@erik-engquist.bsky.social
I wish I had found this quote to put in my piece about Trump's housing plan:
“We're going to keep those prices up. We're not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn't work very hard can buy a home.” — President Donald Trump
therealdeal.com/national/202...
“We're going to keep those prices up. We're not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn't work very hard can buy a home.” — President Donald Trump
therealdeal.com/national/202...
Trump aims to make homes more affordable, yet more expensive
President Donald Trump sketched out a housing plan that focuses on increasing shoppers’ buying power and maintaining high home values.
therealdeal.com
February 2, 2026 at 3:43 PM
I wish I had found this quote to put in my piece about Trump's housing plan:
“We're going to keep those prices up. We're not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn't work very hard can buy a home.” — President Donald Trump
therealdeal.com/national/202...
“We're going to keep those prices up. We're not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn't work very hard can buy a home.” — President Donald Trump
therealdeal.com/national/202...
"To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children." — Portland Mayor Keith Wilson
apnews.com/article/port...
apnews.com/article/port...
Mayor of Portland, Oregon, demands ICE leave the city after federal agents gas protesters
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, has demanded that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leave his city after federal agents launched tear gas at demonstrators — including young children — outside an...
apnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:35 PM
"To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children." — Portland Mayor Keith Wilson
apnews.com/article/port...
apnews.com/article/port...
11% of FHA mortgages are delinquent. But that number would be even worse if the feds started garnishing the wages of people in arrears on student loans, as many FHA borrowers are. therealdeal.com/national/202...
11% of these mortgages are delinquent
Americans struggling to make their mortgage payments likely helped save Americans struggling to repay their student loans.
therealdeal.com
February 1, 2026 at 11:47 PM
11% of FHA mortgages are delinquent. But that number would be even worse if the feds started garnishing the wages of people in arrears on student loans, as many FHA borrowers are. therealdeal.com/national/202...
This piece has generated some fascinating feedback about what it's like to operate rent-stabilized housing in NYC.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
No good deed unpunished: Receiver tarred as “worst landlord”
Appointed by judges to fix dilapidated properties, Joe Cafiero and other receivers are blamed for the violations they inherit.
therealdeal.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:06 AM
This piece has generated some fascinating feedback about what it's like to operate rent-stabilized housing in NYC.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
The Daily Dirt: Rihanna’s hopeless place
If you've been to Barclays Center, you've probably seen this building. The lease for Savage x Fenty was signed in 2022. It's still boarded up, but rent is being paid.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
If you've been to Barclays Center, you've probably seen this building. The lease for Savage x Fenty was signed in 2022. It's still boarded up, but rent is being paid.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
The Daily Dirt: Rihanna’s hopeless place
Savage x Fenty signed a lease in 2022 to open at 182 Flatbush Avenue but the only progress has been an illegal advertising sign.
therealdeal.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:42 PM
The Daily Dirt: Rihanna’s hopeless place
If you've been to Barclays Center, you've probably seen this building. The lease for Savage x Fenty was signed in 2022. It's still boarded up, but rent is being paid.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
If you've been to Barclays Center, you've probably seen this building. The lease for Savage x Fenty was signed in 2022. It's still boarded up, but rent is being paid.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Tom DiNapoli's recommendations would make CityPHEPS rental vouchers even harder to use. This is a classic example of how trying to make a program perfect would make it less effective. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
DiNapoli would make rental vouchers even harder to use
An audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli recommended changes to CityPHEPS vouchers that would prolong vacancies and shelter stays.
therealdeal.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Tom DiNapoli's recommendations would make CityPHEPS rental vouchers even harder to use. This is a classic example of how trying to make a program perfect would make it less effective. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Hamptons condos were offered for 70% off, but only 2 of 136 lottery applicants were qualified buyers. It's an example of why achieving affordability by regulation is harder than it seems. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Condos for 70% off? Why the quest to regulate affordability will never end
From discounted condos on Long Island to income-restricted co-ops in New York City, regulating housing affordability is hard.
therealdeal.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Hamptons condos were offered for 70% off, but only 2 of 136 lottery applicants were qualified buyers. It's an example of why achieving affordability by regulation is harder than it seems. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Adams ends mayoralty with final screw-up (with some unfortunate help from top aide Randy Mastro) therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Adams ends mayoralty with final screw-up
A harebrained Elizabeth Street Garden plan by Eric Adams and Randy Mastro ended in predictable fashion on their final day at City Hall.
therealdeal.com
January 1, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Adams ends mayoralty with final screw-up (with some unfortunate help from top aide Randy Mastro) therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
The Chraibi brothers build "missing middle" housing in South Florida. Why can't we do it in NYC? therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Make South Florida brothers’ success possible in NYC
So much development is either high-end or income-restricted that the in-between homes are essentially missing.
