> Yeah, and it's the free market that allowed 10 to a room tenements

Well, when the city doesn't allow you to build supply that matches demand, that's how people can afford it.

> with factories right next to homes

Separating industrial from residential doesn't cause the housing supply to be limited though. I don't think there's any problem with this.

> rent regulation is absolutely a good thing because landlords are universally terrible who see their tenants as nothing more than a source of income with little to no labor required.

If you believe that being a landlord/super is no work, especially in NYC, then you've never done it.

Anyway, the answer is to make it so the majority of people aren't renters but owners. That way they aren't beholden to these evil landlords you hate so much. This should be a country of owners, and instead of limiting construction we should allow unlimited construction as long as the buildings are coops that are affordable by the middle class and have to be owner-occupied as a primary residence by covenant.