No sooner had word gotten out that the discount chain Costco was planning an outlet at 60th Street and the West Side Highway than the politicians who represent the area were up in arms. “I can’t even imagine it,” shuddered City Council Member Gale Brewer, fretting about traffic. The State Assemblywoman, Linda Rosenthal, said, “I don’t want them to be competitors to our local stores.”

It strikes us as awfully reactionary for a dynamic town. Is this really what politics have come to in Manhattan, the capital of capitalism in America? If our politicians are so opposed to traffic, let them move to the Badlands, where a mail truck passes by once a day. New York is a city, for heaven’s sake, full of things that people want to get to and see, which entails cars and trucks and, yes, traffic.

We wouldn’t suggest that traffic be ignored. It should be planned for and ameliorated to the extent possible. But to allow it to dictate whether new stores can open in the city is an overreaction on the order of prohibiting affection in the city because it might result in children and our schools and subways are already too overcrowded.

As for the opposition to competition, we find it in contradiction to basic economics. Competition is good for consumers. It produces lower prices and better service. Politicians should want to foster competition, not prevent it. Imagine if the politicians had opposed Apple stores from opening in New York City on the grounds that they didn’t want them to be competitors with IBM. It’s an antitrust case waiting to happen.

There was a time that politicians became popular by busting trusts. Now the elected officials seek votes by opposing competition. Not that we carry any particular brief for Costco over any other retailer. But why not let New Yorkers make their own choices of where to shop rather than allowing the politicians to artificially constrain the options?

Ms. Brewer and Ms. Rosenthal may not have noticed, but the city is facing an economic downturn that is translating into losses of jobs and of tax revenue. If a retailer wants to invest in the city and create new jobs and new sales tax revenue, this is a moment to welcome the retailer with open arms rather than with complaints about traffic and competition. It is dynamism, not stasis, after all, that makes New York City great.