# Vital City
> New York City News, Policy Analysis, Data & Urban Affairs
Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. Use `/llms-full.txt` for consolidated page and post context.
Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).

## Pages
- [About Us](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/about.md) - Vital City seeks to improve civic life by finding great ideas and innovative research and making them available — and understandable — to those who shape urban policy. We also make relevant data accessible to anyone who wants to get a better understanding of how cities work, because we believe an i…
- [Congestion Pricing](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/congestion-pricing.md) - The long-anticipated change to Manhattan's streets now at the mercy of politics
- [Contributors](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/contributors.md) - Vital City represents the collective expertise of more than 300 contributors. Use the buttons below to filter by last name and discover the diverse voices shaping our work.
- [Crime: What Happened in 2023, and What 2024 May Bring](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/crime-in-2023-and-2024.md) - Breaking down New York City's — and America's — trends in violence and victimization
- [Crime: Looking Back at 2024, and Ahead to 2025](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/crime-looking-back-at-2024-and-ahead-to-2025.md) - Breaking down New York City's, and the nation's, trends in violence and disorder
- [Culture](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/culture.md)
- [Charts & Data Stories](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/data.md)
- [Historical Crime Explorer](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/explorer.md) - Drawing on more than 30 years of New York City crime data that’s available to the public nowhere else, the Vital City Data Explorer lets researchers and the general public dissect crime trends in New York City. Our thanks to Arnold Ventures for their generous support.
- [How Many People Should New York City's Jails Hold?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-many-people-should-new-york-citys-jails-hold.md) - Everything about Rikers Island and what replaces it depends on the answer
- [Inside Rikers](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/inside-rikers-jails-can-be-safer-and-more-humane.md) - Jails can be safer and more humane
- [Big-City Corruption](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/issue-10.md) - Why does it persist? And does anyone know how to solve it?
- [Nonprofits and the City](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/issue-11.md) - Do nonprofits have too much power — or not enough?
- [Nuts and Bolts: Solving Gun Cases](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/issue-5.md) - What it takes to reduce firearm violence
- [On Drugs](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/issue-6.md) - How substance use shapes the city
- [Does Evidence Matter?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/issue-7.md) - Research meets the real world
- [Is the Urban Doom Loop for Real?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/issue-8.md) - The death and life of great American cities (again)
- [The Subway](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/issue-9.md) - Building better transit
- [The Journal](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/issues.md) - Featuring original commentary, new research and data analysis from leading thinkers, practitioners and neighborhood voices.
- [The Case Against Eric Adams & Co.](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-case-against-eric-adams-corruption-issue.md) - Considering the fix the mayor (and the city) are in, from many angles
- [What Makes Cities Tick](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-makes-cities-tick.md) - Vital City at Three

## Posts
- [The Origins of ‘Lived Experience’](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-origins-of-lived-eexperience.md) - Tracing the roots of an increasingly common term
- [Cities Aren’t Putting Police Officers Where They’re Needed Most](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/cities-arent-putting-police-officers-where-theyre-needed-most.md) - On a troubling trend from New York to Chicago and beyond
- [Expert Advice for Mamdani’s Commission on Government Efficiency](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/expert-advice-for-mamdanis-commission-on-government-efficiency.md) - How should COGE change the City Charter? Eight people who’ve seen it all weigh in.
- [The Right Path to a More Efficient New York City](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-right-path-to-better-government-coge-mamdani.md) - Some guidance for Mayor Mamdani’s Committee on Government Efficiency
- [A Striving Government for a Thriving City](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/a-striving-government-for-a-thriving-city-coge-mamdani.md) - What can Mamdani’s Charter Revision Commission really accomplish?
- [What Has Mamdani Done So Far?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-has-mamdani-done-so-far.md) - A concise catalog of his achievements and stumbles six months in
- [Crime in New York City Midyear: The Big Picture](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/crime-in-new-york-city-midyear-the-big-picture.md) - Trends are positive so far this year — but assaults are an exception, and crime remains higher than prepandemic.
