Abyssinian Tot Lot is one of the few community gardens with an impressive playset for young kids, but unfortunately on this beautiful afternoon this city-owned "park" is locked up. No open hours posted here or online either. Must be nice for the keyholders though.

"[NYC's] property tax system keeps sending the same message it sent in 1988: there’s no cost to leaving good land idle, so you might as well park a few cars on it." by @danieltrubman.bsky.social danieltrubman.substack.com/p/the-willia...

The Williamsburg parking lot that used to be sixteen apartments

Just as New York passed its biggest pro-housing reform in decades, a prime Williamsburg lot won official approval to remain a parking lot.

danieltrubman.substack.com

Currently watching the FDNY is at a Landmarks Commission hearing begging to use synthetic slate at Fort Totten because real stone costs 3.5x more. Classic blue city governance: layering so many veto points onto public agencies that simple maintenance becomes an expensive, delayed legal ordeal.

A lot of New Yorkers go their whole lives without realizing how hilly Northern Manhattan gets.

Bruce Garden is a publicly owned park in Inwood which looks really neat and is supposed to be open now, but of course it's locked up. Relying on volunteers is just no way to run a parks department in a modern city like NYC.

A lot right next to a Manhattan subway station got trapped by a zoning rule so bad the city eventually changed it—just years too late for this building. My latest on the Tribeca building even the Landmarks Commission wanted bigger: danieltrubman.substack.com/p/the-tribec...

The Tribeca Building Even the Landmarks Commission Wanted Bigger

A new six-story condo on a subway corner, in a district of ten-story warehouses. The historic district gets the blame. The rule that actually did it has since been repealed.

danieltrubman.substack.com

New Yorkers who steal from the MTA through fare evasion lack civic pride, even if they’re wearing a "New York or Nowhere" hoodie.

Watching a recent Community Board meeting for an article, and there’s an extended *and genuinely heated* debate about which job titles should be included in official minutes. No wonder the vast majority of people have zero interest in spending hours at these things every month.

Lots of talk about the need to improve inter-agency cooperation to speed up housing approvals at the @thenyhc.bsky.social panel this mornin, so no surprise John Woelfling from Dattner Architects strongly endorsed the new ballot measure from COGE to create a centralized permitting hub.

Just as NYC passed its biggest pro-housing reform in decades, a prime Williamsburg lot won approval to stay a parking lot. In my latest piece, I look at 317 Bedford Ave—and how our property tax system rewards car storage over housing. danieltrubman.substack.com/p/the-willia...

The Williamsburg parking lot that used to be sixteen apartments

Just as New York passed its biggest pro-housing reform in decades, a prime Williamsburg lot won official approval to remain a parking lot.

danieltrubman.substack.com

If a public meeting isn't important enough to provide childcare, maybe it just doesn't need to be a public meeting?

Some of the apartment buildings with big parking lots in Brooklyn remind me of the limited number of multi-family complexes I used to see in my suburban county outside of Philly as a kid. Except there's a subway station like a block away from this parcel in Williamsburg 🤯

NOBODY has been more vindicated than transit advocates who pointed out it was dumb for transit agency to purchase battery electric buses before American manufactures knew how to build them decently. I'm not happy to say, "I told you this would happen" but we were 100% right.

Streetsblog NYC@nyc.streetsblog.org · last wk.

The MTA will buy 85 fewer electric buses than planned and swap them with diesel-electric hybrids while its manufacturer sorts out why its 60 e-buses already on the road can’t last a full day of service. buff.ly/RsBp4kp

First real building of the SoHo/NoHo rezoning is up at Landmarks today. 277 Canal, 21 stories, 159 apartments, 31 affordable, and a $10M elevator at Canal Street. My piece on how a commission with no housing authority became the choke point. danieltrubman.substack.com/p/the-first-...

