Author | Lightnews

Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 14h

*not complimentary

Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 14h

Wow. This is an only-in-America (not complementary) kinda story.

An Alaska Native company—currently run by a non-Alaskan executive out of Virginia—has gotten deep into the ICE detention business, upsetting some shareholders. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Distant ICE Detention Centers Bring Money—and Anger—to an Alaska Native Community

Nana Regional Corp. is supposed to uphold Iñupiat values. Some shareholders say its role in Trump’s deportation machinery makes a mockery of that.

www.bloomberg.com

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 15h

Press release seems to imply it's almost entirely back of the office stuff being moved there, and training. Makes it sound like the waterfront property is crowded and they need to repurpose some back-office space there for manufacturing.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 15h

Fits with what they do. I imagine the Navy likes it that way too.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 16h

Funny acquisition...there are *plenty* of vacant/underutilized suburban office parks in CT west of New Haven, but not so much in the New London/Groton area.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 16h

Fascinating use for a dying mall--General Dynamics Electric Boat has bought the Crystal Mall near New London to house support activity for increased submarine construction.
www.facebook.com/share/17UFbU...

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 17h

JP was full of bright fall colors today

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Californians for Electric Rail @calelectricrail.org · 19h

LinkUS - a key component of Electrolink - is moving forward! Great news for through-running and faster rail service to more destinations in Southern California!

Joe Linton @lintonjoe.bsky.social · 20h

Metro board approves item 10 - approves #LinkUS Union Station run-through-tracks project environmental clearance [!]

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 23h

One thing that's in that update deck: the MBTA is bringing its long-term capital plan, the Program for Mass Transportation (PMT), in-house for the first time in ~20 years. The team I work on will be leading the work. More to come over the next year or two!

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 23h

As of today's MBTA Board meeting, several cool things my team has been working on are public!
1) The T's new Mobility Integration plan www.mbta.com/plans/mobili...
2) Full T Ahead mid-term service priorities www.mbta.com/plans/choose...
3) Update deck on planning work cdn.mbta.com/sites/defaul...

Mobility Integration | Planning at the MBTA | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.

www.mbta.com

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Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler.com · 1d

If I have learned anything from my time in urban planning, it’s this:

Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler.com · 1d

People somewhat reasonably assume that the rules governing our built environments are built on careful assessment of the best available science and rigorous analysis of tradeoffs but in reality it's like 85% vibes.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 1d

Shortlines almost never buy power brand new--they really can't afford it (which is why they get stuck with the old stuff that pollutes so much)

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 1d

👀👀

Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 1d

👀

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whet moser @whetmoser.com · 1d

with congress literally and figuratively shut down we are turning to our most fundamentally democratic institution (hours-long zoning meetings where people yell at you about "scale")

Steve Herman @newsguy.bsky.social · 2d

The National Trust for Historic Preservation wants destruction of the White House East Wing halted, saying it's "deeply concerned that the massing and height of the proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself." savingplaces.org/press-center...

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Matt Davenport @mrmattdavenport.bsky.social · 1d

The transportation piece is super interesting, too, and I probably didn't do it justice with the release. Fortunately, though, Sophie Kevany did an excellent job for @sentientmedia.org. sentientmedia.org/meat-consump...

$A text excerpt reads: The study also finds that emissions from transportation are a small fraction of overall livestock emissions, as has been shown in other research. For consumers eager to make a dent in their own climate emissions from what they eat, that means that eating locally, while appealing, does not in fact have much impact on emissions. “Food miles and related emissions are largely a myth,” Goldstein writes to Sentient. “Emissions from transporting food account for around 10% of total emissions related to producing and distributing food products to retail.” By and large, he adds, “most emissions occur during production, especially in the case of meat which requires lots of feed and generates lots of on-site emissions” that come mainly from enteric fermentation, primarily cattle burps, and the manure lagoons used to hold animals’ urine and feces.$

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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 2d

when you make the *existing city* illegal to build again today this is the obvious and inevitable consequence: www.latimes.com/california/s...

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 2d

This is a really, really cool analysis of how the carbon footprint ("hoofprint") of meat consumption varies widely across US metro areas. Chicago's history as a center for meatpacking has left it with a low hoofprint.

news.umich.edu/revealing-th...

