Homepage Preview
The secret weapon that fought the postwar housing shortage
Historian Joshua Freeman's "Garden Apartments" sheds light on an often overlooked part of the nation's housing landscape. He discusses his research and its relevance for today.
Declining school enrollment: it's not all doom and gloom
Widespread school enrollment declines undoubtedly come with challenges, but that’s not the whole story.
Why aren’t bus lanes a fully integrated part of New York City’s emergency response toolkit?
None of the needed planning, protocols, data collection, adaptations, or enforcement appear to be in place.
With IRS enforcement down, state and local tax revenues could suffer, too
More cheating on federal tax returns would flow through to state and local returns, but state and local officials don't seem to have the potential problem on their radar. Former Chair of New York City Council Finance Committee: it's "smart to start thinking about it."
The City Council part of the mayoral equation
On Primary Day, you want to know "who is winning?" Leading up to the general election, "What will the candidate be able to accomplish or block" needs to be among the questions posed. That means taking the Council into account.
Mayoral debate on education: Fine question, largely depressing answers
What was striking last night was how many candidates didn't have the substance to fill even 30 seconds, or revealed in that time an under-appreciation of the problems that are going on. I remain convinced that candidates still treat a host of school-related issues as taboo.
Hochul's "Pro-Housing Community" program so far falling flat
A large percentage of municipalities in Westchester and Nassau Counties — two of the beating hearts of exclusionary zoning in the New York City metropolitan area — are saying in effect, “No, thank you, we like our exclusion just the way we have it.” The lack of progress is especially apparent in municipalities with the lowest percentages of non-Hispanic Black residents.
Central paradoxes of the NYC mayoral primary
There's a lot that doesn't add up, at least if voters want to be able to make informed choices. Many substantive issues remain unexplored or underexplored, and the rhetoric often doesn't match what the winning candidate would be able to do as mayor.
“If it can be successfully done 20, 30, 35 years down the road, then I don't see a reason why it couldn't be done and set up from the onset.”
Market-rate condos as an affordable housing tool?
Legislation recently enacted by New York State as part of its budget process directly offers the prospect of preserving several thousand affordable housing units at risk for losing their tenant protections, and indirectly raises the question of why an obvious set of tools aren’t being used to change the day-to-day reality of luxury condominium buildings being developed with zero percent affordable units included.
Federal employment adjusted for population tells a different story
Even before any Trump or GOP Congress cuts this year, overall executive branch civilian employment as adjusted for population is materially down from its peak.
Do they know it's truly an emergency?
Most of the candidates running for mayor of New York City have explicitly described the Trump administration as creating an emergency for the city, including in their assessments the prospect of reduced federal funding. But it is unclear how much they appreciate fully the impact of what is likely coming. They do, however, appear to be united in not admitting that emergencies require sacrifice.
A few questions I'd love the NYC mayoral candidates to answer
Well, 50 actually (not including subparts). With a bunch of "why?" and "why nots?" Taboo breakers, too. Don't worry, though: I've thrown in some easy ones!
Even the easy stuff isn't so easy
How hard should it be to get broad agreement on “unless and until you get the rules changed, follow them”? Not very. But achieving that consensus sometimes seems an impossible dream in New York City, a place where you’re generally not doing your rule-breaking in splendid isolation but rather in ways that have real impacts on others.
“The brief is a study in manipulating the law and burying the facts to persuade the judge that there is only one course of action properly open to him”
Did Paul Clement play it straight?
Assigned by the presiding judge in the Mayor Adams case to grapple with issues raised by alleged improper conduct by DOJ in seeking dismissal, former Solicitor General appears to falsely pretend that "all roads" lead to a dismissal with prejudice (and not denial of leave to dismiss). We annotate the brief and ask you to consider: did Clement fairly make his case?
To build a robust social democracy, just taxing the wealthy won’t be enough
Placing the tax burden entirely on the ultra-wealthy undermines the already difficult project of expanding government services and increasing infrastructure investment.
Get email updates
All our latest original reporting, data visualization, interviews, and more!
Earlier this year
Dissecting Mayor Mamdani’s veto message on legislation relating to protests at educational institutions
Both parts that ring true and parts that ring false raise issues of concern. At the same time, any claims on the Council side that the legislation would materially change police procedure are without basis. Did Speaker Menin have a more subtle, supplemental motive in pushing the legislation?
Three housing pilots Mamdani should jump on (and be judged by)
Let's put together a wider range of tools and prove that they can work.
From the archives
Market-rate condos as an affordable housing tool?
Legislation recently enacted by New York State as part of its budget process directly offers the prospect of preserving several thousand affordable housing units at risk for losing their tenant protections, and indirectly raises the question of why an obvious set of tools aren’t being used to change the day-to-day reality of luxury condominium buildings being developed with zero percent affordable units included.
Did Paul Clement play it straight?
Assigned by the presiding judge in the Mayor Adams case to grapple with issues raised by alleged improper conduct by DOJ in seeking dismissal, former Solicitor General appears to falsely pretend that "all roads" lead to a dismissal with prejudice (and not denial of leave to dismiss). We annotate the brief and ask you to consider: did Clement fairly make his case?
Hochul's "Pro-Housing Community" program so far falling flat
A large percentage of municipalities in Westchester and Nassau Counties — two of the beating hearts of exclusionary zoning in the New York City metropolitan area — are saying in effect, “No, thank you, we like our exclusion just the way we have it.” The lack of progress is especially apparent in municipalities with the lowest percentages of non-Hispanic Black residents.
How white is Medicaid in Trump country?
Medicaid cuts, which could result in millions of Americans across the country losing health coverage, may appear politically palatable to those who subscribe to deeply-held stereotypes about Medicaid recipients (and all recipients of state-administered “welfare” programs): they are mostly Black and generally live largely in urban centers. But look at what the data say.
Lyric Of The Week
Jul 19, 2026
You were born in California
I was born in F.L.A
I went out there with a rock n’ roll band, yeah
Looking for somewhere else to play
You were an angel, an independent girl
You were not afraid of the big wicked world
You took me in and gave me hope
When I was at the end of my rope
And I will always be grateful
For finding you when I did
I will always treasure you
As my dearest and deepest friend
I’ve heard there’s a light at the end of the tunnel
I’ve heard there’s a wisdom and uncertainty
I’ve heard every cloud has a silver lining
Well, I hope that’s true for you and me
"It is written,"