasn.rutgers.edu

This is really good read abt how new ideas and broad thinking (or in this case reviving a 19th century idea) can offer alternative solutions to present dilemmas. In this case, they look to a 19th century version of taxation to incentivize housing construction & create more affordable housing.

By George! Can a Land Value Tax Work in Gotham? - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr and Ronan C. Lyons October 22, 2025 The citizens of New York City are gearing up to pick a new mayor. On one side stands a candidate riding a wave of anger among those struggling to pay ...

Gotham’s current real estate tax system is widely considered unfair and inefficient. Can the City switch to a Land Value Tax to increase fairness and to stimulate economic growth? Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post with @ronanlyons.bsky.social
buildingtheskyline.org/lvt-nyc/

Public Housing: A View From the 21st Century - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr September 29, 2025 Public housing remains a controversial subject. On the one hand, America’s government-owned and operated housing stock is widely viewed as worse than the privately own...

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post: A review of recent writings and scholarship on America's 20th century experiment with Public Housing.

buildingtheskyline.org/public-housi...

Building the Skyline Is Decay Contagious? Building Code Violations across New York City - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr August 13, 2025 Say an apartment building begins to decay visibly, does it increase the likelihood that buildings around it will also decay? We know that tough economic conditions can im...

Check out my latest #Skynomics blog post, "Is Decay Contagious? Building Code Violations across New York City"

Gotham's low-income housing stock is decaying. In this post, I look at how much of it being driven by a possible "contagion effect"
buildingtheskyline.org/contagious-d...

The Power Author: Robert Caro, Robert Moses, and the “Fall” of New York - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr August 5, 2024 A few weeks ago, I was walking in Central Park on the Upper West Side. As I strolled past some benches near the Diana Ross Playground, I saw a young man, likely in his lat...

From the #Skynomics Blog archives (1 year ago). My thoughts on Robert Caro's "The Power Broker" at 50 and #RobertMoses.
buildingtheskyline.org/caro-and-mos...

More action at the #birdfeeder.

Why Has Gotham Been in a “Housing Emergency” for 80 Years? (Part I) - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr January 22, 2025 If you google the definition of “emergency,” the search engine provides an answer from the Oxford Languages Dictionary: “a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situa...

Why has Gotham been in a housing emergency for 80 years? Read my #Skynomics Blog post (from Jan.)
buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-housing-...

#Housefinches at the feeder.

Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers Abstract. Manhattan, as the world’s greatest vertical city, is the result of a collective striving; its skyscrapers are the physical manifestation of this

@jasonbarr.bsky.social published an entire book that (among other things) disproves the bedrock thesis, I really do recommend it
academic.oup.com/book/2269

I took this pic of two catbirds squawking at each other. Seems like it would be good for a meme. What you got?

This has been showing up in the financials from the outerborough rent stabilized units (particularly in The Bronx, if memory serves) for a couple of years now.

Harming Tenants: The Impact of the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act on New York’s Affordable Housing - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr June 30, 2025 What is the best way to keep housing affordable? Well, to the former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (2014-2021), the obvious answer was to restrict landlords’ ability t...

Check out my latest #Skynomics Blog post. The 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) was supposed to help #NYC tenants. But it's causing the decline of Gotham’s low-income housing. #unintendedconsequences
buildingtheskyline.org/hstpa-mainta...

Why Do We Build Cities in the Sky? - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr May 7, 2024 On May 14, my book Cities in the Sky: The Quest to Build the World’s Tallest Building was released by Scribner Books. You can order a copy and sign up for my email list here....

#Skyscrapers remain controversial, yet the continue to be built world over? Why do we build #cities in the sky?
buildingtheskyline.org/cities-in-th...

The Secret Man Behind the World’s Most Visible Building — The Gotham Center for New York City History The Secret Man Behind the World’s Most Visible Building By Jason M. Barr and Ann Berman And yet almost all the stories about the origins of this New York landmark [the Empire State Building], onli...

Most know the builders of the #EmpireStateBuilding were former NY Gov Al Smith & bus. guru, John Raskob. But few know the pivotal banker who made it happen. My latest #Gotham Center post w. Ann Berman on the secret man behind the world’s most visible building.
www.gothamcenter.org/blog/secretm...

