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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

When I and others met with Mayor Solomon when he was a candidate 16 months ago, we walked away with similar conclusions. It is both vindicating and extremely troubling that over 2/3 of his own senior staff have come to the same conclusions and resigned. I worry for the future of Jersey City.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

...to spend $1.3M to precent a 4 family house from going up next to a nimby supporter who made this image below), andunpopularity due to factors somewhat out of his control (budget though even there his allies on council wwre taken aback at the lack of transparency and clairty).

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The FAR density of 100 Gold St will be 30, which comparable to some of Namdar's Journal Sq towers (the one at Newark and Central will have a residential FAR of 38.6). By far the highest residential FAR of any Manhattan apartment building (NYC a FAR cap of 12 from 1961-2024)

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

From the front there is no indication these accessory apartment buildings exist:

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Fire hit two 3-story rear (accessory) tenements in Jersey City' Paulus Hook neighborhood today. In the 19th century these were built in the backs of lots, with larger tenement buildings in front. This block has 3 altogether, with these 2 attached and the other a few lots away. Photo from reddit.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Another interesting finding from this paper: "inclusionary" zoning and exclusionary zoning go hand in hand. Towns with stricter inclusionary zoning are whiter, wealthier, and NIMBYer.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

New academic study: Inclusionary zoning costs renters $800k per affordable unit created. This is more than the per-unit cost for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. While LIHTC which is largely funded by the rich via income taxes, IZOs are regressive because they place the burden on renters.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Did...did the city make this developer save the tacky, non-original, painted pink stucco side facade of this Journal Square building as historic preservation? Did they think it was original or something? 🥴

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Here is a chart from the article showing how rare abatements have been in recent yeads. I really wish the new mayor would stop pushing this misinformation.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Some local flavor: downtown JC has a 15% IZ set-aside for upzoned land. In five years, not a single affordable unit has broken ground in downtown JC. When thr IZO passed, then-councilman Solomon pledged to relax the IZO if it didnt work. Instead he ran on making it more onerous & applying citywide

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

In his order denying the city's temporary injunction against closing Christ Hospital on Saturday, Judge Anthony d'Elia basically says Mayor Solomon has been gaslighting constituents with the argument that Christ Hospital illegally closed.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

If you sign up for updates from Ward F councilman Gilmore, he sends you advertisements for his for-profit business "Educational Gilmore Speaks LLC." The proceeds benefit the "EGS Scholarship Fund," which just means he gives kids discounts for his "services" and pockets the money. Grifter.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

If your inclusionaey zoning is well calibrated, you can get vurtually 100% utilization without making it a mandate. If it is poorly calibrated and it is a mandate, it will raise rents by reducing supply.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Even a 1% inclusionary zoning set-aside produces a sharp decline in housing production (see above, the slope of the light blue line falls the steepest on the left). And this causes annual rent increases for all renters *in perpetuity* as long as the policy is in place.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

"IZ seeks to produce affordable homes by substituting land use policy in place of broadly shared taxes and public subsidies. This analysis suggests that the public may be paying either way, and that the costs of IZ are both higher and more regressive than the alternative."

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Highland Avenue before and after being destroyed by developers

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Kind of interesting that this single-family house near the epicenter of the Journal Sq/Homestead Pl construction boom on Van Reipen Ave just sold for 2% *less* adjusting for inflation than it did in March 2018, despite the new retail amenities in the area.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Bus stop on Newark Ave still completely snowed in 3 days after storm, just as it was for two weeks after the last blizzard. Even worse this time: no foot path. Nothing was learned by city government.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Journalist Ben Max's assessment of the significance of this:

Again, between City of Yes & the charter changes (not to mention neighborhood rezonings & other things), Eric Adams' long-term impact on the city's housing landscape is looking immense.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

The gall of developers erecting out-of-scale apartment buildings that violate the neighborhood character of single family homes. (Duncan Ave, Jersey City)

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

🚨 Jersey City Heights residents: Meeting on safety improvements (including bike lanes) on Franklin Ave NEXT WEDNESDAY at 96 Franklin St (PS 8)

