Daniel Trubman

Not a surprise that Broadway by Herald Square was packed on one of the nicest spring evenings of the year so far, but still a bit disappointing the pedestrianization is still so half-assed and temporary looking.

On the south side of the street Garden of the Humanitarians is locked up.

Maybe if this public space owned by NYC Parks was open the neighborhood kids would be tossing the football around here instead of the adjacent (and active) parking lot 😬

Just down the block is yet another property owned by @nycparks.bsky.social, but not open today (or for the next few weeks).

There are a bunch of neighbors hanging out on the stoops right next door to Sage's Garden. I wonder why folks don't think they deserve a real pocket park?

Moving just one more block north between Avenue C and Avenue B and here's another parcel owned by NYC Parks, also locked up.

Secret Garden has to deal with a bit more noise because it's on a corner, but you can't read here anyway because it's nominally a community garden anyway.

Across the street there's yet another property owned by @nycparks.bsky.social that's inaccessible to the public on this lovely evening.

Must be nice to own a key to Brisas Del Caribe, but the rest of us are locked out of this municipal amenity.

On E. Third Street this is still technically Kenkeleba House Garden. Vibe is all different (abstract metalworks instead of an overgrown path) but it's still locked up.

Some of the statues look pretty cool, but you'll have to view them out through the fence, cause it's not open.

Just down East Second Street a few feet there's yet another publicly owned community garden closed to the public for at least a few more months.

If we're not going to turn parcels like these into housing can we at least get @nycparks.bsky.social to manage them as proper (accessible) parks?

There's another @greenthumbnyc.bsky.social property locked up across the street here in the Lower East Side.

TONS of people would love to hangout in Peach Tree Garden on pleasant spring evenings like tonight, but this big publicly owned space is reserved for a handful of people (not you).

NYC was absolutely GORGEOUS today, so why weren't folks hanging out in Le Petit Versailles Garden?

Because despite being owned by NYC Parks this parcel in the Lower East Side isn't currently accessible to the public. As a community garden the parcel will remain locked up for a few more weeks 😥

NYC was absolutely GORGEOUS today, so why weren't folks hanging out in Le Petit Versailles Garden?

Because despite being owned by NYC Parks this parcel in the Lower East Side isn't currently accessible to the public. As a community garden the parcel will remain locked up for a few more weeks 😥

I'm *very* skeptical of published rent estimates for cities with lots of immigrants like NYC, because I doubt this one bedroom apartment in Chinatown is getting included in official government data, let alone the reports released by private companies.

It's always such a bummer to look down at a parking lot from a subway platform, which is shockingly common in NYC 😥

One of the weirder attitudes native New Yorkers have is that it's perfectly normal and fine for pedestrians to constantly have to walk past piles of garbage on the sidewalk, like this heap in Van Nest in the Bronx

Really hurts the claim that NYC is our most walkable American city.

To save New York City dogs, get them out of the subways The death in Downtown Manhattan was a dark turn in a trend that began when transit ridership plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We're just never recovering from COVID as a society, are we?

gothamist.com/news/to-save...

It's under-appreciate how bad it is for society to have rules on the books that are never actually enforced, like the requirement for dogs on the subway in NYC to remain in a bag.

It fuels a contempt for authority and a selfishness that's decimating norms required for urban living.

All of the skyscrapers around Battery Park in Lower Manhattan make it so cool looking even on a drizzly day. So silly when people claim tall buildings ruin urban parks.

Check out the write up about the @nyc.streetsblog.org write up by @realgershkuntzman.bsky.social on the @nycfuture.bsky.social report here:
nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/02/17/t...

Disappointing Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan was pretty dismissive about the potential impact of expanded metering of on-street parking towards addressing NYC's budget deficit (while still being supportive).

The Center for an Urban Future estimated it could bring in $1.3 BILLION annually!

Retrofitting existing subway lines for full automation wouldn't be easy, but as Franklin Tang explains a new Cross Bronx Line could be built for full automation from the start, allowing for more frequent service and thus smaller (thus cheaper) stations and trains.

The enthusiasm Eric Goldwyn has for Parkchester is so infectious! Definitely going to go explore this transit oriented neighborhood up in the Bronx this spring.

If we could develop new neighborhoods near subways like this back in the day we should do it again now.

I'm checking out the Better Billion event about expanding the subway system in NYC, and I really appreciate Nolan Hicks pointing out the free bus pilot had pretty unimpressive results.

If we're going to spend another billion dollars a year on transit we should think bigger and demand more.

When I go to a new subway station in NYC I play a game “how long till I see a car on the sidewalk” as I walk out

Often it’s zero seconds.

Who’s still buying rent-stabilized buildings? The Real Deal pulled city sales records to identify and isolate who’s rushing into rent-stabilized as everyone else rushes out due to policy.

Sure, betting NY State will reverse some of the changes implemented to the rent stabilization system in 2019 (or the courts will blow it all up) is a risky proposition, but so is assuming you can make money on a building with fixed revenues and rising costs!
therealdeal.com/magazine/mar...

There's tremendous upside for the owners of rent stabilized buildings in wealthy neighborhoods if the current law is significantly modified, but is there actually any evidence this has inspired someone to purchase one of these buildings?

Or is it all just speculating about speculating?

Why is there a Gas Station on Top of the Subway Station in Bushwick? We’ve spent so much money repairing the L train. Then left the station entrances zoned for light industry.

While strolling around Bushwick this weekend I noticed a gas station practically on top of a subway station, which seemed particularly dumb and bad.

Would you believe zoning is part of the problem?

Check out my new post for the full story:
open.substack.com/pub/danieltr...

Cross-platform transferring from the local to an arriving express, only to be able to subsequently cross-platform transfer back to another local train waiting for you...truly a transcendent moment for any subway rider in NYC.

It's too bad developments with crazy high floor area ratios like the Empire State Building (FAR of approximately 32) are now illegal in New York City, because they look cool as hell on misty nights.

Mark Levine just mentioned an upcoming affordable housing project budgeted at $850k per unit and lol, we're just never going to build enough housing if we don't get these costs under control in NYC 🥴

The abundance movement DEFINITELY needs to focus on public procurement reform.

Glad to see Antonio Reynoso show up to this @abundanceny.bsky.social event, but oof, his fetishization of urban manufacturing is pretty explicitly being used to justify NIMBYing residential redevelopment.

We won't build shared prosperity with new factories making cheesecakes in NYC nowadays.

Love to hear Dan Garodnick emphasize how much progress at reducing parking minimums in NYC was achieved as part of the City of Yes initiative at the Abundance New York policy launch, but still a lot of work to be done.

We're falling behind Sun Belt cities at eliminating parking mandates!