therealdeal.com
January 1, 2026 at 7:58 PM
The Chraibi brothers build "missing middle" housing in South Florida. Why can't we do it in NYC? therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Socialists complain about people having to pay for things. Conservatives complain about people getting things for free or nearly free (like rent-stabilized housing). Even a $6 fee to rent a luggage cart at JFK can get these folks all riled up.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Welcome to NY, the land of free stuff
A common sentiment in New York politics is that people should get things for less than they cost, or even free. But someone has to pay.
therealdeal.com
December 30, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Socialists complain about people having to pay for things. Conservatives complain about people getting things for free or nearly free (like rent-stabilized housing). Even a $6 fee to rent a luggage cart at JFK can get these folks all riled up.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
In a span of three months, the City Council speaker fought City Charter revisions and passed the ill-conceived COPA and three bills slashing affordable housing production. Fewer homes, more bureaucracy. That’s a helluva way for a former housing champion to go out.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
The Daily Dirt: Speaker damages housing legacy
Adrienne Adams, who previously championed housing, fought City Charter revisions and passed COPA and three bills slashing production.
therealdeal.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
In a span of three months, the City Council speaker fought City Charter revisions and passed the ill-conceived COPA and three bills slashing affordable housing production. Fewer homes, more bureaucracy. That’s a helluva way for a former housing champion to go out.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
The Wall Street Journal's story on the Twin Cities' rent control experiment got it mostly right, but not the part about evictions. It put that in to show the "other side of the story," but there really is no other side: therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Minnesota’s mistake on rent control
St. Paul passed rent control while Minneapolis built housing, creating a natural experiment to show which policy is better.
therealdeal.com
December 21, 2025 at 3:24 PM
The Wall Street Journal's story on the Twin Cities' rent control experiment got it mostly right, but not the part about evictions. It put that in to show the "other side of the story," but there really is no other side: therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
My column for The Real Deal has been rebranded as "Reality Check" and given its own newsletter, which we will blast out to @trdny subscribers Monday, Wednesday & Friday. It runs online the next day (we have a paywall for frequent visitors). Here's one:
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Even dead tenants are hard to evict
When tenants die, it can trigger a long, frustrating process that keeps units vacant for a year or more and costs landlords thousands.
therealdeal.com
December 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM
My column for The Real Deal has been rebranded as "Reality Check" and given its own newsletter, which we will blast out to @trdny subscribers Monday, Wednesday & Friday. It runs online the next day (we have a paywall for frequent visitors). Here's one:
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
One of the many reasons it's hard to find an apartment in NYC is that even dead tenants often have to be evicted, and that can take more than a year. I'm sure the process could be streamlined if our leaders put some effort into it.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Even dead tenants are hard to evict
When tenants die, it can trigger a long, frustrating process that keeps units vacant for a year or more and costs landlords thousands.
therealdeal.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:21 PM
One of the many reasons it's hard to find an apartment in NYC is that even dead tenants often have to be evicted, and that can take more than a year. I'm sure the process could be streamlined if our leaders put some effort into it.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
At this point, only a fool would finance a sub rehab without a written guarantee from HCR that deregulation is OK. But what about all the projects done with the assumption that the rules were the same as they had been for ages? How many buildings are at risk? therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
The Daily Dirt: Sub-rehab disaster in the making
Investments in hundreds of substantially rehabilitated and deregulated buildings could be wiped out by the state’s housing regulator.
therealdeal.com
December 17, 2025 at 10:39 PM
At this point, only a fool would finance a sub rehab without a written guarantee from HCR that deregulation is OK. But what about all the projects done with the assumption that the rules were the same as they had been for ages? How many buildings are at risk? therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Hundreds of inane reports are required by city laws, including a report on how many reports are required. As of 2019, there were 842. The NYC Council is trying hard to get to 1,000. Now businesses have a new one to file each year.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Paperwork madness: New burdens for businesses, city
If city workers are not returning your calls and emails, they may be doing pointless reports mandated by law.
therealdeal.com
December 15, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Hundreds of inane reports are required by city laws, including a report on how many reports are required. As of 2019, there were 842. The NYC Council is trying hard to get to 1,000. Now businesses have a new one to file each year.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
When manufacturing jobs largely disappeared from the Northeast, upstate NY cities were devastated but NYC (which lost nearly all of its 1 million manufacturing jobs) reinvented itself.
One factor: Parking lots are holding upstate cities back. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
One factor: Parking lots are holding upstate cities back. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
What not to do: Real estate lessons from Upstate
Huge swaths of upstate cities are devoted to parking lots — masses of macadam that spread people apart and sap life from urban centers.
therealdeal.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:12 PM
When manufacturing jobs largely disappeared from the Northeast, upstate NY cities were devastated but NYC (which lost nearly all of its 1 million manufacturing jobs) reinvented itself.
