Stephen Jacob Smith
@stephenjacobsmith.com
Executive director of the Center for Building in North America, [email protected]. Personal account. Brooklyn, NY.
This Vertières station being built for Montreal Metro’s Blue Line looks absolutely enormous, see starting at 1:13. Seems excessive for a two-track metro station without any underground interchange.
November 16, 2025 at 2:55 PM
This Vertières station being built for Montreal Metro’s Blue Line looks absolutely enormous, see starting at 1:13. Seems excessive for a two-track metro station without any underground interchange.
Naftali wants to demo a 33-story 1979 rental bldg on Fifth Ave., but zoning only allows same-sized replacement. It should be rezoned with enough density to match the height of the Pierre. I don’t care that it’s all ultraluxury condos, same-sized redev is a travesty newyorkyimby.com/2025/11/rend...
November 15, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Naftali wants to demo a 33-story 1979 rental bldg on Fifth Ave., but zoning only allows same-sized replacement. It should be rezoned with enough density to match the height of the Pierre. I don’t care that it’s all ultraluxury condos, same-sized redev is a travesty newyorkyimby.com/2025/11/rend...
The text of the report strongly implies (maybe even states? it's not that clear though) that there was no separation between the two stairways, but I've never heard of that in a residential building, and also the plan shows that they are separated. So...I'm confused! www.house.mn.gov/comm/docs/vZ...
November 14, 2025 at 10:27 PM
The text of the report strongly implies (maybe even states? it's not that clear though) that there was no separation between the two stairways, but I've never heard of that in a residential building, and also the plan shows that they are separated. So...I'm confused! www.house.mn.gov/comm/docs/vZ...
A bit of an exaggeration for JFK. If you’re headed from Midtown, you should be able to make it in under an hour. For sure the AirTrain frequencies and fare need to be improved, same with the LIRR connection, but the actual infrastructure is appropriate
November 14, 2025 at 3:40 PM
A bit of an exaggeration for JFK. If you’re headed from Midtown, you should be able to make it in under an hour. For sure the AirTrain frequencies and fare need to be improved, same with the LIRR connection, but the actual infrastructure is appropriate
That’s a defined term in the bill. No need to argue over it, they tell us what it means – it’s anybody doing manual labor as part of the development process. So people who clean up the construction site, act as flaggers, or guard the site at night (involves standing, walking – manual labor) count.
November 13, 2025 at 6:35 PM
That’s a defined term in the bill. No need to argue over it, they tell us what it means – it’s anybody doing manual labor as part of the development process. So people who clean up the construction site, act as flaggers, or guard the site at night (involves standing, walking – manual labor) count.
Amazing how gullible people on TikTok are. There’s basically not a single comment on this video siding with the teacher, it’s all about how racist the teacher is! It’s obvious at 0:30 that they were bullying that poor girl! The girl even starts smiling when the teacher mentions it!
November 12, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Amazing how gullible people on TikTok are. There’s basically not a single comment on this video siding with the teacher, it’s all about how racist the teacher is! It’s obvious at 0:30 that they were bullying that poor girl! The girl even starts smiling when the teacher mentions it!
It points to 402.6.1 for applicability and it’s just 120 ft.
November 12, 2025 at 9:39 PM
It points to 402.6.1 for applicability and it’s just 120 ft.
It’s hard for me to see how New York can stay as low-crime as it is in the long run with the Supreme Court flooding the city with guns www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/12/n...
November 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
It’s hard for me to see how New York can stay as low-crime as it is in the long run with the Supreme Court flooding the city with guns www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/12/n...
November 12, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Construction without cranes, lifts, or hoists, in the richest city in human history
November 11, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Construction without cranes, lifts, or hoists, in the richest city in human history
Here’s what those (“thermic rehabilitations” they’re called, I guess because they focus on improving the insulation) look like in Bucharest:
November 10, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Here’s what those (“thermic rehabilitations” they’re called, I guess because they focus on improving the insulation) look like in Bucharest:
If you don’t like the look of these new “zebra buildings” in Spain, fine, but to say they’re “globalized” is ridiculous – you only see these in Spain. It’s a uniquely Spanish contemporary style! You won’t find these buildings in France, Italy, or China.
November 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM
If you don’t like the look of these new “zebra buildings” in Spain, fine, but to say they’re “globalized” is ridiculous – you only see these in Spain. It’s a uniquely Spanish contemporary style! You won’t find these buildings in France, Italy, or China.
This article is great. Trickle-down, “abundance,” market solutions like ending parking requirements won’t work. But what will work? Rent control. Coops. Let’s look to nearby cities for solutions like that – for example…*checks notes*…Philly’s no-strings-attached 10-year tax abatement for developers!
