David F Brand
@davidfbrand.bsky.social
I’m a reporter covering housing for @wnyc.org and @gothamist.com | In a previous career, I was a licensed social worker
Our latest research: at least $400 million in NYC homes are at risk annually from predatory real estate schemes resulting from the lack of an estate plan. Full story by @davidfbrand.bsky.social at @gothamist.com: gothamist.com/news/nyc-hom... Research supported by Wells Fargo.
The death of a woman from Haiti seeking asylum in the U.S. who died from hypothermia days after her release from federal custody was ruled a homicide by a Pennsylvania county medical examiner's office.
A woman's hypothermia death in Pittsburgh after her release from ICE custody is ruled a homicide
The death of a woman from Haiti seeking asylum in the U.S. who died from hypothermia days after her release from federal custody was ruled a homicide by a Pennsylvania county medical examiner's office.
bit.ly
“Your home should be safe and there are certain basic standards — heat, hot water, ceilings and walls that don't have massive holes, doors that lock, a fire escape you can actually escape from.” gothamist.com/news/landlor... By @wnyc.org’s @davidfbrand.bsky.social
Landlord targeted by Mamdani agrees to forgive back rent in 5,100 apartments
The company Summit says it will waive unpaid rent in its new building portfolio as long as tenants resume making payments.
gothamist.com
“ I was blindsided by this because we're not even receiving care there anymore" Mount Sinai is going to share trans kids' medical records with the Trump administration, according to parents contacted by the NYC hospital network @clewisreports.bsky.social and @giuliaheyward.bsky.social w the scoop
Gothamist@gothamist.com · 2mo agoNYC parents say Mount Sinai plans to share trans children's records with Trump administration gothamist.com/news/nyc-par...
The Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn is poised to get $175 million in the NY state budget. It'll help pay for a platform over the railyard next to Barclay's Center. w/ @davidfbrand.bsky.social: gothamist.com/news/atlanti...
Atlantic Yards project in line for $175M in NY state budget
The money is expected to be in a final state budget, which lawmakers will resume voting on next week.
gothamist.com
"Knicks fans will be able to take the trains to MSG tomorrow." quick work on the news of the day from @jmartineznyc.bsky.social / @thecity.nyc:
LIRR Strike Ends with ‘Fair Deal,’ Says Hochul
Details were sparse, as union leaders said they need to share the specifics of the agreement with their members first.
thecity.nyc
Hochul's proposed pied-a-terre tax: - For 1-to-3 family homes with market value (as assessed by NYC) >$5M: 0.8% to 1.05%, depending on value - For co-ops/condos with market value >$1M: 4% to 6.5%* * For first two years. New method after that. gothamist.com/news/lawmake...
Lawmakers plan tax on NYC cash home sales, as Hochul details pied-a-terre plan
The governor laid out the details of her proposed tax on NYC second homes, a month after she backed it.
gothamist.com
Less than a year before Lorne Wright purchased his home in Jamaica, Queens, for $700,000, an LLC bought it for $285,000. It's a textbook example of a “flip”: where investors buy homes below market and resell them within a year or two, for massive markup. citylimits.org/one-block-fi...
One Block, Five Flips: How House Flipping is Transforming Neighborhoods Like South Jamaica - City Limits
An increasing number of family homes in the outer boroughs are sold within two years of being bought—at huge markups.
citylimits.org
Episode 2 is out!
The Psychology of Sticking Your Head in the Sand. Plus, Ep. 2 of American Emergency. | On the Media | WNYC Studios
This week, the S&P 500 hit an all-time high, despite a deepening global energy crisis. On this week’s On the Media, the mismatch between the stock market and reality. Plus, to underst...
wnycstudios.org
Micah Loewinger@micahloewinger.bsky.social · 3mo agoFor 10 months, I’ve been working on a 4-part @onthemedia.bsky.social investigation into FEMA, one of America’s least favorite agencies: why MAGA nearly killed it and how we got here. The first episode just dropped. We’re super proud of it. Hope you’ll listen: www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...
