Samir
@samir.nyc
360 followers 130 following 65 posts
Transit enthusiast and housing activist · he/him Campaign Coordinator at @opennewyork.org. Previously at Google and Twitter.
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Reposted by Samir
2avesag.as
Finally.

Hopefully the city can do the sidewalk extensions in concrete rather than paint and planters. The planters usually end up hogging all of the added pedestrian space.

bsky.app/profile/vinb...
vinbarone.bsky.social
NYC DOT has unveiled a proposal for safety and public space upgrades along Canal Street. See the block-by-block proposal here: www.nyc.gov/html/dot/htm...

And either come to one of the in-person meetings or fill out the online survey with your feedback.
Part of NYC DOT's block-by-block proposal for Canal Street, showing added pedestrian space along the street between Baxter and Bowery. The proposal would also close a slip lane on Varick Street. Pedestrians crossing Canal Street in a crosswalk.
Reposted by Samir
seanchai313.bsky.social
This is so easy and sensible.

Somehow @schumer.senate.gov and @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social will find reasons not to even try.

Why would they want to get Republicans on record in support of racial profiling?
chboar.bsky.social
A provision banning racial profiling of Hispanics by ICE in reaction to yesterday's SCotUs action should immediately be added as a non-negotiable position for any kind of CR.

*Force* the GOP to *demand* racial profiling of Hispanics and make them threaten to shut down the government over it
samir.nyc
Samir @samir.nyc · 29d
Hopefully once this passes, the State Legislature will start taking this more seriously and get us synced ASAP!

"... New York lawmakers would still need to amend the state’s constitution, which currently does not allow cities to hold their local elections on even-numbered years."
Reposted by Samir
opennewyork.org
This is undemocratic and brazenly illegal.

This Board of Elections coup could deny NYC voters the chance to help end our housing crisis.
NYT headline:
N.Y.C. Elections Board May Block Ballot Proposals on Housing

The City Council opposes the measures, which would curtail its power. The Board of Elections, appointed by the Council, could prevent voters from weighing in.
Reposted by Samir
newkingsdems.bsky.social
This would be an outrageous abuse of the Board of Elections role in order to override the democratic process.
N.Y.C. Elections Board May Block Ballot Proposals on Housing
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Samir
3underscores.bsky.social
Here you have a developer arguing against a broad upzoning.

Politically connected and deep-pocketed developers actually benefit from strict zoning, because it puts up barriers to competition for small fry who could compete with them.

YIMBY is anti-monopoly.
bct.bsky.social
Strange quote from Giuliani’s city planning director to close this piece that seems to reflect the mindset that helped get us into this housing shortage.
Joe Rose, a developer who was city planning director under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, said he supported allowing residential construction in some of the manufacturing zones, which he called "anachronistic."
But he argued that the city was not grappling with the potential consequences of the rezoning, which will be bolstered by a separate move by the state to relax limits on residential construction in Manhattan. The combination, he said, could give rise to enormous skyscrapers.
"I think five, 10 years down the road, people are going to be asking: Who allowed this to happen? How did this happen?" Mr. Rose said.
He added that the plan would make "57th Street look like the foothills."
samir.nyc
Samir @samir.nyc · Aug 15
Oh, I see. He is saying that it's going to be so obscenely tall that 57th (with the supertalls) will look short.

That would be an interesting engineering challenge...
samir.nyc
Samir @samir.nyc · Aug 15
What does he even mean by "the foothills"? That sounds so calm and nature-y?
Reposted by Samir
amandalitman.bsky.social
"The worth of an ideology can only be judged by its delivery."

This is a good answer in a great interview that @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social gave the Nation. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Reposted by Samir
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
A devastating crash in Astoria has left three people dead. I'm heartbroken for the victims and their loved ones.

