Alex Armlovich

450 this year
www.nyc.gov/content/plan...

wonder if mamdani tried to single stair pill him

single stair, folks. you’re hearing it more and more. single stair. it’s a beautiful term. makes wonderful homes - and we love a lot of beautiful, affordable homes. i think i probably just coined it. i’m not sure. but you’re hearing it more and more.

In the new role & under the Niskanen senior fellow title, I'll still be able to talk to all my journo & staff friends

(To my SBC & HFSC friends, I can still testify in hearings, for example 👀)

So don't be shy! New role, same Alex. Just here to help the whole ecosystem now

I want to thank my teammates @awjustus.bsky.social, Kaj Gumbs, & @rohanaras.bsky.social --and the whole Niskanen team! We've gotten so much further since 2022 than I dared hope

And it's not goodbye: as a Senior Fellow I'll still be helping the team transition. There are great things ahead

Excited to share I'm joining @openphil.bsky.social under @mattsclancy.bsky.social as the housing program officer for the Abundance & Growth Fund!

Launching Niskanen's housing team has been a blast, & I'll remain a Senior Fellow with them

But I'm thrilled to start supporting housers everywhere!

Does the Subway Still Need Train Conductors?

Thanks to @stefanoschen.bsky.social and @nytimes.com for picking up our report on global transit operations. It’s clear that the rest of the world has moved toward more automated and leaner operations without the sky falling. Legislating ops from Albany is overreach:

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...

(Wu has delivered ~nothing net on housing and has been tearing out bus & bike lanes)

Getting texts that Paperboy Prince and Vickie Paladino have both QT'd my "end socialism for parking to fund social democratic liberalism for our children" tweet at length...but I can't see it bc of the huge Twitter 2FA glitch/outage

If you see something funny post it here 👀

It's just that Randy is in charge now instead of MTS. That's the whole ballgame

@aarmlovi.bsky.social is right. R12 next to the subway is the way to NYC’s next million people.

Vital City | A Housing Roadmap for New York’s Next Mayor How Mayor-elect Mamdani can rise to the central challenge facing the city

A really good column on housing and the Mamdani mayoralty by Alex Armlovich, who is on the Rent Board -- www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/a-h...

Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 - Wikipedia

Easy beginner 2-volume set: Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (and the sequel) share.google/O2OxCywyLSMZ...

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...

The marquee Mamdani policy, 4 years of 'freeze the rent', will take a lot to pull off. Here, @aarmlovi.bsky.social lays out the playbook of what it will take to get his vote (he serves on the Rent Guidelines Board that will vote on Mamdani's agenda)

www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/a-h...

Vital City | A Housing Roadmap for New York’s Next Mayor How Mayor-elect Mamdani can rise to the central challenge facing the city

This is a must-read from @aarmlovi.bsky.social. A real path for substantial expansion of housing and transit in the city that can deliver on the promises of @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social. www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/a-h...

Alex Armlovich on the Rent Guidelines Board, Mamdani's Rent Freeze Pledge, & Housing Policy Podcast Episode · Max Politics · 10/28/2025 · 57m

Calling all NYC lovers and nerds: REALLY interesting conversation about housing. Even I — who has been following NYC housing since I wrote papers in college about it 40 years ago — learned a lot. Interesting ideas. LISTEN!

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

Is the Senate Fixing Housing Policy? "You can’t solve the problem by subsidizing demand and constraining supply"

Want to learn more about the housing megabill the Senate just passed?

New Statecraft podcast with @willpoffwebster.bsky.social and @brianpotter.bsky.social on key highlights 👇

We recorded before it passed, so you can enjoy vetting our forecasts here
open.substack.com/pub/statecra...

🚨🚨The Senate has passed the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act as part of the NDAA!

This is a historic level of bipartisan cooperation to expand Americans' access to housing.

@aarmlovi.bsky.social, @awjustus.bsky.social, and @rohanaras.bsky.social unpack what's in the 310-page bill. ⬇️

The deadline to sign SB 79 and legalize more housing near transit in California is coming up. This is a hugely important bill both for ending the state's housing crisis and for securing its climate future. Please join me in urging @gavinnewsom.bsky.social to sign!

In the near-term this is a blight mitigation effort. In the medium-term it's proving out the CrossMod model in low-land-cost urban areas. In the long term, it's ensuring mixed incomes in neighborhoods that *could* become more expensive one day

NY is wisely leveraging factory-built manufactured housing for community development & affordable housing upstate

They're locking in deed-restricted affordable housing on vacant public Land Bank sites for the future—2 or 3 steps ahead of market-led redevelopment—for just $100k/unit of subsidy

Bright spots in US transit:

After opening its 3rd basic Bus Rapid Transit route for just $10M/mile, Albany didn't just exceed pre-pandemic ridership

They just set an all-time CDTA ridership record. Never been a better time for transit in Albany than now

BRT is the future

I'm amazed SIRR's setup has survived so long

It's ingenious: SIRR fleet & staffing is sized to serve the peak load point; anyone who crosses it is setting marginal opex & capex

But if you get on & off before Tompkinsville, you're inframarginal: ~free to carry, so faregates would just waste money

Only interesting version is the old 1955 Vickrey fare cordon around the CBD at the peak load point of each line, charging fares only for peak travel inside that zone

SIRR did this, with faregates only at Ferry & Tompkinsville. SRMC to serve a trip that doesn't cross the peak load point is ~$0

Genuinely excellent to have Stephen helping in the replies 👇

Again, NYC has not the war on zoning or costs yet—but we have demonstrated that summoning the labor & capital needed to double the number of units under construction, basically overnight, won't be a problem
bsky.app/profile/step...

Metro NYC is not out of the woods, though!

City of Yes is nice but it only adds ~10k/year over the business cycle. The suburbs haven't reformed at all & JC is getting a NIMBY mayor. This wave will pass

The only good news is this wave proves supply chains *can* warp to 50k/yr instantly

Before housing is legal, construction costs don't set housing prices. After housing is legal, construction costs are EVERYTHING

We have a lot of zoning & cost reform left. But assembling the supply chain to double production overnight is already feasible. Don't let inputs distract you from upzoning

Everyone take a moment to gloat over the FinTwit folks who claimed labor & supply chains make quantum leaps in multifamily housing production impossible

"What about teh lumber", they said. "What about teh labor", they said

Then NYC simply exploded to completion levels unseen since 1965

Photos from a lively @yimbytown.bsky.social discussion on how data-driven research can shape effective policy with (L-R): @andersem.bsky.social, @david-garcia.upforgrowth.org, Arthur Gailes, @skarlinsky.bsky.social, @aarmlovi.bsky.social & @muhammadspeaks.bsky.social.

🏙️ Niskanen staff represented at YIMBYTOWN!

@aarmlovi.bsky.social, Andrew Justus, Kaj Gumbs, and Rohan Aras presented on a "Federal Policy Roundup" panel (alongside minority staffer Madeleine Marr of Senate Banking and David Garcia of Up For Growth).