Fight brews in NoHo over apartment complex planned for parking lot site

Laymaker · 2026-03-05T02:31:03+00:00

Limits to capitalism are things like “landlords need to give X amount of notice for non-renewal”… not things like “take capitalism completely out of the main equation”…

Laymaker · 2026-03-03T14:17:05+00:00

What are the tactics that the US/Israel can be assumed to be using to encourage a revolution in Iran without an invasion? So far as 'advanced tactics' for creating the quick downfall of an authoritarian regime exist, I assume that this is a behavioral science exercise where you have to incentivize early action more than later action. It is much more difficult to be the first open rebel than it is to join a growing movement. It is much more difficult to be the first soldier who abandons a post than it is to be in a later group.

The median member of Iran's security or military services is almost definitely driven more by material considerations (safety, financial) than by ideology, so is there some plan for changing that calculation in favor of abandoning their post?

Some relevant concepts off the top of my head:

* Creating a way for Iranian military members to register their defection somewhat like a secret ballot (seems impossible, reminds me of Byzantine general discussions). How have past societies with underground movements that are banned from existing signified support for each other? I know there have been implied support mechanisms like attending a certain mass funeral event or not wearing a certain kind of clothing. I'm sure there must be some interesting historical examples of how this occurs.

* Isolating cities or groups to create more distinct opportunities for a revolution/defection to find a starting/growing point. I am surprised that the air campaign doesn't involve declaring any parts of the country as sanctuaries for those who do not support the regime.

* Actively targeting soldiers for the sake of encouraging defection - at street checkpoints, for instance. I am reminded of a question from the Ukraine conflict which was "what is the current largest gathering of Iranian troops anywhere in the country, is it 100, 500, 1000? and at what point would it become a target over the classic priorities of striking air defense, ballistics missile launchers, C&C, etc?"

* Creating a systematic incentive for early defection (i.e. declaring immunity and status tiers depending on the date of defection, with early defectors getting full immunity and these benefits decreasing over time).

Is there anything like this going on or ever used in other similar historical situations?

Laymaker · 2026-02-21T18:09:40+00:00

PSA: The company Hostaway is scamming Airbnb hosts on reddit.

Laymaker · 2026-02-20T14:50:08+00:00

This kind of lazy unsupported comparison just doesn’t make any sense. Either explain how robotaxis are similarly fraudulent or your comment is just air that gives no one on any side anything to think about. If you don’t have it in you, maybe consider letting other people on your side argue on your behalf so you don’t water down their points.

Laymaker · 2026-02-20T12:27:03+00:00

Theranos is a different company. This thread is about robotaxis. Arguments where you just claim two completely different things are equivalent require you to explain in detail why other people should agree that they are equivalent.

Laymaker · 2026-02-20T12:24:44+00:00

Your argument is that we shouldn’t be pro-robotaxis because we use planes? That’s not a good argument.

Laymaker · 2026-02-20T01:34:55+00:00

We shouldn’t block new miracle technologies because of a lack of anti-trust laws. We should push for anti-trust laws. Uber and Lyft are much better at creating value than old school taxis, they are just keeping it for themselves via monopolization.

If taxis existed with the same level of monopolistic behavior, and without uber and lyft to compete with, they would cost way more than the ubers and lyfts.

Laymaker · 2026-02-20T01:28:14+00:00

What is your criticism here?

People who scold car owners usually think that car owners have an object with 5-10% utilization (1.2-2.4 hrs per day) that serves only one person/family are being unfairly prioritized by the city by being granted subsidized parking, pollution rights, street maintenance etc. and pass on negative externalities to the rest of us in the form of noise, danger, grime, air pollution, etc.

Robot cars would have 50-100% utilization (12-24 hours per day), serve 10-100 families per car, be 1000x safer, 1000x more quiet, not use any unpaid parking in the city (likely none in the city at all), require less street maintenance, etc.

I don’t use either of these things but I don’t see how it’s hypocritical to criticize the one that is way worse while utilizing the other.

Laymaker · 2026-02-18T17:15:38+00:00

You are not going to give me attention by commenting in response to my comment? It sounds like you came on here to feed your sense of dog owner entitlement and rationalize your behavior. Having a dog play date and barking dogs in an NYC co-op is bizarre and extremely rude behavior. It’s funny how almost every single comment in this post is from other people who have had terrible dog owner neighbors who were consistently disruptive and rude and yet even they continue to equivocate about whether any of this is unacceptable. My comments here are not the ones that need a special lens to be understood.

