As a 16-year-old exchange student, I came to New York for the first time in 1978.  Even from a distance, a yellow-brown haze towered high into the sky. We drove for miles through streets lined with soot-covered ruins of burned-out buildings. I remember a run-down city, full of cool characters, but broke and dangerous to life and limb. In November 2025, I returned to New York City as part of a delegation trip organized by the Network for Architectural Exchange.

On the streets, I repeatedly encountered confident men in uniform. Police officers, security guards, and fire fighters stand on almost every corner.  “Move on!” Even in bars, cafes, and restaurants, the moving images of young, muscular athletes slamming into each other in close-up are unavoidable. An offensive display of masculinity that is far less present in Europe. 

At the German American Chamber of Commerce, Susanne Gellert reassures the alarmed Germans: “Six-month president.” The German Deputy Consul General confuses me with his enthusiasm: “America is back” and motivates the newcomers: “No one here is waiting for us.”  But most German products have few real substitutes, and tariffs can simply be passed on to customers.

In the reality of American capitalism, German entrepreneurs can finally leave behind their much-lamented domestic bureaucracy, regulations, employment protection laws, trade unions and building codes. 

And yet –paradise looks different. European colleagues, such as those from MVRDV, have not taken on the role of architect of record in the US, fearing existentially threatening lawsuits, but instead engage as “consulting designers.”

By contrast, SOM, the dominant American architecture firm, stands broad-shouldered on the 55th floor, surveying the Manhattan skyline, continuously in pursuit of the next commission.

The park built on the former elevated railway, the High Line, with its attractive new developments and the reconstruction of Ground Zero, were successful partly due to the collaboration with European partners. Manhattan features work by Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, BIG, Calatrava, and Snohetta.  Today, however, New Yorkers are focused on concerns beyond iconic museums and corporate headquarters. 

The newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, speaks at the White house about the difficulties facing New Yorkers.  A growing number of people can no longer afford to live in the city.  I met intelligent and fearless people who need multiple jobs just to hold on to their tiny, run-down apartments. 

They place their hopes in risk-tolerant investors, upward mobility or simply the prospect of a better life someday. Their determination and resilience left a strong impression on me.  Life in New York City is not for the faint of heart. Despite expansive economic freedom, limited regulation, “lightning-fast permitting” and a host of strong-willed New Yorkers, the real estate market here is in crisis. For decades, office towers couldn't grow tall enough. Today many of them stand empty. Fewer employees are willing to fight their way through morning and evening rush-hour traffic only to spend their days in dark, aging and pollution-belching buildings. And AI has yet to come.  Today, no one wants to finance these stranded assets -- or worse, own them. 

Converting them into apartments seems like a good solution, but progress has been sluggish. Even in the United States, these are complex initiatives that require detailed analysis and substantial technical expertise.  Interesting challenges, in my view. Also for Germans, given their expertise in the energy efficient conversion of existing properties. Despite considerable differences between US and Europe, close collaboration still strikes me as a promising path forward. 

German firms can develop greater flexibility and speed here – qualities that are valued just as highly in the US as German engineering precision and reliability. New York demonstrates that vacant, outdated office real estate and a lack of affordable housing in metropolitan areas are global phenomena that create massive social challenges. And without bold political action, they will not simply disappear.