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There is no market based reason for a shortage of housing in New York City. Part of the issue is rent control, which was instituted as a wartime measure during World War II. Another factor is the effect of zoning laws, environmental regulations, historical preservation rules, NIMBY attitudes, etc., which make construction of new housing difficult and expensive. This is a problem throughout the country, but particularly in the Northeast and West Coast. In a densely concentrated city like New York, there is no good reason to preserve old residential or commercial buildings dating to the 19th and early 20th Centuries simply because of their age. If Washington slept there in 1778, preservation is justified. If Paddy O'Donnell or Heinz Kruger slept there in 1878 and Vito D’Angelo or Irving Cohen slept there in 1928, not so much. Additionally, liberal politicians, though anti-highway and pro-mass transit, get little of the latter constructed, and usually with huge cost overruns. These same politicians do poor jobs in updating water and sewer lines or ensuring that public schools are more than places to contain children between 5 and 17, and even then not safely.