Busting Skyscraper Myths - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr May 21, 2024 Note: On May 14, my book Cities in the Sky: The Quest for the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers was published by Scribner Books. This post summarizes some of the myths and misconc...

The #EmpireStateBuilding is so shrouded in myth and legends, it's hard to separate truth from fiction. During my many years of research on #skyscrapers, I have come to see that there are many myths that need to be busted.
buildingtheskyline.org/busting-skys...

Why Doesn’t New York Construct the World’s Tallest Building Anymore? - Building the Skyline Jason M. Barr December 23, 2020 The Space Race At the end of the Roaring Twenties, New York City witnessed a three-way race for the world’s tallest building. First was the Bank of Manhattan Building, ...

More broadly, why hasn't #NYC built the world's tallest building since 1972? Here's the reason:
buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-record-b...

Star Trek and the Economics of Hate - Building the Skyline Jason M. Barr July 15, 2020 Captain Kirk: It exists on the hate of others. Mr. Spock: To put it simply. And it has acted as a catalyst, creating this situation in order to satisfy that need. --In “Day...

I wrote this piece five years ago, but sadly little has changed.
buildingtheskyline.org/star-trek-an...
#StarTrek

Small joys of summer. #Hummingbird at the feeder.

Solving the city's traffic nightmares In April the state passed a law allowing congestion pricing in Manhattan. When implemented in 2020, drivers will be charged a fee to enter the island south of 60th Street. While the plan is reasonable...

My Crain’s piece from 2019. Still relevant.

www.crainsnewyork.com/op-ed/solvin...

#HummingBird coming to the feeder.

Star Trek and the Economics of Hate - Building the Skyline Jason M. Barr July 15, 2020 Captain Kirk: It exists on the hate of others. Mr. Spock: To put it simply. And it has acted as a catalyst, creating this situation in order to satisfy that need. --In “Day...

I wrote this piece five years ago, but sadly little has changed.
buildingtheskyline.org/star-trek-an...
#StarTrek

I'm happy to report that the goodreads score for my book #CitiesintheSkyBook is better than some of the most important books ever written.😂

Busting Skyscraper Myths - Skynomics Blog Jason M. Barr May 21, 2024 Note: On May 14, my book Cities in the Sky: The Quest for the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers was published by Scribner Books. This post summarizes some of the myths and misconc...

The #EmpireStateBuilding is so shrouded in myth and legends, it's hard to separate truth from fiction. During my many years of research on #skyscrapers, I have come to see that there are many myths that need to be busted.
buildingtheskyline.org/busting-skys...

Why Doesn’t New York Construct the World’s Tallest Building Anymore? - Building the Skyline Jason M. Barr December 23, 2020 The Space Race At the end of the Roaring Twenties, New York City witnessed a three-way race for the world’s tallest building. First was the Bank of Manhattan Building, ...

More broadly, why hasn't #NYC built the world's tallest building since 1972? Here's the reason:
buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-record-b...

Boon or Boondoggle? The Long Run Economics of the Empire State Building - Building the Skyline Jason M. Barr and Gabriel Ahlfeldt August 17, 2020 The Bricks of Ego When most people look up at supertall skyscrapers, like the Burj Khalifa or the Shanghai Tower, they assume they have been construc...

The #EmpireStateBuilding got the moniker the Empty State Building bc of the Great Depression. But the historiography that it was a boondoggle is overstated. In 1929, the economics were actually quite sound.
buildingtheskyline.org/empire-state...

The Economics of the Empire State Building The tallest building of its day opened as the Great Depression really began to squeeze the American economy. Was the Empire State Building a gigantic folly perpetrated by men with sky-scraping egos? F...

Here's a podcast interview on the #EmpireStateBuilding based on my research at the #Hagley Museum archives in Delaware.
www.hagley.org/research/his...

The Secret Man Behind the World’s Most Visible Building — The Gotham Center for New York City History The Secret Man Behind the World’s Most Visible Building By Jason M. Barr and Ann Berman And yet almost all the stories about the origins of this New York landmark [the Empire State Building], onli...

Here's my blog post with Ann Berman on the hidden banker without whom the ESB would have never been built:
www.gothamcenter.org/blog/secretm...