Even the City Council isn’t strong enough to stop the power of free markets:

Tomorrow will be another sad chapter in the history of the City Councils drive toward stifling economic growth. In Kearny, NJ just seven miles from New York City, Wal-Mart will be opening a brand new store.

The store will employ an initial 350 people (including some New York residents) out of 8,000 applicants.

What New York City voters need to remember is that thanks to the incompetence of our City Council, hundreds of thousands of dollars every year in sales tax will go to NJ and not NY. Local New York City businesses will suffer, as New Yorkers will be more then happy to drive the short distance to shop and save as they currently do in Wal-Mart’s other New Jersey and Long Island stores.

I can’t help but wonder what our City Council members must be thinking as they watch New Yorkers continue to spend more then $100 million a year in sales (known from credit card data collected by New York City residents) in Wal-Mart stores that surround the City that could have been spent in the City had our Council not been so ignorant.

See you in Jersey!