Getting good value in manhattan

New York city to eliminate sales tax on clothing. link. Wifey will be quite happy. She will definitely want to visit more.

The fundamanetal economics of this still don't make sense to me. Take Manhattan. You have a concentrated population of comparative wealthy people, many of whom don't have transportation of their own. Now this is a captive audience if I have ever seen one. Where is the lift from this effective price decrease. Does the New York department of tourism think that Manhattanites are fleeing to Jersey to go shopping. Are they concerned about internet sales. Are girls from Queens no longer going to go to the trendy boutiques for their shiny halters top to wear to the best clubs on Staten Island?

Is this driven by trying to draw tourists for shopping vacations? Maybe. However, if this can't be driven by price due to the prohibitive cost of New York hotel rooms. The only legit argument I could think of is competition from the internet. However, I think this has to be marginal at best. This is a TON of $$ that NYC is walking away from, most of which is paid by people who are willing to pay it.