Wow! Blake was a PIT BULL! Should he not prevail in the mayoral, I hope he runs to replace Bragg, the DA (New York has no recall mechanism; there should always be one, so long as it has a very high bar of petition numbers for calling it…)
He had a good idea for working to implement a warehousing tax. All the other candidates talked about providing more ““affordable”” housing. Tell me: what “affordable” housing is there in New York that’s not a second coming of some projects? The real estate industry always slaps on additional costs, so that by the time it’s built, it’s effectively costly housing with not very much space.
Better way: have the City lay down water, electrical, and sewage for microhousing. Have the future occupants participate in their construction (stakeholder participation, similar to [Mayor] Ed Koch’s homesteading program in the burned-out 1970s East Village…) Require participation in community watches once the units are built.
Why that probably won’t happen? Because a lot of holders of bouji real estate will not be amused that such cheaper housing options are available in the next neighborhood over! Look at the real estate section of the Sunday NY Times: it’s a phone book. That means: tons of money to shut down such an option for NYC residents.
Mamdani handled himself competently; though to be honest, his City run supermarkets idea has me nervous that he will get discredited at a later date. Yo, Zohran: just go with a tax abatement for stores that sell generic food goods at low prices (Trader Joe’s, Aldi -any other supermarkets willing to offer such an alternative…) Make a program that greenlights their opening in more neighborhoods.
His free bus idea is a good one. A former mayoral candidate had an idea for free subways, but I don’t think that would have worked out!
Real estate, the most powerful money group in New York, are going to back Cuomo. Any candidate seeking a check on rising housing costs is going to be slammed with negative ads by that interest group. Mamdani is going to need a Shea Stadium/Central Park/… (sic.) appearance by Sanders before the primary date (June 24th) to have a fighting chance against such a powerful interest group.
