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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 2d

The company agreed to repay tenants at LeFrak City and other apartments (with 9% interest) for the water charges

I found some as high as $250/month on top of rent

gothamist.com/news/one-of-...

One of NYC's largest landlords hit with $3.1M penalty over illegal water fees

Gothamist first uncovered the water fees while reporting on a rash of evictions at the LeFrak City housing complex in Queens in 2024.

gothamist.com

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 2d

Last summer, I was reporting on evictions at LeFrak City in Queens when I noticed court records showing that many tenants were being charged for water — a seeming violation of NY housing law

On Friday, NY announced a $3.1M penalty over the illegal water charges
gothamist.com/news/one-of-...

One of NYC's largest landlords hit with $3.1M penalty over illegal water fees

Gothamist first uncovered the water fees while reporting on a rash of evictions at the LeFrak City housing complex in Queens in 2024.

gothamist.com

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Reposted by David F Brand

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 3d

NEW: The militarization of American cities isn’t happening with a parade of tanks. It’s a slow drip of troop deployments that are probing courts’ willingness to give unlimited deference to the commander in chief — and testing workarounds when they don’t.

www.politico.com/newsletters/...

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 7d

I went into the boiler room of a neighboring building on the Mitchel Houses campus yesterday to check out the equipment

Here’s what the boiler looked like

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 7d

Smell Something. Say Something.

Before a boiler explosion collapsed a corner of a 20-story Bronx public housing building, multiple tenants say they smelled gas gothamist.com/news/definit...

'Definitely were warning signs': Gas smell preceded Bronx NYCHA collapse, tenants say

Tenants in apartments next to the collapsed chimney will be displaced for at least the next two days.

gothamist.com

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Reposted by David F Brand

Gothamist @gothamist.com · 7d

How newly registered NYC voters are helping fuel Zohran Mamdani's campaign https://gothamist.com/news/how-newly-registered-nyc-voters-are-helping-fuel-zohran-mamdanis-campaign

How newly registered NYC voters are helping fuel Zohran Mamdani's campaign

Monice Small became a U.S. citizen earlier this year. Winning the primary on the single issue of affordability comes with pressure. Voters expect Mamdani to deliver. [ more › ]

gothamist.com

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Reposted by David F Brand

City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · 9d

"ICE agents assaulted amNewYork’s own Dean Moses, and allegedly attacked another journalist, on Tuesday morning as they were documenting the ongoing arrests of individuals attending immigration court proceedings at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan." -- www.amny.com/immigration/...

ICE agents assault amNewYork reporter at Federal Plaza immigration court; another journalist seriously injured after shove | amNewYork

ICE agents assaulted amNewYork's own Dean Moses, and allegedly attacked another journalist, on Tuesday morning as they were documenting the ongoing arrests of

www.amny.com

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 9d

The HUD website right now

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Reposted by David F Brand

Gothamist @gothamist.com · 10d

Why an avocado can cost 25 cents or $3 — and what it says about grocery shopping in NYC https://gothamist.com/news/why-an-avocado-can-cost-25-cents-or-3-and-what-it-says-about-grocery-shopping-in-nyc

Why an avocado can cost 25 cents or $3 — and what it says about grocery shopping in NYC

Dan Spoerel, a buyer for Pan Hellenic Food of NY holds an avocado he bought from Mexico. New Yorkers can add avocado to practically anything, our salads or burrito bowls — for a fee. [ more › ]

gothamist.com

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 10d

“The Mets’ agonizing, three-month, slow motion collapse is complete”

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Reposted by David F Brand

Gothamist @gothamist.com · 13d

Real estate donations to Ciattarelli place rising rents at center of NJ governor’s race https://gothamist.com/news/real-estate-donations-to-ciattarelli-place-rising-rents-at-center-of-nj-governors-race

Real estate donations to Ciattarelli place rising rents at center of NJ governor’s race

Jack Ciattarelli A wealthy real estate family has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the tightening New Jersey governor's race, where both major party candidates have focused on how to tackle rising housing costs and affordability. [ more › ]

gothamist.com

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 14d

Mayor Adams’ top deputy says a plan to build new housing on a Bronx hospital campus is dead-on-arrival — but the City Council is poised to approve it anyway

More on Just Home, a plan to create 58 supportive apts for people leaving Rikers w serious medical problems gothamist.com/news/mayor-a...

Mayor Adams' top deputy says Bronx housing plan is DOA. City Council is voting anyway.

The dispute centers on a 3-year-old proposal to build specialized apartments for homeless New Yorkers leaving Rikers Island with serious medical problems.

gothamist.com

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Reposted by David F Brand

The Brian Lehrer Show @thebrianlehrershow.bsky.social · 16d

30 Issues in 30 Days: Issue number 2: the housing-related questions on NYC voters' ballots, with WNYC & Gothamist reporter @davidfbrand.bsky.social: www.wnyc.org/story/30-iss...

30 Issues in 30 Days: NYC Ballot Initiatives on Housing | The Brian Lehrer Show | WNYC

David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, explains NYC’s three ballot proposals on streamlining the housing construction process.

www.wnyc.org

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 16d

NEW: The City Council is expected to vote on Bronx housing project despite opposition from the local member — a break from custom

The plan would add 58 specialized apts for people with serious medical problems leaving Rikers to the campus of the Bronx’s Jacobi Hospital gothamist.com/news/nyc-cou...

