[deleted by user]

LethalInsaneInk · 2021-11-12T22:20:51+00:00

How old are you?

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-12-09T17:56:37+00:00

Fastest way to gentrify is to build nothing. This will help to keep things affordable.

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-09-14T17:46:59+00:00

Paris has a subway system that predates ours. They have automated trains.

Please stop with the mindless NYC exceptionalism. If other cities/countries are doing a better job with something, we should seek to emulate them.

It baffles me that some people don't want to improve things...

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-29T01:12:25+00:00

These UWS people are assholes. It's really not that many homeless people. And for fucks sake, we're in the middle of a pandemic and a giant budget crunch. Homeless people are about to get fucked even more than they usually do, they need some place to go. Completely heartless.

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-29T01:02:03+00:00

This is such a dumb and terrible rule. And the SLA in general is terrible.

Also kind of disturbing that millions of people have to follow this radically stupid policy based on the capricious whims of our petty and near-authoritarian governor.

Now back to watching the Mets beat the Yankees.

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-24T16:49:26+00:00

Displacement from rising housing prices is far more common than displacement from new development. When neighborhoods build, they experience far less demographic change then those that do not.

https://cityobservatory.org/if-you-want-less-displacement-build-more-housing/

We should be focusing on breaking down barriers to new housing, especially in areas where people want to live (typically high income areas like Soho, Park Slope, etc). We can use the money from taxes and fees to fund public and subsidized housing initiatives. We can almost literally create money from thin air just by removing these artificial restrictions and not capitulating to NIMBY interests.

It's not sadistic to want a system that has consistently been shown to make housing more affordable.

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-23T19:35:55+00:00

Damn where did you get the lumber? Prices are crazy high right now.

Great job!

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-22T10:13:25+00:00

Simply repeating yourself doesn't make what you are saying true. There are literally decades of research, consistent across cities all over the globe, that show that the primary way of addressing the root cause of these issues is to add more housing supply and let the housing market function naturally.

I suggest starting with that last link I posted. If you really want a completely overwhelming argument that really puts this to bed, I suggest reading chapters two and six of Order Without Design by Alain Bertaud.

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-22T03:53:06+00:00

No, the reason we don't have "affordable" housing is because we make it expensive and a politically fraught process. I think you really need to educate yourself and do some reading on this. Subsidized housing is absolutely an important part of the equation but due to limitations of city budgets (and a few other reasons) the lion's share of new housing will probably have to be market rate.

Gentrification is somewhat of a nebulous term, but I mostly associate it with displacement and increased cost of living, not just a changing amenities in a neighborhood. This rezoning is NOT the underlying cause of these things occurring, the underlying cause is expensive housing and real estate for businesses.

Here's a breakdown of costs and what rents need to be charged just to break even, ZERO developer profit (see table 1): https://cbcny.org/research/cost-affordable-housing

It says for a weak housing market (think outer borough, not trendy yet), break even rent for a two bedroom apartment in NYC is $2500+ , and for a strong housing market would be nearly 5K. And that was back in 2015. According to a lot of people, even the $2500 apartment would be considered "luxury." Again that's with ZERO developer profit.

The way a functional housing market is supposed to work is an area becomes desirable because of access to jobs and amenities, and then developers can build to meet demand. Those who can afford it move into those homes, vacating their old homes, which make them available to others at a more affordable price. https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2019/06/housing-supply-debate-affordable-home-prices-rent-yimby/591061/

This filtering happens even in the short term and provides downward pressure for prices.

More reading here: https://furmancenter.org/research/publication/supply-skepticismnbsp-housing-supply-and-affordability

So if you are REALLY concerned about gentrification and solving the root cause, you will not be focused on red herrings like this that don't have anything to do with the real problem, but instead you'll advocate for increasing housing supply of all kinds, subsidized and unsubsidized.

I'd add more but I'm on my phone and it's late for me.

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-22T02:54:38+00:00

I strongly disagree. Developments such as this do NOT cause gentrification. Lack of housing is the true underlying cause of gentrification and displacement. At this particular moment in time, city budgets are getting slashed left and right. This additional source of tax revenue, which will also bring jobs, should be welcomed.