Loved this story by @davidfbrand.bsky.social -- a true soccer nerd -- about the small New Jersey town that's the "cradle of American soccer." gothamist.com/news/in-the-...
In the shadow of NYC, 'the cradle of American soccer' prepares for the World Cup
With the World Cup set to kick off a few miles away, residents of Kearny, New Jersey, are embracing their town’s legacy as the “cradle of American soccer.”
gothamist.com
Today, I got to publish a radio feature for @wnyc.org and a story for @gothamist.com about Soccer Town USA — Kearny, NJ It reminds me of my family, while tracing local history through soccer And it’s one of my favorite projects that I’ve ever done. Read/Listen: gothamist.com/news/in-the-...
In the shadow of NYC, 'the cradle of American soccer' prepares for the World Cup
With the World Cup set to kick off a few miles away, residents of Kearny, New Jersey, are embracing their town’s legacy as the “cradle of American soccer.”
gothamist.com
More than 5,200 low-income families and their landlords are about to lose rental assistance when a federal aid program dries up this year They live in every section of NYC, w the highest concentration in the Bronx Many also live on Staten Island and in Brooklyn gothamist.com/news/heres-w...
Here's which NYC neighborhoods will be hit hardest as key federal rental program ends
The Bronx has the highest number of Emergency Housing Voucher recipients, but the program is used in every section of the city, data shows.
gothamist.com
ICYMI, @davidfbrand.bsky.social on the mayor's new effort at preventing deed theft: www.wnyc.org/story/mamdan...
Mamdani Administration Tackles Deed Theft | The Brian Lehrer Show | WNYC
David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about the Mamdani administration's new Office of Deed Theft Prevention.
wnyc.org
NYC has a new deed theft prevention office housed in its Department of Finance gothamist.com/news/mamdani...
Mamdani announces deed theft prevention office in wake of NYC councilmember’s arrest
The mayor pledged to establish the office to protect homeowners from fraud and theft during his campaign.
gothamist.com
Would President Trump have to pay the proposed NYC pied-a-terre tax? It's complicated. His Trump Tower penthouse is a test case for how to apply the tax -- and how tough it will be to determine which properties do and do not qualify. w/ @davidfbrand.bsky.social: gothamist.com/news/would-d...
Would Donald Trump have to pay the NYC pied-à-terre tax?
It depends, in part, on whether the Trump Tower triplex is now technically Barron's apartment.
gothamist.com
A NYC nonprofit executive was jailed last week after a housing court judge found his organization failed to make court-ordered repairs at one of its Harlem apartment buildings gothamist.com/news/head-of...
Head of NYC housing nonprofit jailed over court-ordered repairs at Harlem building
The case marks an unusual example of a nonprofit landlord arrested and jailed over conditions in a building his organization owns.
gothamist.com
"Now, what was once seen as a progressive pipe dream is, in the words of Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday, a 'common sense plan' for closing the city’s budget gap." More from @davidfbrand.bsky.social: gothamist.com/news/how-nyc...
How NYC's 'radical' pied-à-terre tax became a 'common sense' budget strategy
Efforts to impose a tax on luxury second homes once faced fierce opposition, tracing the changes in the city’s political landscape.
gothamist.com
“The pandemic hits and everyone heads to the Hamptons, or the North Fork or the Catskills. People decamped to their second homes. Most of us were not in a position to do that.” gothamist.com/news/how-nyc...
How NYC's 'radical' pied-à-terre tax became a 'common sense' budget strategy
Efforts to impose a tax on luxury second homes once faced fierce opposition, tracing the changes in the city’s political landscape.
gothamist.com
7,700 NYC households are about to lose their federal rental assistance NYC doesn’t have a plan to replace the aid after the federal government ends the Emergency Housing Voucher program Now some families may be offered public housing units — if they apply by May 1 gothamist.com/news/thousan...