We can't normalize this. It's time to commit to streets that are safe for everyone.
3 dead after car crashes into coffee truck, pedestrians in Astoria
Eyewitnesses said the vehicle was speeding before slamming into the parked coffee truck.
abc7ny.com
Reposted by Samir
metronorthcapital.bsky.social
Begging you to just build more housing
But one commuter town outside New York City is slicing through red tape and building thousands of new apartments.
New Rochelle has completed more than 4,500 new housing units over the past decade.
Another 6,500 units are either in the pipeline or the planning stages for the next several years. Those 11,000 new units would represent a 37% increase in the number of New Rochelle apartments compared with 10 years ago.
About a 40-minute train ride to Midtown Manhattan, this suburb of more than 85,000 remains one of the few places offering relative affordability in the notoriously expensive New York City metro area.
New Rochelle median rents are only 1.6% higher than in 2020, well below the 25% or higher increases in New York City and outer markets like New Jersey's Newark, Hoboken and Jersey City, according to Apartment List.
New Rochelle's median rent actually declined 2% from 2020 to 2023, while median rent nationally was surging at a double-digit rate.
samir.nyc
Samir @samir.nyc · Aug 5
If you opt out you should also be opting out of getting organs from donors :)
Reposted by Samir
meelar.bsky.social
The same pattern showed up in NYC. This stuff works! But a lot of places still affirmatively ban speed cameras. We just don't want to stop speeding as a culture, regardless of how many traffic deaths we end up with.
resnikoff.bsky.social
Automated enforcement works: "Seven weeks after the cameras started issuing warnings, they recorded an average of 31% fewer speeding incidents than before, SFMTA data shows." sfstandard.com/2025/08/04/s...
SF speed cameras will start fining drivers
San Francisco's network of 33 speed cameras will start fining drivers Tuesday.
sfstandard.com
Reposted by Samir
youaretraffic.bsky.social
if bike lanes are not major transportation projects then i look forward to the mamdani DOT installing lanes without a single community input meeting
Reposted by Samir
qagggy.bsky.social
Mamdani: "[Congestion pricing] is an opportunity to reshape the streetscape of the central business district of Manhattan. We have an opportunity here to do immense amounts of pedestrianization for the entire congestion pricing zone..."
Zohran Mamdani speaking at the 2025 Transit Riders Mayoral Forum.
samir.nyc
Samir @samir.nyc · Jul 4
The Brooklyn Heights Promenade is closing at 2pm, so I figured I'd be fine to bike the bridge at 11:30am.... I guess not...
Closed Brooklyn Bridge bike path
Reposted by Samir
devanitely.bsky.social
new york should install a series of Eric Adams Zoltar machines that spit out Eric Adams-isms like “go to sleep with the boys and wake up with the men”
Reposted by Samir
nextdoorsv.bsky.social
Seems like we really ought to make it easier to build housing ASAP so more families can afford to have Americans in California
stevenmazie.bsky.social
Which means a baby born in New York to undocumented parents will be a citizen. But a baby born to undocumented parents in Kentucky will not be a citizen.

This is madness.
Reposted by Samir
benjaminkabak.com
I get the point but also
Reposted by Samir
samd.bsky.social
for those of you who weren’t in New York it’s really hard to understate just how awful Cuomo’s campaign was. He didn’t go to candidate forums. He was nowhere to be seen in the city. He said he had no regrets and refused to apologize for his countless scandals.

He had it coming. Good riddance bozo
Reposted by Samir
brooklynspoke.bsky.social
"Supporting the sex creep didn't work, so what about the guy who took a bunch of bribes and sold out the city to Trump?"
jbenmenachem.com
"NYC's business community appears to be abandoning its grudging support for former Governor Andrew Cuomo and organizing more desperately around Mayor Eric Adams in a last ditch effort to block Mamdani in November’s general election." (Story worth reading)

www.semafor.com/article/06/2...
Eric Adams suddenly finds ‘overwhelming support’ from NYC’s desperate business elites
Wall Street’s business community looks poised to rally behind Adams, dogged by corruption and low japproval ratings, to keep Zohran Mamdani from winning November’s general election.
www.semafor.com
Reposted by Samir
bradlander.bsky.social
Polls are about to close, but if you’re in line by 9:00 PM, STAY IN LINE! They must let you vote!
Reposted by Samir
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
david hogg off the top rope on the other site
David Hogg
@davidhogg111
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The same establishment that is spending millions to destroy Zohran will say in a few months that we need to spend millions on polling and testing to win back young people. Open your god damn eyes- it's free.
Adam Carlson @admcrlsn •3h
The final three days of early voting were the youngest of the entire period.
47% of early voters are age 18-44. x.com/ gothamist/stat...
Early Voting By Age Group
(Raw Votes Cast)
Age Group
Days 1-4
Days 5-6
Days 7-9
Total (Days 1-9)
18-24
8,487
4,941
13,096
26,524
25-34
29,557
15,620
45,195
90,372
35-44
20,591
10,365
31,488
62,444
45-54
14,438
7,411
23,252
45,101
55-64
19,159
10,548
27,079
56,786
65-74
23,131
14,055
24,861
62,047
75+
16,071
10,346
15,483
41,900



Early Voting By Age Group (Share of Early Electorate)


Age Group
Days 1-4
Days 5-6
Days 7-9
Total (Days 1-9)
18-24
6.5%
6.7%
7.3%
6.9%
25-34
22.5%
21.3%
25.0%
23.5%
35-44
15.7%
14.1%
17.4%
16.2%