This piece originally appeared in The Brooklyn Quarterly. As a national debate takes shape around how America has failed segregated inner-city communities like those in Baltimore, a quiet but historic debate is taking place in the Supreme Court over the constitutionality of the most powerful anti-segregation tool in history: the Fair Housing Act. Since the Fair…
There’s been some buzz about the latest Quinnipiac poll numbers showing that Mayor de Blasio’s support has dropped to 44%. But does a number like that even mean anything? Much to their credit, Quinnipiac has provided a treasure trove of data, including reference points from past administrations, which allows us to take a closer look.…
Fiorello La Guardia is widely regarded as the best mayor in New York City’s history, and on 4/20 we remember his impressive and forward-thinking approach to marijuana. La Guardia served as mayor from 1934 to 1945, and during the early years of his administration, weed use barely registered as an issue. Annual arrests for sales…
Say what you want about Mayor Bill de Blasio’s politics, but the man has excellent taste in music. In fact, we share the same favorite album: the Clash’s Sandinista! In 2012, a friend of mine threw a fundraiser for then-Public Advocate de Blasio’s mayoral campaign. As the party wound down, folks were getting in their one…
I think there is zero chance of developers walking away from this waterfront. Look at this view! This is the best view in New York City, maybe in the whole world. You’ve got the entire Manhattan skyline right in front of you. – Councilmember David Yassky (Williamsburg/Greenpoint), 2005 In Williamsburg and Greenpoint, luxury condos have been…
Last week we took a look at Mayor de Blasio’s primary strategy for creating the 80,000 affordable rental units cited in his ten-year plan: providing benefits to private real estate developers in exchange for making a percentage of their rental units affordable. Let’s look at what “affordable” really means in these programs as we continue…
The all-important topics of real estate power and affordable housing in New York City have spawned a thousand academic treatises and nonprofit reports but not many readable explainers for the lay public. Housing is a messy, complicated topic that features a quadrennial showdown in which policy buffs throw around acronyms like confetti. Enter artist and…
(Amy is an artist and housing activist posting for the first time at Janos.nyc) During this Tuesday’s State of the City speech, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a 2.0 upgrade to his ten-year affordable housing plan, Housing New York, released last spring. One interesting feature is his goal to “provide 1,500 units of live/work housing…
For a brief moment on Sunday night, newspapers were reporting that Sheldon Silver had stepped down as Speaker. Now his spokesman is claiming that he is not relinquishing power, only temporarily stepping aside to focus on his legal case while five senior Assemblymembers handle the budget and legislative issues. This is not good enough. Sheldon…
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