Revealing the 'carbon hoofprint' of meat consumption for American cities

Depending on where you live in the United States, the meat you eat each year could be responsible for a level of greenhouse gas emissions that's similar to what's emitted to power your house.

news.umich.edu

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The People Mover Who Was Promised @pmwwp.bsky.social · 2d

It sounds like US steel makes rail from this but they are classifying it as foreign due to ownership from Nippon steel. I think that's wrong and that the location of the factory is more important.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 2d

There are now only two providers of rail (like the actual rail) left in the US market. www.freightwaves.com/news/just-tw...

Just two U.S. makers of critical railroad material left after plant closure

Cleveland-Cliffs will close its idle Steelton, Pa., facility permanently, leaving just two U.S. producers of steel rail for track.

www.freightwaves.com

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 2d

Elevators are important for urban logistics, since cities don’t have big single-story spaces. Here are two freight elevators in the Astor Pl. Wegman’s (built by Wanamaker’s?). Common in European/Asian warehouses, rarer in the U.S. due to our extreme costs. admin.centerforbuilding.org/wp-content/u...

One topic that was not covered at all in this report is freight elevators.
Deindustrialization has been a major theme of American urbanism and politics throughout the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st, as vertical urban warehouses and factories gave way to sprawling, single-story facilities in the suburbs and exurbs. Reindustrialization has been on the minds of many policymakers in America, with the energy transition, supply chain security, and growing demand for logistics facilities driving increased interest in industrial real estate. Freight elevators were in heavy use in multistory industrial buildings in U.S. cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and are still common in East Asia and, to a lesser degree, Europe. And possible reindustrialization of North America's urban cores will have to involve freight elevators
- modern multistory warehouses in U.S. cities are built with truck ramps, but the amount of land needed limits their development. There may also be smaller-scale freight applications that could smooth out the bumps of urban logistics. One person with experience developing grocery stores in Germany, for example, said that freight elevators are often installed in urban format stores there. They are rarely seen in New York City, on the other hand, which has problems with breaks in the cold chain when perishable food needs to be hauled by hand into basement storage. Freight elevators likely see the same cost premium in North America as passenger elevators, and their cost could impede broader efforts to bring denser industry back to North American cities.
More research is needed to confirm this, and to identify any issues that are separate from those of passenger elevators.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 3d

lol

Jennie Coughlin @jenniecoughlin.bsky.social · 3d

Cuomo, who is running for NYC mayor, will propose today that the MTA yield control of the subway system’s capital construction and station maintenance to NYC. The proposal might strike many transit advocates as ironic. Cuomo’s leadership of the MTA as governor was at times contentious.

Cuomo to Propose That New York City Take Partial Control of Subway

www.nytimes.com

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Lady Topham Catt @ladytophamcatt.bsky.social · 3d

A few more details from this incredible building.

Stone Temple Baptist Church (originally First Roumanian Congregation)
Architects: Joseph W Cohen & Co, 1926
#OHC2025

Exterior color close-up of part of the building's diapered gable parapet, into which are set two stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments, carved in Hebrew script. A stone corbel table supports the parapet and marks a division between the fancy diapered stuff above and the more sedate brickwork of the rest of the facade.

Exterior color close-up of just the central part of an enormous arcade on the front facade. Made of limestone, each of these monumental arches is separated by columns with fancy capitals bearing the Star of David. This arch in turn holds an additional three arched windows, also separated by columns, but with less fancy capitals. Above them is stained glass in a greenish floral design and a perfectly centered roundel with the Star of David. Above the monumental arcade and set into tan brick are two limestone medallions, one featuring the Torah and the other a menorah.

Interior color photo taken on an angle from the U-shaped second floor balcony. Four ornate chandeliers featuring the Star of David in the metalwork light the sanctuary, hanging from a gently arched ceiling into the space between the arms of the U. Several sets of glowing, stained glass arched windows can be seen on the opposite side of the balcony, each topped by stained glass prominently featuring the Star of David.

Interior color close-up of a newel post with too many generations of thick white paint muting some of the details. It is topped by a spherical finial sitting on a pyramid base with a raised foliate design. Underneath this are recessed panels on each side featuring the Star of David on a ribbed background.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 3d

ooooo

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Dolan's Knicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 3d

Still waiting on the details, but that sounds right. Would essentially replace the rest of the Amtrak cuts. Obviously, the difference is Grand Central vs Penn.

The big deal here is that CSX signed off on it as the lease with NYSDOT expressly prohibits commuter operation.

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