banner
LightNews
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin
@hslatkin.bsky.social
660 followers 280 following 360 posts
Urban planner, New Yorker, more. Executive Director at Citizens’ Housing and Planning Council. Views expressed here are my own.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 11h
Doing right with courage gives courage.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...
Brown University Rejects White House Deal for Special Treatment
www.nytimes.com
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 1d
I mean, the purpose of the proposal is to create more housing affordable to DC37 members in more neighborhoods (not to mention more jobs for DC37 members to process more land use applications) … but apparently the status quo is preferable
1 1
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 1d
The City Council and its Charter Revision Commission continue to use public funds to conduct a campaign against ballot questions proponents say will spur affordable housing.

Even in 2025, from a good government (ethical, legal) perspective, this is shocking.

www.crainsnewyork.com/politics-pol...
Council takes fight against housing ballot questions straight to voters
Council officials claimed the charter reforms would spell “the end of single- and two-family homes.”
www.crainsnewyork.com
1 2
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 7d
Some of us are old enough to remember:

www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/n...
They Kept a Lower East Side Lot Vacant for Decades (Published 2014)
www.nytimes.com
1
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 7d
Curious choice of location for this event opposing Charter reforms that would tame member deference:

Essex Crossing, a site built with affordable housing today, but which sat vacant for decades because of ...

... opposition to affordable housing development from a powerful local elected official.
thecity.nyc
THE CITY @thecity.nyc · 8d
City Council leaders joined forces with politically powerful unions Tuesday to urge voters to reject ballot proposals pushed by Mayor Adams that would make it easier to build affordable housing and make minor zoning changes:

www.thecity.nyc/2025/10/07/c...
Unions Join Council Leadership in Opposition to Mayoral Ballot Measures
Unions Join Council Leadership in Opposition to Mayoral Ballot Measures
www.thecity.nyc
1 1 2
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 10d
All this, and our new special correspondent, tonight on 60 Minutes
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 10d
There is a shortage of fearless, topical journalism in institutions once known for this
60minutes.bsky.social
60 Minutes @60minutes.bsky.social · 10d
There's no shortage of unbelievable stories that start with tequila, and this is one of them. cbsn.ws/3IJBF0W
How thieves stole 24,000 bottles of Guy Fieri's tequila in a highway heist
Trucks carrying Santo Tequila, a brand founded by Food Network host Guy Fieri and former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar, vanished last year. This is how the sophisticated highway heist was pulled off.
cbsn.ws
1 2
Reposted by Howard Slatkin
sykescharlie.bsky.social
Charlie Sykes @sykescharlie.bsky.social · 10d
People need to look at these pictures and ask, is this America? Does this look like America? Does this look like the America you want it to be?
open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
The Attack on Chicago
People need to look at these pictures and ask, is this America?
open.substack.com
15 100 280
Reposted by Howard Slatkin
djbyrnes1.bsky.social
Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 11d
Headed off scene. Local community understandably very upset. I still personally don't have any details on the reported shooting incident that led to today's protest.

WBEZ has a story out; remember things are still developing and details can change quickly.

www.wbez.org/immigration/...
Federal agents shoot woman they say 'boxed in' authorities on Chicago's Southwest Side
Authorities were on patrol when they were "rammed by 10 cars," according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security. The woman who was shot "was armed with a semi-automatic weapon," promp...
www.wbez.org
13 110 500
Reposted by Howard Slatkin
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 14d
Surreal moment for America. Needless to say, if the normal police ever pulled something like this — pulling every single person out of an apartment building and handcuffing them to run warrant checks — they would be sued into oblivion.

Yet ICE is going to get away with it entirely.
"It was scary, because I had never had a gun in my face," Fisher said. "They asked my name and my date of birth and asked me, did I have any warrants? And I told them, 'No, 'Ididn't." Fisher said she was handcuffed before being released around 3 a.m., and she was told that if anyone had any kind of warrant out for them, even if it was unrelated to immigration, they would not be released.
220 2.8K 5.6K
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 14d
*literally
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 14d
Which, if anything, proves a point about how poorly matched our current procedures are to their central purpose.
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 14d
This is how empty this complaint is: iterally any decision that would occur under these changes would require its own environmental review. Just as is the case today.

