Chaim Simon

How an NYC Suburb Is Actually Managing to Bring Rents Down New Rochelle embraces development and makes it easy to build, leading to thousands of new apartments.

“Those 11,000 new units would represent a 37% increase in the number of New Rochelle apartments compared with 10 years ago…New Rochelle’s median rent actually declined 2% from 2020 to 2023, while median rent nationally was surging at a double-digit rate.” www.wsj.com/real-estate/...

This new speed is 31% faster than the previous estimates. The IBX will now average 26mph, faster than all NYC subway lines—and as fast as most express sections.

A map showing the ETA's proposal for the now confirmed All Faiths Cemetery Tunnel on the IBX

Today Hochul and the MTA confirmed that the planned end-to-end runtime of the IBX has been cut a full 10 min (down to 32min), and projected ridership is up 41k to 160k/day.

This is the power of grade separation and the All Faiths tunnel.

Kudos to the Gov and MTA!

www.youtube.com/live/EhaB99v...

When four homes replace a SFH, each new home is about the same price as the original, and at 5 units or more, the new homes tend to be more affordable. But the critical comparison is to the 1-for-1 replacement — a mansionization, in other words.

Take a Ride on the Interborough Express, New York City’s Future Train Line (Gift Article) The Interborough Express, a new rail line that would link Brooklyn and Queens, could change the face of the city.

This new rail line, the most ambitious in 90 years, could change the face of New York City.
We hopped on a freight train to film the route, and show its potential. Take a look! 🚂
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

You can literally actually wave a magic wand and make buses better in the amount of time it takes DOT to paint the street, hang up some signs and find some folks to tell cars to get lost.

Yeah but you can get the discounts and pick it up yourself

A new paper by Vincent Rollet at MIT replicates Li's 2022 finding that new construction reduces rents within a 500-foot radius in NYC vrollet.github.io/files/city_s...

Center for Building in North America The Center for Building is a non-profit that conducts research on building codes and advocates for reform in North America.

New city just joined the single-stair club – everybody say hello to Chattanooga, which allows up to five stories now! www.centerforbuilding.org/trackers?tra... (I’m redoing my website slightly to try to make it easier to link to these, more to come!)

✅ HUGE WIN: Today, Chicago City Council voted unanimously via voice vote to eliminate parking minimums adjacent to CTA and Metra rail and bus lines!

This is a victory for more affordable transit oriented development and safer streets citywide!

Three new duplexes side by side

Green-sided duplex with a porch and yellow door

White-sided duplex with a two-story porch and green doors

Black-sided duplex with a two-story porch and red doors

The new duplexes of the 600 block of Sherman Avenue, South Bend

This is the real doom loop. It will change everything about life in the Bay Area Already one of the oldest parts of the U.S., the San Francisco metro area is aging faster than any other major region. It will change every aspect of our lives.

The “real doom loop” is the dramatic aging of the Bay Area. There aren’t enough kids or young people.

The reason? Housing, housing, housing — a profound housing shortage that’s pushing out young families & young people generally.

We need to build so many more homes. We’re working hard to do that.

I started using an Omny card because my phone and credit card started getting rejected

Interview

Interview

Highlights of my post-primary interview with Brad Lander, the city comptroller, who cross-endorsed Mamdani and defended him in public appearances.

Mamdani “is absolutely committed to keeping Jewish New Yorkers .. safe, including Jewish New Yorkers, who, like me, are Zionists.”

Just recorded a pod on solar+storage and holy shit y'all, if you are not tracking this market on a daily basis, you have no idea how wild it is. The global average price of a battery pack fell 40% *from 2023 to 2024*. That dropped the LCOE of a solar+storage plant by 22%. In a year!

Boom! The other half of the budget passes! In addition to AB 130's CEQA infill exemption, SB 130 will massively streamline the CEQA process where it applies. A HUGE pro-housing win for @scottwiener.bsky.social!