NYC Council to vote on Bronx housing plan for ex-Rikers detainees in break from custom

Lawmakers will vote on the plan in rebuke of Mayor Adams and the local member.

gothamist.com

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 17d

A new neighborhood coming to a Brooklyn waterfront near you?

A group of local leaders approved a plan to build thousands of units of housing at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal (after rescheduling their vote 5x due to lack of support)

@wnyc.org @gothamist.com
gothamist.com/news/plan-ap...

Plan approved to transform Red Hook, Columbia Street Waterfront into new neighborhood

The proposal was scaled back in the face of local opposition.

gothamist.com

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Reposted by David F Brand

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 18d

NEW: In a break from decades of history, the Trump administration has started detaining virtually everyone facing deportation — even if they’ve lived in the U.S. for decades.

Dozens of judges, with increasing alarm, have ruled the policy shift illegal. www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Trump’s new detention policy targets millions of immigrants. Judges keep saying it’s illegal.

The administration says the sweeping detentions are a key prong of Trump’s deportation strategy.

www.politico.com

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Reposted by David F Brand

Bolts @boltsmag.org · 21d

Some New Yorkers argue that scheduling local elections even-numbered years will distract from local stakes, subsuming them to the noise of the more prominent federal or statewide campaigns. But proponents of the move point to the huge gains in turnout.

To Boost Turnout, Ballot Measure Proposes Moving New York City Elections to Even Years

When cities hold their local elections on off years, they tend to see terrible turnout. Many are rescheduling their contests when many more people go to the polls. Will New York be next?

boltsmag.org

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 21d

Reps from NYC’s Health + Hospitals (the agency that owns the site of the proposed housing) have left today’s Council hearing on the plan — before any testimony or discussion has even begun

David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 21d

A modest housing proposal on the campus of a Bronx hospital set off a frenzy in the surrounding neighborhood

That’s because 58 units would house people w serious medical problems (like stage 4 cancer) leaving Rikers

Now it’s lost its more powerful backer, Mayor Adams gothamist.com/news/a-bronx...

A Bronx housing plan's future hangs in the balance as Mayor Adams backs off early support

The mayor once defended a plan to build 58 units of supportive housing for people with criminal histories. Now, the Council is taking up the proposal.

gothamist.com

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 21d

Been following this one for the last three years. Check out my earlier reporting for @citylimitsnews.bsky.social citylimits.org/nyc-needs-th...

NYC Needs Thousands of Apartments for the Formerly Incarcerated. 50 Face Furious Opposition - City Limits

“Just Home”—a NYC Health + Hospitals (HHC) plan to convert an empty staff residence on the Jacobi Hospital campus into supportive housing for a few dozen people with serious medical problems discharge...

citylimits.org

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 21d

This morning, Councilmember Kristy Marmorato, who reps the site, told me they are proposing a new location for the supportive housing site…. But she says she can’t disclose it

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 21d

As @c-sommerfeldt.bsky.social first reported, the mayor’s top deputy Randy Mastro has been working behind the scenes to kill a project that Adams once defended

The Council is now holding a hearing on the plan and appears likely to approve it this fall
www.nydailynews.com/2025/09/15/t...

Top Adams aide Randy Mastro pushing to block controversial Bronx housing project for ex-inmates

The exact motive for Mastro’s push against the project, known as “Just Home,” is unclear. But it comes as the project continues to draw intense opposition from the neighboring com…

www.nydailynews.com

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David F Brand @davidfbrand.bsky.social · 21d

A modest housing proposal on the campus of a Bronx hospital set off a frenzy in the surrounding neighborhood

That’s because 58 units would house people w serious medical problems (like stage 4 cancer) leaving Rikers

Now it’s lost its more powerful backer, Mayor Adams gothamist.com/news/a-bronx...

A Bronx housing plan's future hangs in the balance as Mayor Adams backs off early support

The mayor once defended a plan to build 58 units of supportive housing for people with criminal histories. Now, the Council is taking up the proposal.

gothamist.com

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Reposted by David F Brand

Stefanos Chen @stefanoschen.bsky.social · 28d

The subway had its safest summer in 15 years, according to police data, a vastly different picture than the one painted by the Trump administration
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/n...

The Subway Had Its Safest Summer in Years. The White House Shrugged.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by David F Brand

Ben Christopher @frombenc.bsky.social · Sep 9

A bill proposed Monday night, just days before the end of the legislative session, would punch a very small hole in a landmark housing law passed earlier this year that appears to apply to one (1) proposed apartment building in the incoming Senate leader's district.

calmatters.org/politics/202...

This last-minute deal could stymie a new Santa Barbara apartment building

The 270-unit is proposed behind the city’s historic Mission, and in the district of incoming Senate president Monique Limón.

calmatters.org

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Reposted by David F Brand

Gothamist @gothamist.com · Sep 8

The city will reimburse some landlords up to $50,000 to repair and rent out “warehoused” apartments. Just one property owner applied, and didn't follow through: https://bit.ly/4gdbI68

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