I wrote for City Journal about NYC Mayor Mamdani's proposed city-owned East Harlem grocery store. It's a bad idea for the city to go into heavily subsidized competition with taxpaying businesses, and there are better options.
www.city-journal.org/article/new-...
For City Journal, I wrote about NYC's latest, not-so-great jobs data.
www.city-journal.org/article/new-...
I wrote for City Journal about Boston Mayor Wu's endorsement of a statewide rent control initiative. If approved, it would make a regional housing supply problem worse.
www.city-journal.org/article/bost...
All zoning lots in the "surrounding area" as defined in ZR 75-421. There are several possibilities.
I recall how DCP pleaded unsuccessfully with the MTA to build something on top of Fulton Center.
I wrote for City Journal about NY Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposed environmental review reform legislation. It's a good bill, but whether the legislature is interested in speeding up housing approvals is unclear.
www.city-journal.org/article/new-...
For the Manhattan Institute's "Bigger Apple" Substack, I wrote a post about NYC Mayor Mamdani's proposed "Rental Ripoff" hearings.
thebiggerapple.manhattan.institute/p/rental-rip...
I wrote a brief about pragmatic land use, housing and economic development policies NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani might adopt and even a free-marketeer might approve, for the Manhattan Institute:
manhattan.institute/article/a-co...
I wrote for City Journal about the political significance of the NYC Charter land-use amendments approved by voters this week:
www.city-journal.org/article/new-...
No. It depends on how aggressively the mayor uses these new powers.
The Council's main talking point is that if the proposals pass, NYC might be flooded with new housing. Sadly, that's not true. There's not one move that solves the housing crisis -- many more will have to follow. But the council's resort to NIMBYism shows why the charter changes are needed.
For the Manhattan Institute's new Bigger Apple Substack, I wrote about the NYC City Council's new vote-no campaign against proposed changes to the City Charter's land use process.
thebiggerapple.manhattan.institute/p/be-very-af...
One can only evaluate that retrospectively. For QH, little got built in the first ten years. We had to keep tweaking it until it worked. Certainly, similar in ambition.
If anybody wants to interview me, I'm happy to go community district by community district and discuss where the QH buildings are. I've certainly disputed the assertion that City of Yes is the biggest change to residential zoning since 1961. QH was quite significant.
I was there in City Hall in 1987 when the QH exclusion areas got negotiated. Those areas, which are long gone as a result of subsequent zoning changes, were not impactful as to the ultimate success of QH, which didn't happen until the economy got strong in Giuliani's second term.
I wrote for City Journal about a new NYC report proposing a revised policy framework for manufacturing zones:
www.city-journal.org/article/new-...
Expiration of Section 421b tax exemption program.
I added to the chorus of criticism of the NYC City Council's plot to kill city charter reform, for City Journal:
www.city-journal.org/article/new-...
The next mayor needs to make Mandatory Inclusionary Housing economically workable, or provide a predicable waiver where it is not. Furthermore, low-density areas need to get the bus upgrades and business services they need to support a growing population.
The amendments are pro-housing and NYC will be better off if they pass in a November referendum. However, I'm critical of NYC's practice of deterring investment in new apartment houses in medium- and high-density areas near transit while encouraging growth in low-density areas with high auto use.
I wrote about proposed New York City Charter land use amendments for the Manhattan Institute:
manhattan.institute/article/on-t...
The adjustments are usually positive when there's a net gain in private employment over the calendar year, negative when there's a net loss. So depending on what happens in the second half of the year, these numbers may be superseded by a net gain in private jobs.
The CES numbers will be adjusted in March 2026, a process known as "rebenchmarking." That adjusts the sample weights based on actual payrolls, which become available with a time lag.
The article is reporting on NYC OMB's publication of seasonally adjusted Current Employment Survey (CES) data for Jan. - June 2025, which shows no net gain in private payroll employment -- not that no one was hired.
NYC's economy faces many headwinds, some within local government control, some not. However, there's enormous churn in the economy. NYC companies hired many people in the first half of the year.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/n...
I wrote for City Journal about "antisocial housing" policies, and who needs to fix them.
www.city-journal.org/article/new-...
I wrote for City Journal about the NYC Democratic primary, and how the leading candidates' respective coalitions help explain why there's no feasible path for a center-right reform candidate:
www.city-journal.org/article/ther...
@citylimitsnews.bsky.social published my op-ed about reforming the NYC Charter's land use provisions:
citylimits.org/opinion-nyc-...
To succeed, it needs comprehensive reorganization of rail operating entities, labor's cooperation and agreement by the Federal and state governments on who will pay for what. A lot to ask in the current, or perhaps any conceivable future political environment.
www.city-journal.org/article/nort...
I wrote about frequent, reliable Northeast Corridor high-speed passenger rail service for City Journal. The NYU Marron Institute's Transit Costs Project has a new plan praised by transit wonks.