One factor: Parking lots are holding upstate cities back. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
One factor: Parking lots are holding upstate cities back. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
What if we applied the theory behind the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act to necessities besides housing, such as food and clothing? So, nonprofits would get first dibs to buy food, before evil supermarkets jack up the price 2% to make a profit. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
If COPA is so great, why stop there?
If COPA for apartment buildings is a good idea, why not apply its logic to food, clothing, energy and other necessities?
therealdeal.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:42 PM
What if we applied the theory behind the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act to necessities besides housing, such as food and clothing? So, nonprofits would get first dibs to buy food, before evil supermarkets jack up the price 2% to make a profit. therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
The NYC Council thinks the way to change the outcomes of a complex system is to simply mandate new outcomes. That approach has produced three bills that would disrupt affordable housing production, killing some projects, according to NYSAFAH therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
The Daily Dirt: Enough with the mandates
Council members are proposing mandates that would throw a wrench into the complex machinery of affordable housing development.
therealdeal.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The NYC Council thinks the way to change the outcomes of a complex system is to simply mandate new outcomes. That approach has produced three bills that would disrupt affordable housing production, killing some projects, according to NYSAFAH therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Why Mamdani should sweat the small stuff, like getting city agencies to end practices that waste New Yorkers' time or, worse, cause elderly people to miss out on benefits: therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Why Mamdani should sweat the small stuff
Mamdani got elected by running on big ideas. But there are small, more achievable things he can do to make the city work better.
therealdeal.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Why Mamdani should sweat the small stuff, like getting city agencies to end practices that waste New Yorkers' time or, worse, cause elderly people to miss out on benefits: therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
I know Zohran Mamdani has big ideas, but basic "blocking and tackling" could go a long way toward making NYC more affordable. One example is speeding up landmarks permits. As one developer told me: "The wait can be a killer." therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
“The wait can be a killer”: Mamdani must fix historic districts problem
Landmarking is well past the point of diminishing returns. The main thing it is preserving now is the housing shortage.
therealdeal.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:52 PM
I know Zohran Mamdani has big ideas, but basic "blocking and tackling" could go a long way toward making NYC more affordable. One example is speeding up landmarks permits. As one developer told me: "The wait can be a killer." therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Warren Buffett famously said, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”
In the same vein, the proposed New York City Charter revisions are revealing who is truly pro-housing and who has just been faking it.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
In the same vein, the proposed New York City Charter revisions are revealing who is truly pro-housing and who has just been faking it.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
Charter revisions expose fake housing advocates
The proposed New York City Charter revisions are revealing which politicians are truly pro-housing and who has just been faking it.
therealdeal.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Warren Buffett famously said, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”
In the same vein, the proposed New York City Charter revisions are revealing who is truly pro-housing and who has just been faking it.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
In the same vein, the proposed New York City Charter revisions are revealing who is truly pro-housing and who has just been faking it.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
I never knew (until this week) that FHA, VA and USDA mortgages are assumable. That is, they can be transferred from sellers to buyers. Which is big, because mortgage rates have doubled since 2021. Several startups are now operating in this space. therealdeal.com/national/202...
With lock-in effect crushing home sales, a solution emerges
One in four home mortgages is assumable, a little-known fact that allows startups like Roam to reduce borrowing costs for homebuyers.
therealdeal.com
October 11, 2025 at 1:37 AM
I never knew (until this week) that FHA, VA and USDA mortgages are assumable. That is, they can be transferred from sellers to buyers. Which is big, because mortgage rates have doubled since 2021. Several startups are now operating in this space. therealdeal.com/national/202...
Andrew Cuomo says he would start 300 projects at once to build 500,000 affordable units. And I thought @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's housing plan was absurd.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
The Daily Dirt: Cuomo’s housing fantasy puts Mamdani’s to shame
Andrew Cuomo’s initial housing plan didn’t win him any votes, so he made it even more fantastical than mayoral rival Zohran Mamdani’s.
therealdeal.com
October 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Andrew Cuomo says he would start 300 projects at once to build 500,000 affordable units. And I thought @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's housing plan was absurd.
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
“We were trying to break the mold”: The first attempt in NYC at a multifamily built to the passive house standard. How'd it turn out? @phplus.bsky.social @passivehouseie.bsky.social @passivehousebb.bsky.social @passivehousecan.bsky.social @passivehousela.bsky.social
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
“We were trying to break the mold”: The story of 803 Knickerbocker
RiseBoro’s 803 Knickerbocker Avenue development pioneered one of the state's first passive house multifamily buildings. Now it’s become the norm.
therealdeal.com
October 9, 2025 at 9:00 PM
“We were trying to break the mold”: The first attempt in NYC at a multifamily built to the passive house standard. How'd it turn out? @phplus.bsky.social @passivehouseie.bsky.social @passivehousebb.bsky.social @passivehousecan.bsky.social @passivehousela.bsky.social
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...
therealdeal.com/new-york/202...