The First Building of the SoHo Rezoning Is Getting Squeezed by a Commission That Doesn't Do Housing

A tower over the Canal Street station would restore a landmark, add up to 159 apartments, and finally make the subway accessible. All of it is waiting on a commission that handles none of those things

danieltrubman.substack.com

Worth going to the Bronx if only for the walk back to Manhattan over the High Bridge on a summer evening.

Turning a single Manhattanville parking lot into 84 apartments didn’t happen because of one mega-zoning miracle. It happened because a series of policy reforms stacked up on top of each other. danieltrubman.substack.com/p/what-did-i...

What did it take to turn this Manhattanville parking lot into 84 apartments?

Small reforms don't unlock much on their own. Stacked on top of each other, they add up to a building.

danieltrubman.substack.com

You really can tell so much about a city by which neighborhood associations, community boards, registered community organizations (or whatever name they're called in your city) are capable of consistently posting minutes and videos of meetings.

I love how every subway ride in NYC comes with the possibility of being to help some out of town tourists figure out where they're going. Transit mitzvahs are so satisfying!

Why is this Hell's Kitchen building shorter today than it was in 1966? Eleven SRO rooms demolished in January 1969. The Special Clinton District, written in 1974 to prevent such teardowns, arrived five years late. It now protects a lot with no housing. danieltrubman.substack.com/p/why-is-thi...

Why Is This Hell's Kitchen Building Shorter Than It Was in 1966?

How the Special Clinton District preserved the stump of a rooming house it arrived too late to save.

danieltrubman.substack.com

Sorry, I don't have time to get involved in the discourse about how it's crazy for normal people to live in NYC because of the cost of living. Too busy eating a $3 roast pork bun and chilling out in a nice park.

It’d be a lot easier for @nycparks.bsky.social to keep adults out of Rivington St Playground if M'finda Kalunga Garden across the walkway had more than a single 2-hour weekday evening window. Is a garden locked virtually all week actually serving the community?

Just used an open, clean, and well-lit @nycparks.bsky.social public bathroom at 9 PM on a Sunday. Sometimes I wonder if native New Yorkers truly appreciate how much our park system improves the city’s livability? Because as a transplant, I’m constantly impressed.

I understand why American cities took down many of their elevated rail lines, but maybe it's time to build some new ones. Mostly because modern Els are much quieter. But also because waiting for a train on a summer evening is a great way to see the neighborhood.

Why does a new 44-unit affordable rental four minutes from the Junction Boulevard 7 have a 22-space valet garage? Short answer: the parking minimums. Long answer runs through three rezonings and a Council carveout on the block across Junction. danieltrubman.substack.com/p/why-does-a...

Why does a new Jackson Heights affordable housing project near the Junction Boulevard 7 station have valet parking?

A by-right building, the code that shaped it, and the mandates it will be stuck with for decades.

danieltrubman.substack.com

Abyssinian Tot Lot community garden on 139th St has no posted open hours (either online or at the site) so can't say I'm surprised it's locked this evening. Site is already owned by the Parks Department; let's just turn it into a real pocket park that stays open on hot nights?

Was just about to publish my article about why a data center is legal on a Bushwick parking lot but housing is banned... and then Gov. Hochul announced a data center moratorium. But does the moratorium apply here? One frantic rewrite later, piece is live: danieltrubman.substack.com/p/why-is-a-d...?

Why is a data center legal on this Bushwick parking lot, but not an apartment building?

How the MTA, DEP, and an industrial preservation policy help explain why this surface parking lot a short stroll from the Morgan Ave L isn't going anywhere soon.

danieltrubman.substack.com

Streets are for giant gift horses from our defeated and departing Greek rivals, not cars.

It's an absolutely lovely evening in the Upper West Side, so why is La Perla Community Garden locked up? What's the point of these cool publicly owned pocket parks if they're closed even during prime hours?

The number of Europeans I've seen staying in Airbnbs on my Central Harlem brownstone block this summer during the World Cup seems like pretty good evidence NYC needs to legalize new hotels.

I may have missed Manhattan-Henge tonight, but the view of Manhattan from Sunset Cove Park in Queens was pretty great too.