- [Assessing Mamdani Six Months In](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/assessing-mamdani-six-months-in.md) - One former city official's view of where he’s excelled and where he’s come up short
- [The History That Was Made at Bowling Green](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-history-that-was-made-at-bowling-green.md) - On this 250th birthday of America, appreciate New York’s part in the Revolution
- [New York: The Revolutionary City We Forgot](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-york-the-revolutionary-city-we-forgot.md) - As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, New York should center its story as much as Philadelphia and Boston do.
- [After the Rent Freeze: What Happens to New York City’s Regulated Housing Stock Now and in the Future](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-rent-freeze-conversation.md) - Video and transcript of our conversation with Errol Louis, Michelle de la Uz, Arpit Gupta and Howard Slatkin
- [After the Mamdani Rent Freeze](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-rent-freeze-agenda-nyc.md) - An agenda to fix New York City’s stabilized housing
- [Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani and New York](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/darializa-avila-chevalier-claire-valdez-brad-lander-mamdani.md) - What to make of this week’s Congressional primaries
- [The Myth of Millionaire Flight](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-myth-of-millionaire-flight.md) - New York might be next in a growing line of states adopting millionaire taxes — and the same old fear comes with it: tax the rich too hard and they'll leave, taking their businesses and their tax revenue with them. Cristobal Young, an economic sociologist at Cornell, has spent over twenty years tes…
- [What AI Can Do for Cities](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/josh-tyrangiel-interview-ai-city-government.md) - A conversation with Josh Tyrangiel, the author of “AI for Good,” on the right uses of the transformative technology
- [Taxing Land: An Old Idea is New Again](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/value-capture-land-tax-transit-funding-nyc.md) - Value capture to fund transit is a solution hiding in plain sight.
- [Put a Price on Street Parking, Generate Billions](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/street-parking-charge-transit-funding-nyc.md) - Why does New York charge more to ride the subway than to store a car?
- [New York is the Town and the Team is the Knicks](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/knicks-champions-new-york-why-it-matters.md) - A tribute to basketball, this squad and the spirit of the city
- [Why This Knicks Championship Means So Much](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-york-knicks-nba-championship.md) - No city is more closely identified with basketball than New York.
- [Sustaining the Joyful City: A New York City Social Infrastructure Agenda](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/social-infrastructure-nyc-mamdani.md) - Mamdani needs a comprehensive strategy to connect New Yorkers in the physical spaces where we interact.
- [Use AI to Analyze Bodyworn Camera Footage](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/use-ai-to-analyze-bodyworn-camera-footage.md) - Police departments should harness the tech to improve accountability and training.
- [Pelé and New York](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/pele-nyc-cosmos-soccer.md) - The brief, tumultuous marriage that seeded a love of soccer in New York City
- [The Knicks, the Hooligans and the Cops](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/knicks-hooligans-nypd.md) - How should the NYPD handle celebrations turning into chaos?
- [Borrow and Steal: The Art of Reinvention in Nantes](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nantes-tourism-culture-sophie-levy-interview.md) - An interview with Sophie Lévy, Executive Director of Le Voyage à Nantes
- [Making the Shade](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/adam-lubinsky-interview.md) - New York recently released its first-ever Urban Forest Plan. Now comes the hard part.
- [Economic Growth vs. Economic Justice: A False Choice](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-economic-development-mamdani-administration.md) - Recommendations for the Mamdani administration from former top city economic development officials
- [Before You Surcharge the Penthouse, Fix the Foundation](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-pied-a-terre-surchage-property-tax.md) - The pied-à-terre surcharge is coming. It is being built on a property tax system we have known for decades is broken — and that will shape where it actually lands.
- [How New York City Can Come Out a Winner in the AI Age](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/ai-economic-opportunities-nyc.md) - Bet on the last mile of new technologies.
- [The Prosperity Equation](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-housing-affordability-economic-mobility.md) - Producing housing is only half the challenge. Government must help people climb the economic ladder.
- [Economic Justice Starts With Young People](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/economic-justice-youth-workforce-development-nyc.md) - To make the city affordable, New York must align its education, workforce and economic development strategies.
- [Build Wealth, Not Just Wages](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-workforce-development-wealth-gap.md) - The City needs to focus on building its own ownership society, not just boosting incomes.
