August Reading: Best of MI, from Basements to Schools
I’m on vacation this week, so I wanted to leave you with some of our stories and recent reports you may have missed — from socialists to education to basement apartments and more. And if you have a moment, I’d love your thoughts on how The Bigger Apple could be better and more useful for you.
The Radical Politics of Being "Stuck" in The City
“If you don’t like it, leave” is a familiar New York response to complaints about cost or quality of life. It assumes that exit is easy and always available. But that’s no longer true, as the data below suggests.
Do Socialists Care About Education?
In big cities, the rise of socialism has coincided with declining interest in public K-12. It’s not just that socialists such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani have different views on education than Michael Bloomberg. It’s also that they seem to care less about it.
New York Has Thousands of Basement Apartments. Here's Why Few Will Be Legalized.
One of the greatest accomplishments of Eric Adams’s mayoralty was City of Yes for Housing Opportunity—the most significant rewrite of New York City’s zoning code since 1961, and a reform for which history will likely treat him better than the past. In a city starved for housing, its ambition was straightforward: to unlock a little more housing in every …
Explore New York City’s Emerging Three-Party System
New York City’s recent council elections suggest a de facto three-party system, driven by cross-endorsements and growing competition on the left and right, that is straining rules built for two parties.
Municipal Socialism: An Early Assessment
Earlier this month, in celebrating New York City’s FY27 budget plan, the Mamdani administration declared victory not only for the mayor himself but for the Democratic Socialists of America.
Mamdani’s Housing Plan Runs Into the Limits of Its Own Politics
Block by Block, the housing plan released this week by the Mamdani Administration may produce significant new construction and some useful reforms, but it remains constrained by ideological commitments that limit its ability to solve the city’s housing problems.
How NYC’s Special Education Pipeline Is Driving a Budget Crisis
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new $67.5 million Pre-K special education expansion is a welcome development in New York City special education policy. For the first time, the city is bringing specialized programs—Nest, Horizon, AIMS, PATH, and ACES— into 26 schools across 14 districts to serve 250 students starting this fall, …
The SHSAT Crisis Starts in Kindergarten
Each year, when the NYC Department of Education releases admissions data for specialized high schools, the press and elected officials highlight the low enrollment of Black and Hispanic students. Just yesterday, the New York Times published a story titled “
Our Recent Issue Briefs and Reports
Understanding How Proportional Representation Might Work in New York City by Jack Santucci and John Ketcham
The Limits of New York’s “Tax the Rich” Policy by E.J. McMahon
New York City’s Migrant Crisis: A Case Study of Welfare Magnet Effects by Stephen Eide
An Education Agenda for New York City: NYC Schools Need Significant Change, Not More Money by Jennifer Weber, Danyela Souza Egorov, and Ray Domanico
What to Do About NYC’s Empty Schools by Danyela Souza Egorov
New York State Math Standards Keep Changing While Students Stagnate by Jennifer Weber