James Lloyd
jamesmlloyd.bsky.social
James Lloyd
@jamesmlloyd.bsky.social
Director of Planning and Investigations for the California Housing Defense Fund (calhdf.org), retired naval officer, & rescue dog owner.
Fun fact: zoning was invented to get immigrant garment workers away from 5th Ave.
c250.columbia.edu/dkv/eseminar...
The Reinvention of New York
c250.columbia.edu
November 23, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Assuming private open space is impractical on high rises, the City is charging 40k/unit in open space fees plus about 10k in art fees. Eliminating both of those would go a long way to promoting housing where the City needs it most.
November 21, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Subtext: disallow the particular aspects of developments that make them financially feasible.
October 30, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I don't see sprinklers - am I missing something?
October 29, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Here at @housingdefense.bsky.social we use www.listenpublic.com to monitor council agendas across the state and it works really well
Listen Public
Government Observability
www.listenpublic.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:52 PM
the inspections have become progressively more stringent. Also, as DOB will show you, they are indeed doing repairs that also don't meet code
July 23, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Traditional bricks. And with that answer you've exhausted my knowledge on the subject. DOB has a huge slide deck of every disaster imaginable from brick curtain walls not installed correctly.
July 23, 2025 at 5:43 PM
They have to do take out a section of bricks or use a boroscope to see if the brick ties have been installed properly as part of the five-year LL11 inspections. It's expensive and often the brick ties were not installed to code by the masons.
July 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
It's because brick curtain walls keep moisture away from the structure underneath. Of course often the brick ties aren't installed properly, and LL11 inspections/repairs are horrendously expensive. As you know, Type 3/5 construction is effectively banned in NYC, so it's a different regime.
July 23, 2025 at 9:12 AM
*outside the hills
June 27, 2025 at 6:56 AM
what's happening now?
June 27, 2025 at 6:02 AM
what's happening now?
June 27, 2025 at 5:49 AM
I'm following along at home, thanks for live posting!
June 27, 2025 at 4:27 AM
the most dangerous reporters in the state, I'm telling you
June 15, 2025 at 3:39 AM
The MTA is not capable of keeping those elevators in good repair. They need to bite the bullet and have stairs/escalators, or move the station.
June 3, 2025 at 11:48 PM
It does if it's some sort of federal undertaking. Section 8 new construction can trigger NEPA. Check out the LAHD's page on NEPA:
housing.lacity.gov/partners/nep...
NEPA Review – LAHD
housing.lacity.gov
May 30, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Different cities structure subsidy in different ways. In NYC, the city subsidy is subordinate debt that accumulates deferred interest, but is never actually paid back, as principal/ interest would be a giant balloon payment. In practice, it's always refinanced to preserve the affordability.
May 29, 2025 at 6:04 PM
how has this thread missed the fact that my hometown has a pawpaw festival every year:
ohiopawpawfest.com
Ohio Pawpaw Festival
ohiopawpawfest.com
May 16, 2025 at 6:16 AM
Glad we could help!
April 9, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Not to our knowledge. We send these letters to inform cities of their duties and also to establish standing in case litigation is ever required.
April 1, 2025 at 2:49 AM
To everyone who is so desperate to wear camo, my answer is always:
February 25, 2025 at 11:59 PM
I think we should have a waiting list of 400,000 people in every major city to get a cup of coffee
January 27, 2025 at 7:30 PM