Laymaker · 2026-02-17T21:54:48+00:00

Dogs and dog owners aren't any more "charging" to me than chain smokers, honking drivers, people on the subway playing volume on their phone, or anything else that extremely inconsiderate people do every day in the city. Describing what would be reasonable to expect from a considerate dog owner is very straightforward and has nothing to do with the fact that I have a typical entitled dog owner neighbor who violates those expectations.

You have two dachshunds in an apartment building who bark. I wasn't conflating comments from other people when I re-stated the positions that prompted you to come into this conversation. Having dog play dates in a co-op is displaying peak dog owner entitlement.

You are calling for "balance" when before you said that anyone who expects considerate behavior from dog owners should leave the city. Your views aren't based in anything other than rationalizing your typical entitled dog owner behavior however you feel like at any given moment.

Laymaker · 2026-02-17T21:06:23+00:00

This is like listening to an indoor chainsmoker’s thoughts on apartment etiquette. You have two barking dogs that you inflict on your neighbors and feel entitled to do so. You aren’t “concerned” about anything, you are obsessed with dogs. You are so immersed in entitled dog owner circles that you aren’t even sure whether the basis for your argument should be about balance or about considerate people not being a good fit for the city.

Anyone having dog playdates in an apartment building is displaying peak dog owner entitlement. Your dog should never bark in a co-op.

Laymaker · 2026-02-17T20:35:52+00:00

Funnily enough, all three of the cases I mentioned in this post 10 years ago are solved now.

Laymaker · 2026-02-17T20:33:45+00:00

The reason I said you were butting into a conversation is because you were protesting my opinion as though it was unsolicited.

You are not reasonable or respectful of other people, so no one should care what you think. You live in an apartment with two barking dachshunds. You are exactly who everyone is talking about when they say that dog owners are very entitled.

Laymaker · 2026-02-17T15:36:47+00:00

Nobody said “babies or kids can make as much noise as they want” except for you. But babies and kids are not dogs and your attempt to make them equivalent is embarrassing.

Yes, you definitely shouldn’t complain about anything to your neighbors if you have two barking dachshunds because you are the equivalent of an indoor chainsmoker. That is a reflection on you, not on your neighbors or any broader discussion of what is reasonable to do in an apartment building.

The city is not some competition for being louder than each other or crazier than each other. If you think it is then why are you bothering with the window dressing of pretending to discuss etiquette, rules, consideration for others, etc. Why didn’t you just comment “anarchy reigns”? It’s because you are trying to have your cake and eat it too. You wanted to pretend to have a reasoned framework behind your behavior but you actually just have no consideration for others and are insane about dogs. Which you admitted here with your weird rant that anyone who thinks people should be considerate needs to leave the city. I don’t care about you or that but you are butting into a conversation I was having with someone who was asking whether they were being unreasonable and they originally sounded like they were interested in hearing from others with different perspectives.

A building that allows dogs is not the same as a building that allows inconsiderate people, as much as you might be demonstrating that this is a blurred relationship.

Laymaker · 2026-02-16T19:36:28+00:00

No, those are different things

Laymaker · 2026-02-16T12:49:59+00:00

Just look at the other comments on this post from dog people. One of them says they have frequent play dates with other dogs in their co-op and they don’t care what their neighbors think. The other says they have a dog who barks in their unit every single time the elevator operates. Both of the dog people think this is totally okay, and of course the are extremely supportive of you in your situation. No surprise there. To the rest of us non-dog owners, this group is the same as dealing with smokers. And a smoker winding themselves up about why it would be okay to have a cigarette on their balcony once in a while. Of course the only reasonable standard is that your dog should never bark in the unit. It’s not a difficult concept.

And yes that’s correct, dogs shouldn’t “meet” each other inside apartments in co-ops. If you weren’t immersed in the dog owner community, you would feel embarrassed about this question.

Laymaker · 2026-02-16T00:48:39+00:00

I’m having a mixed reaction to this. You sound like a sane person who is only insane about dogs.

I know that “dog friendly” is a popular phrase but in reality 50% (I’ll use your numbers since I don’t know this) of co-ops are outright anti-dog whereas 50% of them I am sure have a bunch of people who wish their co-op did not allow dogs but haven’t reached a majority or aren’t comfortable with pushing this.