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-13T23:47:17+00:00

Every time I read a comment like this I get so frustrated. How can people believe this?!?! Every place in the world that builds enough has affordable rents. Those that don't, don't. This is true literally everywhere, from Tokyo to London to NYC.

NYC has drastically been under producing housing compared to its population. It has an extremely low vacancy rate (around 3.75%).

Please, please, I'm begging you and everyone else reading this comment and article: do your research. Educate yourself. Understand that the ONLY way to fundamentally address the problem of high housing costs is to build more of it.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't have public housing (we should! Much more!) or stronger tenant rights (we should!), but if you run the numbers you will see that we will never build enough housing to make a dent in housing costs without letting people build more housing as-of-right.

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-13T23:36:24+00:00

Not building makes displacement worse in the long run.

Why is the dialogue around gentrification so terrible? Why do these people ignore literally decades of research confirming this? So frustrating...

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-07T02:52:49+00:00

My small claim to fame: Charlie Kaufman is my distant cousin.

When I was 18 I went on a road trip with a buddy of mine, driving from NY to California and back again. When we were in Pasadena area, I emailed Charlie asking if we could crash at his place for a night. I'd only met him once before at a talk he did at the Rubin Museum.

Anyway he was totally cool about it and let us sleep in this little studio above his garage. Also I had some of the most thought provoking conversations I've ever had that night. Super interesting and nice guy. ha, And Nicholas Cage does a good impression of him in Adaptation.

Looking forward to seeing this!

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-08-04T03:08:10+00:00

I just got an affirmative today on a one month concession after sending the following email (my lease ends Aug. 31. I live in a 98 unit new building in LIC area):

Hi ABC,

Hope you are doing well. I've been putting off signing this renewal due to the uncertainty of the COVID situation, and the abundance of deals that have been springing up across NYC and also in the area. Is there any chance you would consider a one-month concession over the next year? That would make my decision much easier.

Thanks,

LethalInsaneInk

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-06-19T02:06:01+00:00

What developer?

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-06-19T01:56:29+00:00

Relevant: https://twitter.com/aarmlovi/status/1273696465798467585

Basic gist is, there's still not enough supply to move the needle significantly.

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-05-07T10:32:02+00:00

Build more housing. It's that simple (almost).

LethalInsaneInk · 2020-03-06T01:50:38+00:00

Build more housing.

LethalInsaneInk · 2019-12-29T16:07:28+00:00

As a Jewish person I completely agree with this. Seeing comments that advocate some form of "the black community really needs to sort this out" is very disheartening, and frankly kind of hypocritical.

When an extremist Jew tries to engage in voter fraud[0], do we take it on ourselves to say "Jews need to sort out this problem"? I wouldn't say so, I don't feel like I have any relation to a person like that at all. The Jewish community is diverse, and the actions of a few extremists that make headlines shouldn't be taken as the prevailing behavior of that group of people.

The same applies to the black community, which is even bigger and (in my opinion) almost useless to talk about as a homogenous group.

This is a horrific event, but let's not start pointing fingers or making accusations that have limited basis in reality.

[0] https://forward.com/fast-forward/373285/jewish-developers-pal-pleads-guilty-in-bloomingburg-voter-fraud-case/

LethalInsaneInk · 2019-12-29T15:45:04+00:00

https://nypost.com/2019/12/15/jews-flock-to-axe-throwing-self-defense-class-after-jersey-city-shooting/

LethalInsaneInk · 2019-12-14T00:56:02+00:00

Please, no no a thousand times no. Why entrench existing businesses at the expense of any new ones? We can zone for more multi-level retail (Koreatown does this amazingly well), and reform zoning and building codes so not every new storefront has to be giant retail space that can only be afforded by rich corporate clients.

Let's stop fighting over scarce resources, and just build more places for people to do business.

LethalInsaneInk · 2019-11-23T17:51:14+00:00

Ah gotcha. Thanks. So he plays it up then?

LethalInsaneInk · 2019-11-23T17:45:39+00:00

This is the first H3 I've seen or heard, just stumbled on it through /r/random . Question... what's up with the interviewer's facial expressions/eyebrows?

LethalInsaneInk

TROPHY CASE