November 8, 2025 at 9:53 PM
This article is great. Trickle-down, “abundance,” market solutions like ending parking requirements won’t work. But what will work? Rent control. Coops. Let’s look to nearby cities for solutions like that – for example…*checks notes*…Philly’s no-strings-attached 10-year tax abatement for developers!
Trégey Tower by Lambert Lénack, completed in 2025: 15-story neo-brutalist high-rise in Bordeaux (the tallest single-stair France allows prescriptively). It has a single winding stairway protected by a vestibule (likely pressurized), seven mostly 2-3BR units per floor. divisare.com/projects/541...
November 8, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Trégey Tower by Lambert Lénack, completed in 2025: 15-story neo-brutalist high-rise in Bordeaux (the tallest single-stair France allows prescriptively). It has a single winding stairway protected by a vestibule (likely pressurized), seven mostly 2-3BR units per floor. divisare.com/projects/541...
The whole project is beautiful – load-bearing compressed earth blocks for the walls, mass timber floors. There's a five-story sister building nearby that's got a single stair and seven units per story on the upper levels in a single-loaded corridor configuration. Plus, uh, two levels of 1:1 parking.
November 8, 2025 at 6:12 PM
The whole project is beautiful – load-bearing compressed earth blocks for the walls, mass timber floors. There's a five-story sister building nearby that's got a single stair and seven units per story on the upper levels in a single-loaded corridor configuration. Plus, uh, two levels of 1:1 parking.
Spanish NIMBYism is insane – a two-story social housing project in an urban neighborhood of Palma de Mallorca with mid-rises?! But, it does give me an opportunity to point out that even a two-story building has an elevator. Here's the upper story, with four small 1BRs: divisare.com/projects/542...
November 8, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Spanish NIMBYism is insane – a two-story social housing project in an urban neighborhood of Palma de Mallorca with mid-rises?! But, it does give me an opportunity to point out that even a two-story building has an elevator. Here's the upper story, with four small 1BRs: divisare.com/projects/542...
Interview she did with somebody (full one isn’t online afaict) where she says one of the things she’s gonna focus on as part of the transition team is finding unused authorities the mayor has, citing the president’s previously unused power to enforce of Made-in-America labeling rules as an example
November 8, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Interview she did with somebody (full one isn’t online afaict) where she says one of the things she’s gonna focus on as part of the transition team is finding unused authorities the mayor has, citing the president’s previously unused power to enforce of Made-in-America labeling rules as an example
Fun fact: Maryland’s single-family sprinkler requirement exempts houses without electricity as a way to exempt the Amish. So the only houses that don’t need sprinklers are the ones that use fire for lighting and have no phone to call for help? www.securitysystemsnews.com/article/mary...
November 7, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Fun fact: Maryland’s single-family sprinkler requirement exempts houses without electricity as a way to exempt the Amish. So the only houses that don’t need sprinklers are the ones that use fire for lighting and have no phone to call for help? www.securitysystemsnews.com/article/mary...
NYC real estate is so far from a monopoly though. It’s got such a vibrant pool of small contractors, landlords, developers. We’ve got Jews from all corners of the world here, bickering with and outbidding each other for total trash. I will refer you to one of my finest ratios:
November 7, 2025 at 4:52 PM
NYC real estate is so far from a monopoly though. It’s got such a vibrant pool of small contractors, landlords, developers. We’ve got Jews from all corners of the world here, bickering with and outbidding each other for total trash. I will refer you to one of my finest ratios:
lol a piece of wood siding just fell off of the bay window at the house my brother is renting in Philadelphia. I’m pretty sure the code there encourages bay windows.
November 7, 2025 at 3:17 PM
lol a piece of wood siding just fell off of the bay window at the house my brother is renting in Philadelphia. I’m pretty sure the code there encourages bay windows.
If that is the goal, it seems like it was a mistake to not route the Woolwich branch like this…it would have saved them both a river crossing and a reduction in frequency
November 7, 2025 at 2:23 PM
If that is the goal, it seems like it was a mistake to not route the Woolwich branch like this…it would have saved them both a river crossing and a reduction in frequency
Honestly, even that is high in an EU context. I know how they could bring them down though… 😈
November 7, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Honestly, even that is high in an EU context. I know how they could bring them down though… 😈
One way to reduce condo defect liability: stop forcing architects to design buildings that leak. HCD’s “objective design standards” guide *encourages* making building envelopes more complex, heightening leak and therefore defect lawsuit risk cao-94612.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documents/Ap...
November 7, 2025 at 2:42 AM
One way to reduce condo defect liability: stop forcing architects to design buildings that leak. HCD’s “objective design standards” guide *encourages* making building envelopes more complex, heightening leak and therefore defect lawsuit risk cao-94612.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documents/Ap...
Okay I looked into it
November 6, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Okay I looked into it
Looks like an early 20th c. NYC style called tapestry brick academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/...
November 6, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Looks like an early 20th c. NYC style called tapestry brick academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/...