The petitioners are just saying “we want to stop this, and we’re accustomed to making environmental review claims to stop things.”
2 1
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 14d
The irony of trying to misuse a public review process to prevent the public from voting on reforms to a public review process - reforms that are themselves intended to enable more affordable housing proposals to be considered through this process! - would make the most ham-handed screenwriter blush.
2 1
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 14d
So, the idea is that there should be an environmental review for a referendum to change the City's land use review processes?

The processes set up in 1989 without an environmental review.

And modified in 2019 without an environmental review.

Charter referenda don't have environmental reviews.
stephenjacobsmith.com
Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 15d
NYC Republicans file lawsuit to stop a ballot initiative that would streamline the process for some rezonings, arguing it violates city and state environmental laws www.silive.com/news/2025/09...
NYC officials at war over ballot measures that could change the land use process
A lawsuit to stop the New York City Charter Revision Commission’s ballot proposals was filed Tuesday.
www.silive.com
1 3
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 17d
If trying to compare, it’s important to recognize that the market environment of QH and COY changes are apples and oranges.

In the late 1980s, there was hardly any market for new multifamily housing outside Manhattan, regardless of zoning. Today very different (at least for <99 units).
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 18d
Vile
1
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 20d
Notably, the Council has bucked member deference only at the end of a 4-yr electoral term (2025, 2021, 2009).

As we think about Charter reforms, it’s important to evaluate the structural incentives built into our processes, and how they will shape the actions of future occupants of these offices.
3
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · 20d
Kudos to the NYC Council for approving Just Home - an important project, bottled up for too long without even a hearing - and another affordable development, both over local member objections.

In a city that treats affordability as an urgent priority, actions like this would not be exceptional.
1 1
Reposted by Howard Slatkin
chpcny.bsky.social
Citizens Housing and Planning Council @chpcny.bsky.social · 27d
A new op-ed from CHPC’s @hslatkin.bsky.social in @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social illuminates how misunderstanding of rent-stabilized apartment data is contributing to a mounting financial crisis in the housing New York City's low-income residents rely on.

www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/the...
Vital City | The Rent Is Too Damn High (But Also Too Low)
Three strategies for addressing both the needs of renters and the financial challenges of maintaining their buildings
www.vitalcitynyc.org
1 2 2
Reposted by Howard Slatkin
doomforpresident.bsky.social
The Immortal Doom @doomforpresident.bsky.social · Sep 16
Ironic, isn’t it?
35 290 1.4K
Reposted by Howard Slatkin
the-goddess-speaks.bsky.social
✨ A Goddess has NO KING ✨ @the-goddess-speaks.bsky.social · Sep 14
20 370 710
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · Sep 11
This may be hard, but it isn’t complicated.

Political violence is intolerable.

Political rhetoric that stokes violence - by vigilantes or agents of the state - is a tool of political violence, and is intolerable.

Condemn and reject all leaders who stir the pot of political violence.
hslatkin.bsky.social
Howard Slatkin @hslatkin.bsky.social · Sep 9
This would be daylight robbery of NYC’s democratic process.
opennewyork.org
Open New York @opennewyork.org · Sep 8
"This brazen gambit should fail — for two reasons. First, the ballot language is plenty clear. Second, the BOE has no power to reject proposed charter revisions."
Vital City | Let New York Vote for More Housing
Stop the underhanded campaign against charter revision ballot proposals.
www.vitalcitynyc.org
1
Reposted by Howard Slatkin
ndhapple.bsky.social
City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · Sep 4
Reads like the statute guiding the actions of the Charter Commission. If you feel like the Charter Commission has failed to meet that standard, you'd sue the charter commission and force them to redraft the questions — which were published two months ago, fwiw.

BOE as an end-run is baaaaaaaaaaad.
1 2 7