Excessive landmarking threatens to make Manhattan a refuge for the rich

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And what is it now?

I'm sure people are going to call me a NIMBY, even though that isn't what this is about, but this is ridiculous.

The Village and SoHo are very expensive places to live, but the qualities that landmarking protects are what makes them desirable. If you want a cheaper apartment, there are plenty in areas like West Midtown - but that's a hellhole, which is why it's cheaper. Development that destroys the "human scale" of the Village, particularly the West Village, would surely bring prices down but not just because of supply - fewer people would want to live here.

New York isn't like San Francisco, where there is actually a lack of available land for new construction. There is tons of new construction in Manhattan, it's just 30 blocks north.

If you want to address Manhattan's out of control rents, the first place to look is not landmarks, it's rent control and rent stabilization.