Automatic Train Operation (ATO) is making trips up to 3 min 45 sec FASTER. This safer, more reliable technology is now running on all rail lines. Metro operators are still in the cab of every train to respond to emergencies and monitor conditions.

A 69-year-old driver with a recent history of speeding in school zones and running reds behind the wheel of a 4000-pound truck with an elevated front grille

“aCciDenT”

A healthy city is a growing city that attracts private investment. We have done that in Jersey City better than any other city in the region. Today we broke ground on another 675 units, $400m project. Abundance theory is about more supply + we understand that in Jc

Legalizing online sports gambling was a huge huge mistake.

[NYISO website screenshot 6/25/25 9:29 pm] Statewide energy supply conditions are currently normal. Learn more. System Conditions Stay informed. Follow us on social media: X/Twitter | LinkedIn Special Case Resources and Emergency Demand Response Program resources are needed today, June 25, 2025, starting at 14:00 and ending at 21:00. Resources located in Load Zones A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K are subject to this notice. Normal Conditions Energy supplies are adequate to meet demand. Energy Watch Lower energy supply Forecasted reserves are expected to remain below 2,620 MW for longer than 60 minutes. Action NYISO suggests voluntarily conserving power, if safe to do so. Energy Warning Potential to enter emergency operations due to lower reserves Reserves are below 1,965 MW and not expected to recover for at least 30 minutes. Action NYISO requests conservation of electricity during a specific appeal period, if safe to do so. Energy Emergency We have entered into emergency operations. Controlled outages may occur. Reserves are below 1,310 MW and not expected to recover for at least 30 minutes. Action Conservation is critical. NYISO requests New Yorkers conserve power, if safe to do so.

New York’s grid is back in the green, meaning we have made it through the heat wave without any major power failures.

Grid operator NYISO did issue alerts yesterday and today though, with grid margins getting pretty tight (orange level) for a few hours yesterday evening

100% Solar Boats Imagine a clean quiet cruise with no fuel bills or maintenance costs. Our 100% solar electric boats are proven, practical and fun!

You should check out David Borton’s fully solar powered boats. www.solarsal.solar

Temperature & Humidity Extract Air 25.3 °C / 54% Exhaust Air 33.8 °C / 42% Outdoor Air 36.4 °C / 38% Supply Air 27.3 °C / 56%

Avoided Cooling Avoided actual 1.1 kW Avoided year-to-date 113 kWh Avoided total 2121 kWh

Buildings that meet the Passive House standards for comfort and efficiency stay cool in heat waves with very little A/C.

Cuomo / Nixon 2018 primary results in NYC

NYC mayoral primary 2025

Cuomo's vote share in 2018 primary (vs Cynthia Nixon) on the left (dark blue = his strongholds) compared w/2025 vote pattern so far on right (Cuomo precincts in shades of red). How far we've fallen. See @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social NYC Election Atlas for more: www.electionatlas.nyc/maps.html

one thing that really sucked was getting yelled at for being a “self-hating Jew” because I supported Zohran. the insane rhetoric just made me more steadfast in my support for lander/zohran and it’s really satisfying to see that the fearmongering didn’t work

How Hotels Became New York’s Go-To Fix for Homelessness Statewide spending on hotels has more than tripled in recent years. The shift away from shelters has prevented families from accessing services like child…

“The four hotels that Stradford’s family was placed in last summer collectively made about $10,000 sheltering it over three months — more than what the family owed in back rent. That works out to more than twice the monthly fair market rent for a four-bedroom apartment” nysfocus.com/2025/06/24/n...

The downstate New York grid is 95% fossil fueled, because Andrew Cuomo closed Indian Point nuclear plant

At 4PM, the feels-like temperature is likely near or just past its daily peak. It's been an oppressively hot day, and tomorrow will be similar.

Some of the preliminary "highlights":

Peak feels-like temperature: 117F, at Whitehall
Peak temperature: 100F, at Plattsburgh

There won’t be results announced until July after all ballots are received