Howard Slatkin
@hslatkin.bsky.social
Urban planner, New Yorker, more. Executive Director at Citizens’ Housing and Planning Council. Views expressed here are my own.
It is a strenuous feat of editorial gymnastics that this article does not name the ham-fisted symbolism of the federal government placing the essential symbol of America’s open arms toward immigration behind a prison-like fence in the name of “security.” 🗽 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/n...
A Fence Blocks a Famous View of New York Harbor
nytimes.com
In my new piece in @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social, “Landlords: the ‘Good,’ the ‘Bad’ and the Ugly Finacial Realities,” I unpack common assumptions about the motivations of landlords, noting that many of the most benevolently motivated landlords are struggling today. www.vitalcitynyc.org/rental-ripof...
Landlords: The ‘Good,’ the ‘Bad’ and the Ugly Financial Realities
Should we see landlords and tenants as rival prizefighters, or as potential partners trapped in a dysfunctional system?
vitalcitynyc.org
Get out your headphones, go out for a run, and listen to @benmax.bsky.social, @annemariegray.bsky.social, and me discuss housing policy priorities for NYC - from environmental review procedures to operating expenses to housing lotteries - so much to do! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
Housing Priorities for the Mamdani Admin, SEQRA Reform, & More, with Howard Slatkin & Annemarie Gray
Podcast Episode · Max Politics · March 13 · 1h 17m
podcasts.apple.com
The audit described here is a great example of how a failure to consider context can lead policymakers to miss the point completely - and it illustrates how this kind of thinking helps keep us buried in a crisis of homelessness and housing insecurity. /1 gothamist.com/news/new-aud...
New audit points to potential savings for rental aid program that Mamdani pledged to expand
The state comptroller’s office found inefficient processes and dangerous conditions in apartments leased through the CityFHEPS housing voucher program.
gothamist.com
A blanket of snow is a great reminder that some things aren’t about you
This was literally the code requirement for basement or cellar dwelling spaces in NYC - imposing $000,000s of costs on the legalization of an existing unit - until recent legislative reforms. Important fixes to make
Patrick Siegman@siegman.biz · 9mo ago“Their ceilings were 7 feet high — an acceptable minimum height for residential space under state code, but 6 inches too low to meet San Francisco’s more stringent requirement — meaning the units were “unwarranted” and couldn’t legally be rented.“ 🎁 link: www.sfchronicle.com/personal-fin...
I’d say this was as ridiculous as Don Quixote, but he was a weak-minded old man who attacked windmills, rather than being afraid they were coming to get him
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 9mo agoThe Trump administration said it would pause leases for five wind farms under construction off the East Coast, citing unspecified security risks.
In the flurry of Council votes, people seem not to have noticed that because of the way the the bills were drafted, they require (for instance) 40% of new affordable senior housing to be 2BR and 3BR units. Which is implausible & means we won’t be able to build any. www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/18/c...
Council Approves Gig Worker and Vendor Reforms, Building Rules and More in Marathon Year-End Session
Lawmakers considered more than 50 bills during the final meeting of the Council for 2025.
thecity.nyc
“It’s not that Times New Roman is a bad font. It’s just that you can and should do better.” Typography and policy converge. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Is Times New Roman Better Than Calibri for the State Department?
Type designers weigh in on the recent decision to replace Calibri with Times New Roman in official documents.
nytimes.com
A churning mix of heartbreak and anger at the news from Brown. Thinking of how when I took finals in Barus & Holley the worst thing I had to worry about was the exam. That’s what it should be like to be a student. Not this.
NYC’s Department of Buildings has a tough but important task to administer the basement apartment legalization program. Housing advocates are eager to support effective implementation, but can’t accept a program that’s not designed to succeed. www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/08/b...
Basement Apartment Rules Get Low Marks from Housing Experts
Long-awaited city regulations to let basement residences get legalized could add risks for homeowners, bring more harm than help, housing advocates and lawyers say.
thecity.nyc
City of Yes - allowing a little more housing everywhere - was a critical first step. Charter reform to fix the dysfunctional process for approving affordable housing was the next. Wrangling costs so the finances of affordable housing work is the next challenge. Let’s start by not making it worse.
Citizens Housing and Planning Council@chpcny.bsky.social · 10mo agoAlso: “If the Council passes a raft of new bills that could add an estimated $1 billion to the cost of just sustaining the current level of affordable production, it would be a setback to the new administration’s ambitious affordable housing goals before they even have a chance to get started.”
