I went to the first Rental Rip-off Hearing of the Mamdani administration.
Lots of stories about tough situations. What struck me was that so many people showed up not just for themselves, but for their neighbors and for strangers elsewhere with the same landlords.
www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/26/r...
As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today. ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.
ICE agents killed a man and are disappearing the witnesses.
Mamdani reverses city hall’s opposition to Bronx supportive housing project https://gothamist.com/news/mamdani-reverses-city-halls-opposition-to-bronx-supportive-housing-project
You probably don't know what SEQRA is - but you should know that it's slowing down the housing that we need. Deputy Mayor Leila Bozorg is here to explain why reforming it is key to cutting red tape and building more housing.
So true
The final Calvin and Hobbes, which appeared in papers 30 years ago today.
Props to @srachelmay.bsky.social for pushing pro-housing legislation like this in Albany. We love to see it.
www.cityandstateny.com/opinion/2025...
![The Government asked this Court to stay the District Court's order. After the response and reply were filed, JUSTICE BARRETT referred the application to the Court. We directed the parties to file supplemental letter briefs on an issue that the District Court had addressed but the parties' initial briefs had not: the meaning of the term "regular forces" in §12406(3). In its supplemental brief, the Government argues that the term refers to civilian law enforcement officers, such as those employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Federal Protective Service.
Respondents, echoing the District Court, maintain that the term refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary.
We conclude that the term "regular forces" in §12406(3) likely refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary. This interpretation means that to call the Guard into active federal service under §12406(3), the President must be "unable" with the regular military "to execute the laws of the United States." Because the statute requires an assessment of the military's ability to execute the laws, it likely applies only where the military could legally execute the laws. Such circumstances are exceptional: Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the military is prohibited from "execut[ing] the laws" "except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress."
18 U. S. C. §1385. So before the President can federalize the Guard under §12406(3), he likely must have statutory or constitutional authority to execute the laws with the regular military and must be "unable" with those forces to perform that function.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6h7b2i6ttw3l4t7pvbvxdith/bafkreiftbhzwvn3vgwhqsi7k2paizvdw4t26ailljvovso3chqupnmj364)
The Government asked this Court to stay the District Court's order. After the response and reply were filed, JUSTICE BARRETT referred the application to the Court. We directed the parties to file supplemental letter briefs on an issue that the District Court had addressed but the parties' initial briefs had not: the meaning of the term "regular forces" in §12406(3). In its supplemental brief, the Government argues that the term refers to civilian law enforcement officers, such as those employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Federal Protective Service. Respondents, echoing the District Court, maintain that the term refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary. We conclude that the term "regular forces" in §12406(3) likely refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary. This interpretation means that to call the Guard into active federal service under §12406(3), the President must be "unable" with the regular military "to execute the laws of the United States." Because the statute requires an assessment of the military's ability to execute the laws, it likely applies only where the military could legally execute the laws. Such circumstances are exceptional: Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the military is prohibited from "execut[ing] the laws" "except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress." 18 U. S. C. §1385. So before the President can federalize the Guard under §12406(3), he likely must have statutory or constitutional authority to execute the laws with the regular military and must be "unable" with those forces to perform that function.
NEW: By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court blocks Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Chicago to assist immigration agents. A majority holds that he likely lacks authority to do so. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
Hell yeah congrats and happy birthday!
Leila brings 15 years of housing experience to her new role as Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning. A key architect of City of Yes, Leila helped unlock over 130,000 potential new homes to help New Yorkers afford to live in the city they love.
Leila Borzog sat at a table signing a paper, with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on the left and a white soccer jersey with Manhattan written on it hanging on the right. Mimicking a sports team signing a major player graphic. “Leila Borzog” written and signed in the top left and “Deputy Mayor of Housing and Planning” written on the top right.
Welcome to A New Era, Leila Bozorg!
This is blasphemous.
"People want to be around people." @dianabudds.bsky.social www.dwell.com/article/the-...
longstanding theory on this is that people who know the applicant that they don't want to hire has racial resentment offer "wish i could've hired you, but they made me hire a black woman instead!" as a let-them-down-easy cope rather than admit to them that they just didn't want to hire them.
A single phone call asking a city council member or state legislator to vote your way on a specific legislative proposal has *significantly* more political impact than a social media post with 1,000 shares.
Minus big-bucks lifelines, some U.S. transit systems are facing disaster.
🚇 🚍
But the MTA is *adding* subway and bus service, not cutting it — and has dodged layoffs.
💰 💰
“This is a remarkable turnaround just from a few years ago.”
NEW STORY in @thecity.nyc www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/12/m...
It’s an indication that the toll to enter Manhattan below 60th Street has not been the albatross the governor’s opponents wished. Hochul on Thursday practically reveled in this development. “To all the naysayers and doomsday tellers who thought this would be the demise of New York City, I’m so proud that, as we’re approaching the one-year anniversary of turning on the cameras, it’s been wildly successful,” she said. Hochul can point to several metrics: Decreased traffic and increased subway ridership top among them. “That’s exactly what we want,” she said. “That’s less accidents, it’s less emissions.” Business, too, is booming in the congestion zone. As our Ry Rivard noted, the New York City Economic Development Corp. found foot traffic inside the central business district was up 4.8 percent compared to only 1 percent for business districts elsewhere in the city.
Well would you look at that.
Trump 0-3 on indicting Tish James and just had his ass handed to him by Indiana Republican legislators he threatened and bullied. Also new low in AP poll at 36% approval.
This is the way
It's the 160th anniversary of the United States' refounding, the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
LFG
Would you look at that: when you legalize housing, people build housing! www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/...
ABC 7 headline “Some Staten Island residents worried about impacts of City of Yes affordable housing plan”
From the article: “Mark Balistreri lives in 104 Oakdale. He says the actual plan is to build two, two-family homes.”
Shot / chaser from Great Kills, Staten Island
abc7ny.com/post/staten-...
You're hearing it more and more
One of the many reasons that the urban left should embrace growth-machine politics is that they are structurally good for the left.
I love it. Great greenmarket, lots of good local bars/restaurants along Skillman, the 7 is the best train in the city.
Jackson Heights (obviously) but also Sunnyside gets you close-ish to the Woodside LIRR if she's taking the train out there
Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
This paper provides strong evidence that downzoning is associated with reduced construction and increased spatialized segregation. Don’t do it if you want a more equitable city!
Read the whole thing: findingspress.org/article/1474...
What happens when you downzone?
Our new open-access research paper in @findingspress.org investigates effects of decades of downzoning in Chicago.
Findings:
—Downzoned areas added 1/7th of the new units as comparable non-downzoned areas;
—Downzoned areas became more white & were more expensive.
