In December 1984, a white New Yorker stepped onto a downtown 2 train and shot four black teenagers after one asked him for $5. The shooting signaled a new mood of urban exclusion, following decades of crisis.

I wrote about two books on the legacy of the incident. prospect.org/2026/04/09/a...

The Legacy of the Subway Vigilante - The American Prospect Two new books reveal how a 1980s shooting reflected rising right-wing attitudes in a rapidly gentrifying New York.

The legacy of Bernie Goetz, the so-called subway vigilante, reveals how a 1980s shooting reflected the race-fueled rightward lurch of Reagan's America that lives on today.

I reviewed two new books on the incident for @prospect.org. prospect.org/2026/04/09/a...

The Legacy of the Subway Vigilante - The American Prospect Two new books reveal how a 1980s shooting reflected rising right-wing attitudes in a rapidly gentrifying New York.

A few days before Christmas of 1984, the self-employed electrical engineer stepped onto a graffitied downtown 2 train and shot four Black teenagers after one asked him for $5. The shooting signaled a new mood of urban exclusion, following decades of crisis.

The Goetz shooting was, among other things, a highly publicized and violent opening salvo in a now familiar process of gentrification.

The Legacy of the Subway Vigilante - The American Prospect Two new books reveal how a 1980s shooting reflected rising right-wing attitudes in a rapidly gentrifying New York.

The legacy of Bernie Goetz, the so-called subway vigilante, reveals how a 1980s shooting reflected the race-fueled rightward lurch of Reagan's America that lives on today.

I reviewed two new books on the incident for @prospect.org. prospect.org/2026/04/09/a...

There are two new books out on Bernhard Goetz, the subway vigilante. Why does a tabloid incident in the 1980s have such resonance? To reviewer Michael Friedrich, it prefigured the race-fueled rightward lurch into Trump's America.
prospect.org/2026/04/09/a...

By our count at @prospect.org they have killed at least 28 people since Trump's second term started.

"We neoconned our way into this mess and we're going to neocon our way out of it."

I have a new piece out today in Phenomenal World, on the economics of a freeze in NYC regulated rents. www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/aft...

thinking we need to suspend Godwin’s Law for the foreseeable future

It turns out that data shows the negative impacts of luxury construction that low-income tenants constantly point out based on experience. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/r...

Read the full story here: bsky.app/profile/mfri...

Tool libraries lend out hope during disasters After Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, North Carolina, in 2024, the local tool library stepped in.

I went on @marketplace.org to talk about my @bloomberglp.bsky.social story on how community-led tool libraries, founded on the principles of mutual aid, are increasingly becoming a resource during climate disasters. www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...

It turns out that data shows the negative impacts of luxury construction that low-income tenants constantly point out based on experience. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/r...

By the way, for those of you not in MN: Homan’s strategy was to withdraw some agents, so it felt like we were in the denouement of the crisis, and then escalate hard against observers. They’re being incredibly aggressive with observers now. National media may not want to check out just yet

In this economy, every story is a housing story.

Fifteen Below Zero | Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein Driving to St. Paul from the airport you pass under Fort Snelling, an enormous limestone structure from the early nineteenth century. In November 1862,

I traveled home to Minnesota to report on the rolling fallout of Operation Metro Surge. Both the occupation and neighborhood responses was breathtaking in scale. History in the making.

www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...

Thanks to the @economichardship.bsky.social for support

Kirkwood NPU rejects 47-microunit complex for elderly unhoused Atlantans The chorus of “no” votes doesn't mean the plan to build long-term housing for unhoused people is finished.

Gentrification, without lots of long-term affordable housing in place to maintain diversity, is likely to lead to resegregated exclusion and NIMBYism. Example #3496

(Kirkwood is a mostly gentrified, formerly predominately-Black neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta.)

In this economy, every story is a housing story.

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

Honored to be quoted in new article: Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library
TL;DR: As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

As climate change spurs more frequent and damaging natural disasters, the Trump administration has retreated from providing relief. In this context, tool libraries have grown into more than just an asset for DIY home projects. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

When emergencies arise, coming together to lend and fix tools can represent a radical act: caring for each other where the state has fallen short.

I wrote for @bloomberglp.bsky.social about how community tool libraries are responding to climate disasters. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

As climate change spurs more frequent and damaging natural disasters, the Trump administration has retreated from providing relief. In this context, tool libraries have grown into more than just an asset for DIY home projects. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

When emergencies arise, coming together to lend and fix tools can represent a radical act: caring for each other where the state has fallen short.

I wrote for @bloomberglp.bsky.social about how community tool libraries are responding to climate disasters. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

I was at bankruptcy court for three hours yesterday and listened to more of the hearing online after that. The lawyers for my current landlord and the presumptive buyer were SO mad about organized tenants so I personally think every rent-stabilized building should form a union :)

The Eviction Kings One of Israel’s biggest companies is taking over huge swaths of US real estate—and tenants are paying the price.

For @thenation.com and @typeinvestigations.org, I looked into American Landmark, a major landlord filing evictions far more than the national average.

I found they are owned by an Israeli company with ties to the IDF, including during the Gaza genocide. (1/10)

www.thenation.com/article/soci...

The Eviction Kings One of Israel’s biggest companies is taking over huge swaths of US real estate—and tenants are paying the price.

Today's must-read by @thomasbirm.bsky.social: a major corporate landlord is fueling homelessness across the U.S. *and* the mass displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank.

The Israeli company owns tens of thousands of apartments in the South, filing evictions at nine times the national average.