Footnote: this superfluous federal parking garage should have been an affordable housing development site years ago
talia jane@taliajane.bsky.social · 10mo agoICE garage blockaded in lower Manhattan with dozens of agents stuck inside as more and more New Yorkers gather. NYPD observed staging on Canal & Broadway, expected come over for crowd control.
I don’t believe in being reductionist, but there are two types of people in this world: people who have the spark of humanity and are fundamentally capable of making this world a better place for us all, and people who leave their dog poop bags in curbside recycling containers
It sure would be nice if the incoming NYC Mayoral administration were to move their social messaging operation from the Nazi site to this one. Or at least activate all the dormant City accounts here.
The Coast Guard reversed its 'swastikas aren't all that bad' policy just hours after the Washpost broke the story. It's both surprising, and good, to see that one government agency these days is capable of being embarrassed, and changing course quickly. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
In reversal, Coast Guard again classifies swastikas, nooses as hate symbols
The new order came hours after The Post reported the service would instead classify such symbols as “potentially divisive” under guidelines set for release next month.
washingtonpost.com
Accurate in that they “potentially divide” Nazis from people who should be allowed to serve in the US armed forces Really looking forward to when that White House priority of stamping out anti-semitism gets up and running. Any day now, I’m sure
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 10mo agoExclusive: The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika, nooses and the Confederate flag as hate symbols. Instead, the military service will classify them as “potentially divisive” under its new guidelines, which take effect next month. https://wapo.st/4p2HnKY
Don’t look away from this
Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf@revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social · 10mo agoI wanted to share probably the most important sermon I’ve given and it’s while I’m being arrested. It’s torture pure and simple what happens at #Broadview. I’m ok, though I was thrown to the ground and choked with my pectoral cross. A review of the video shows I was peaceful - did I deserve this?
For a body whose members often profess that affordable housing is their top priority, the City Council prioritizes a lot of things ahead of affordable housing www.crainsnewyork.com/politics-pol...
Developers alarmed as council advances minimum wage for affordable housing projects
The Construction Justice Act would set a $40 wage-and-benefit floor, increasing the cost of building.
crainsnewyork.com
Rick Scott was CEO of a large, for-profit healthcare company called HCA. While Rick Scott was CEO, HCA stole so much money from Medicare they were fined $1.7 Billion.
Steven T. Dennis@steventdennis.bsky.social · 10mo agoRick Scott told me his plan would be to take all of the remaining ACA subsidies and redistribute them to HSA accounts and people can then buy whatever insurance a state certifies. Basically a repeal/replace. He denied when I asked wouldn’t that create two-tiered system where sick pay much more…
This a terrible idea that has the benefit of sounding even worse
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 10mo agoTrump: "I want the money to go into an account for people where they buy their own health insurance. It's so good. The insurance will be better. It'll cost less. Everybody is gonna be happy. They're gonna feel like entrepreneurs. They're actually able to go out & negotiate their own insurance"
Striking how Brooklyn accounts for both the top 5 Mamdani (blue) and top 5 Cuomo (purple) districts
Rachel Holliday Smith@rachelholliday.bsky.social · 11mo agoyou've got to click around on this map, and the graphics here ... it's astounding. @haidee.bsky.social did such a great job with this:
ah, perhaps instead of pumping millions into endless factional infighting Dem donors could invest in making local Dem organizations genuine civic spaces that can reach people during and between elections
Jake Grumbach@jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 11mo agoOff their phones and into the streets www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/n...
I know there’s other stuff going on tonight too, but … NYC’s Charter now has new processes to approve more affordable housing, more quickly, and in more places.
I don’t care what your political sympathies are, you can’t just post “BREAKING: [candidate of my choice] wins” without citing which reputable source has called the race No, not even in an off-year election
Game 7 tension + house full of Halloween candy = bad scene
As you prepare to vote, NYC, please read my op-ed about the importance of NYC voting yes on questions 2 through 5: www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/fli... These changes aren’t about the needs of politicians. They’re about the needs of New Yorkers. /1
Vital City | Flip the Script, and the Ballot, for Housing
City Charter changes would help produce the affordable apartments New York desperately needs.
vitalcitynyc.org
A friend of mine in Chicago just shared a video on IG of an ICE operation near her house. The operation happened just minutes before the neighborhood Halloween parade. ICE used tear gas and multiple parents had to wash their kids' (including toddlers) eyes out.