Thousands of NYC tenants face May deadline as emergency housing vouchers wind down
The city's housing authority has encouraged tenants with the expiring federal vouchers to apply for vacant public housing units.
gothamist.com
NYC's short-term rental crackdown could be a bonanza for Jersey property owners... or maybe not "Renter beware" says one official “Those who violate the law will be prosecuted" says another A thicket of rules, regs & outright bans await tourists and "hosts" in NJ gothamist.com/news/booking...
Booking an Airbnb in New Jersey for the World Cup? It may be illegal.
NYC all but bans short-term rentals. In New Jersey, soccer tourists and property owners face a patchwork of rules and prohibitions.
gothamist.com
New York is great because of immigrants "The drop-off in migration from abroad was the largest in the country and — along with more New Yorkers leaving for other places — halted the recent growth of the city’s population and blunted its post-pandemic recovery." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/n...
New York City’s Population Flat After Drop in Immigration
nytimes.com
The Atlantic Yards saga continues New York state officials are weighing whether to give $350M to developers trying to finally build a platform and housing over the train tracks — a plan hatched 5 governors, 4 mayors and 3 development teams ago gothamist.com/news/ny-stat...
NY state considering $350M in aid to build stalled Atlantic Yards platform in Brooklyn
Developers are seeking public funds to complete the project after two decades of delay, according to state lawmakers. Critics say the initial plan was never feasible.
gothamist.com
“We do acknowledge that there will need to be public resources to offset the value of, or the costs of the platform.” More from @davidfbrand.bsky.social: gothamist.com/news/ny-stat...
NY state considering $350M in aid to build stalled Atlantic Yards platform in Brooklyn
Developers are seeking public funds to complete the project after two decades of delay, according to state lawmakers. Critics say the initial plan was never feasible.
gothamist.com
'Crappy luxury': Inside NYC's brand new apartment buildings that are falling apart New for @wnyc.org and @gothamist.com gothamist.com/news/crappy-...
'Crappy luxury': Inside NYC's brand new apartment buildings that are falling apart
Many of the city’s newly constructed buildings, including swanky digs with top-dollar rents, are mired in violations and complaints.
gothamist.com
Former NYC probation commissioner faces investigation, sources say gothamist.com/news/former-...
Former NYC probation commissioner faces investigation, sources say
Juanita Holmes’ tenure at the agency during the Adams administration was marred by controversy.
gothamist.com
Been waiting for someone to pick up the mantle of "a lot of post-covid new dev kinda sucks" and @davidfbrand.bsky.social does not disappoint gothamist.com/news/crappy-...
'Crappy luxury': Inside NYC's brand new apartment buildings that are falling apart
Many of the city’s newly constructed buildings, including swanky digs with top-dollar rents, are mired in violations and complaints.
gothamist.com
President Donald Trump told Speaker Mike Johnson in a private conversation this week that “no one gives a [bleep] about housing,” according to four sources who heard the speaker recount the conversation. punchbowl.news/article/hous...
Trump dismisses housing fight in push for SAVE Act
Trump told Speaker Mike Johnson in a private conversation this week that “no one gives a [bleep] about housing."
punchbowl.news
NEW: @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social is halting NYC’s tax lien sale, and potentially scrapping it altogether gothamist.com/news/mamdani...
Mamdani halts NYC's 'predatory' private tax lien sale process
The mayor is ordering a six-month suspension in order to review the controversial system and add homeowner protections.
gothamist.com
Last month, Mayor Mamdani lobbied President Trump for federal funds to build a housing development in Queens. Today, we talked more about the plan itself with WNYC and Gothamist reporter @davidfbrand.bsky.social www.wnyc.org/story/mayor-...
Mayor Mamdani's Push to Build at Sunnyside Yard | The Brian Lehrer Show | WNYC
David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, discusses the housing project proposed for Sunnyside Yard.
wnyc.org
