The path to get there is strewn with many obstacles.

The city needs more housing. John Mangin’s pending confirmation to chair a city land-use board should not devolve into a culture war on development.

The Rental Ripoff Hearing Report’s recommendations would harm the private rental housing sector New York City needs to thrive.

New York City’s Penn Station is the ultimate transportation planner’s nightmare, dysfunctional on multiple levels and seemingly impossible to fix.

The mayor inherited favorable trends, but much remains to be done to keep the better times going.

Though it punts on the biggest issues, the bipartisan legislation marks a rare instance of constructive dealmaking in Washington.

Block by Block, the housing plan released this week by the Mamdani Administration may produce significant new construction and some useful reforms, but it remains constrained by ideological commitment...

The neighborhoods south of Prospect Park have the transit capacity for far more housing—if the city allows it.

But he’s unwisely betting he can keep spending more than the city takes in.

In this episode we talk with Eric Kober, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and former director of housing, economic and infrastructure planning at the New York City Department of City Plannin...

While staying true to his socialist roots, New York City’s mayor has chosen one of the worst possible options to achieve his affordability goals.

As private employment growth slows, Gotham’s fiscal challenges will become harder to solve.

Michelle Wu is backing a bad housing policy that refuses to die.

The governor’s environmental-review reforms will speed up new construction—if the state legislature cooperates.

The distressed buildings need income and currently have no way to get it.

Many policies advocated by Zohran Mamdani as a New York City mayoral candidate were viewed skeptically by commentators who do not share his democratic socialist politics.[1] Within my own areas of exp...

Approval of pro-housing-development ballot measures suggests that the old “home voter” coalition is dead.

City Council’s fear campaign shows why the Charter proposals are needed.

Some of the city’s most valuable land is tied up in manufacturing zones.

The council is making a last-ditch effort to hold on to certain powers.

In July 2025, the New York City Charter Revision Commission (NYC CRC) appointed by Mayor Eric Adams approved five November ballot questions proposing revisions to the city charter, the document establ...

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 gutted investment in rent-stabilized units.

The political bases of Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo help reveal why there’s no center-right alternative.

"To address the problem of member deference, land use approvals could be taken from the Council’s jurisdiction. I suggest the creation of a new city position, the Zoning Administrator, who would be en...

Faster train service is possible, but untangling the political and legal knots to get there could prove difficult.

Not one—including Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo —is willing to level with voters about the need to make the city affordable for young adults.

The Trump administration has announced a takeover of the improvement project, but it will require more than just federal muscle.

In my 38-year career as a city planner in New York City, I often sensed the bemused shade of the master builder, Robert Moses, commenting ironically on the futility of promoting growth in the face of ...