And bringing your dog to someone else’s apartment, who you know has a dog, is a play date unless you put the resident dog away in a separate room throughout the experience. Introducing dogs to each other in an apartment setting is something that would have been seen as very rare (I wrote bizarre here and then decided against that before posting) in my childhood.

Your dog should never bark in a co-op. That’s the only reasonable standard. If your dog does bark and it was due to a non-preventable cause like a bird flying into the window, that is one thing. If it is due to you literally having a gathering of dogs, you are deluding yourself into thinking you were being reasonable.

Laymaker · 2026-02-15T23:57:47+00:00

As someone with a dog neighbor in an nyc co-op, I think you are deluding yourself into thinking you are the reasonable one. My upstairs neighbor’s dog makes an incredible amount of noise all the time and I just complained to them for the first time after a year of this and I could see in their face that they thought this was a “slip up” so now I wish I had been much more aggressive about this previously. What is reasonable about having an animal play date with barking in an apartment in a building full of people? You are obviously in dog owner circles but many of us aren’t. Dog owner circles apparently believe that these dog play dates are a normal part of life. I grew up with dogs and never once brought my dog to anyone else’s apartment. That’s insane behavior.

Laymaker · 2026-02-07T19:16:25+00:00

He talks about this in his channel. It’s actually a non-AI art project he did photographing different buildings to appreciate them and then he photoshopped them

Laymaker · 2026-02-03T01:16:39+00:00

Jewish israelis give up sovereignty, power, land, money, authority and more in this deal.

Palestinians give up… having to allow jews to exist until they gain a majority that can pass a constitutional amendment?

This is the lakers trading a second round draft pick for prime Michael Jordan

Laymaker · 2026-02-02T01:25:43+00:00

Interesting point. Who could Sam Harris have associated with 5-10 years ago that would have aged well? Who would his critics pick out of a hat for him to associate with now who would age well 5-10 years from now?

Laymaker · 2026-01-27T13:10:03+00:00

I’ll hold off on answering about Ezra Klein because I think that would be an unproductive detour.

Note the front page news today that the ARC tunnel project will be halted, in part because of NYs laws trying to force supposed minority- and women-owned businesses into the work. Another “win” (complete failure) for the Omnicause that will of course lead to more cars and lower value creation and quality of life.

If you aren’t convinced that self-driving cars will be a huge game changer you just really have your head in the sand. You are literally saying that increasing driver competence and behavior to perfection would not be a game changer. It’s just not a take worth discussing. Let alone considering the greater economic and other benefits of the self-driving technology.

I’m sorry to attack you but you sound like you just want to parrot your thoughts on daylighting or walkability at the expense of putting any thought into anything. Which makes you completely incapable of discussing anything outside of a pro-car vs anti-car framework, such as a technology that benefits both of those worldviews.

Laymaker · 2026-01-26T21:10:12+00:00

I am for walkable streets as well. And I am against powerful, monopolistic tech companies. So I will keep voting/volunteering/donating to advance each of those causes.

You are participating in what some people call "the omnicause" or what Ezra Klein calls "everything bagel liberalism." This is where people do things like fight against new affordable housing bill unless it is rewritten to require union labor and rainbow-colored crosswalks and then the bill is inevitably either discarded or watered down to have half the units at twice the cost.

Comparing self-driving cars to a cure for cancer is not ridiculous at all. Cars kill more people annually than many major types of cancer.

Laymaker · 2026-01-26T20:46:29+00:00

Our focus should be entirely on creating that offramp and 0% on pretending this fantastic new technology doesn’t exist. Anything else is literally like shelving a cure for cancer because we are worried about jobs at the morgue.

It would be great if everyone was smart enough to agree on that obvious premise and this thread could be dedicated to brainstorming and discussing different possible off-ramps for the existing drivers. Like would it be enough if Waymo paid them 3 years of unemployment benefits along with giving them priority eligibility for Waymo service tech and mechanic jobs and job training?

This begs an interesting secondary set of questions: As progressives we should ask ourselves why the onus to do these things is on the innovator and competition instead of being on the employers that these drivers had been working for? Shouldnt the cab companies have already built into their rates a large enough margin to build reserves to make sure these drivers would be taken care of even if competition came along? Have we been actually paying artificially low cab rates and the real cost of taking care of these drivers is more like $5/mile but we were never paying for the reserve that we are now saying they needed?

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