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

11 days after the storm, this bus bump out in a city right-of-way is mostly snow covered. There is a narrow path to the bus, with a giant slush puddle that most people aren't nimble enough to leap over. It shouldn't take volunteers to shovel this out.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Developers are greedy and profit-maximizing. They opt to take the subsidies where they can most efficiently be spent. All of these are aspects of development that are modeled in the paper, and contribute to these outcomes are observed.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Eric Kober, a former NYC director of housing at NYC Planning, found that Voluntary Inclusionary Housing was more effective than Mandatory Inclusionary Housing at producing affordable units. tinyurl.com/3etds7af

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

The really notable thing is what happens when you compare a mandate with a PILOT or upzoning, to a *voluntary* program that give density bonuses or PILOTs in exchange for affordable housing. A voluntary program with PILOTs produces MORE affordable housing overall at 1/5 the cost than a mandate!

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Many affordable housing proponents support mandates on the premise that they produce more affordable housing than voluntary incentives, even if they kill housing supply overall. A recent paper by Lebret et al shows this premise is false. (thread)

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

A sewer socialist gets results by focusing on outcomes and on the nuts and bolts of unglamorous but essential city services. Is the opposite of that a parade progressive? (Tbf he's been in office 5 business days, prob can't blame him for this imo)

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Unfortunately I fear this is a sign of distress due to citywide height limits pushing demand from wealthy neighborhoods to poorer ones in Medellín.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Maybe it should seem obvious, but we have the mayor linking development to higher taxes, so...

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Moody's recent assessment of JC's bonds: "helping to bolster the rating at this high level is...rapid ongoing development." Hampering development was also identified as a big fiscal risk factor in the Moody's report. We need rapid development that pays full taxes to keep services /taxes stable

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

At this pt I need JC to understand we elected a mayor who's gearing up to kill thousands of new homes/yr. A guy who would repeat all of San Francisco's policy mistakes over the last 50 years w 0 regrets. If we don't start organizing+getting engaged now we'll be in a lot of trouble. How to engage 👇

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

But wait there's more! Here he is, lying about 'new luxury towers' in JC getting tax abatements. A favorite bugbear of NIMBYs. Since 2016 only half a dozen new bldgs have gotten abatements, all in exchange for public school space, other public spaces, or substantial affordable housing.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

More NIMBY lies and demagoguery from this mayor. Almost all new buildings are paying full property taxes. They are part of the solution to our budget crisis, not the cause.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

JC's new mayor perpetuating the lie that "luxury towers popping up everywhere" get tax abatements. Since 2016 only half a dozen new buildings got tax abatements, all of them in exchange for providing the city with schools, other public spaces, or affordable housing.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Also, A+ response here to Solomon's lowest-common-denominator NIMBY slopulism

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

JC's new mayor 😭 🤡 Call me when throwing a parade involves getting over a dozen permits and approvals, hiring an attorney and a traffic engineer, and paying 6 figures in permit fees.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Some other proposals for the Journal Sq area are listed here. I spoke with Mike Lydon of Open Plans, who also said the blocks of Pavonia Ave between Summit Ave and JFK Blvd could become bus-only.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

A big challenge is threading bus lanes through the area around the Journal Sq terminal.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

I attended the Journal Sq workshop on JC's new transportation master plan update a couple weeks ago. Planners are giving lots of thought to improving bus service along bot JFK and West Side Ave with BRT but also traffic signal priority and bus lanes.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

The plans depicted above alone represent ~5,890 dwellings. Overall the last two JCRA agendas had plans listed for ~8,000 dwellings. Again, these projects aren't asking for any abatements or rezoning from JC, just trying to use existing zoning before it changes (likely to happen in next 1-3 yrs).

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Some large projects are being rushed through the JC Redevelopment Agency and onto the site plan approval process before the new mayor's appointees take over. These are all privately funded projects on private land. They're afraid of adverse zoning changes...

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

List of highest Zillow Observed Rental Indices in the NYC metro region

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

The new mayors in other cities in our region (NYC & New Rochelle) see new housing on parking lots near transit as a way to keep rents low. Meanwhile Jersey City's mayor-elect Solomon fundamentally sees transit-oriented housing on parking lots as "aggression."

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