- [The Job That's Taking Over New York City](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/home-care-job-growth-problems-nyc.md) - The ranks of home health care workers are exploding, and that’s a problem.
- [The Affordability Conundrum](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-affordability-conundrum-nyc.md) - Mamdani wants a growing, more livable city — but that goal is in tension with his core affordability promise.
- [New York City’s Job Growth Has a Quality Problem](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-job-quality-problem.md) - Only one-third of residents work in what the City’s Office of the Comptroller has called a “good job.” Here’s why that matters.
- [Whither Wall Street?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/wall-street-future-nyc.md) - New York can’t predict the future of its most lucrative industry, but it should pay more attention to the past.
- [New York Families Are Doing Better Than You’ve Heard](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-families-positive-income-trends.md) - A deeper look at income trends reveals some positive findings.
- [Public Sector Unions vs. Mamdani’s Ambitions](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-nyc-unions-efficiency-reform.md) - He won with labor support, but something’s going to have to give.
- [A Bolder Development Strategy for a Crowded New York](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-joint-developments-public-land-housing.md) - Build on, and build up, public facilities.
- [The Millionaire Exodus That Never Came](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-tax-increase-millionaire-exodus-fears.md) - What really happens to the ultra-rich when states and localities increase taxes?
- [Anchors of Opportunity?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-public-housing-economics.md) - The economics of public housing
- [Time to Build Big Again](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-large-scale-housing-development.md) - Major development projects can employ and house people at scale.
- [The Real Cost of a $30 Wage: The View From the Restaurant Industry](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-minimum-wage-increase-restaurant-industry.md) - How rising labor costs would affect businesses
- [How Immigrants Make New York City Go](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-immigrants-economic-vitality.md) - To understand the threat of current enforcement efforts, appreciate what newcomers, documented and undocumented, contribute to the city.
- [Editor's Note](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/editors-note-issue-16.md) - How will Zohran Mamdani’s agenda interact with New York’s economy?
- [The New York City Economy: A Data Story](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-economy-data-story.md) - A data story
- [New York Under Mamdani: At the Crossroads, Again](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-economy-zohran-mamdani-efficiency.md) - Rather than a tax and spending binge, how about a campaign for competence?
- [Twilight of the Union City?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-labor-unions-history-future.md) - Organized labor, though far less powerful than it used to be, still helps thousands of New Yorkers.
- [Voices of the City: The Economy](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/economy-opinion-survey-nyc.md) - What are New Yorkers saying about the condition of the economy?
- [For Cities, Aggressive Partisan Gerrymandering Has a Silver Lining](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/partisan-gerrymandering-cities-unexpected-benefit.md) - It’s a corrosive phenomenon with one side benefit.
- [What Rikers’ Receiver Should Do Now](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rikers-receiver-jails-reform-lessons.md) - Follow the successful example of jails and prisons from other states.
- [Speeding Up the Bus: Reality Behind the Rhetoric](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/bus-speed-traffic-management-nyc.md) - A tour of transit systems around the world reveals a host of intelligent strategies worth deploying.
- [Charter Revision Politics: A Primer](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/charter-revision-politics-nyc-primer.md) - What Mayor Mamdani’s COGE might accomplish — and why changing the charter has become so common and so complicated
- [Did NYPD's Zone Strategy Cause Crime to Drop?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nypd-zone-strategy-crime-drop-analysis.md) - The NYPD’s numbers are exactly what regression to the mean predicts.
- [What New York Can Learn from the NIMBYs of the 19th Century](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/19th-century-nimby-housing-development-nyc.md) - The city has debated housing production since its inception. The fight isn’t only about density — it's also about design and culture.
- [The LIRR and the Lost Art of the Labor Fight](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/fred-naiden-interview-lirr-strike-labor.md) - Former TWU Local 100 motorman Fred Naiden on the legacy of the 1980 LIRR strike
- [The Big Picture](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rubber-meets-road-lighting-summary.md) - A summary of the evidence on streetlighting and crime, and what cities should do differently
- [How to Get It Done](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rubber-meets-road-lighting-policy-details.md) - Streetlighting improvement strategies for people who make policy
- [Where Darkness and Crime Overlap: An Interactive Map](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rubber-meets-road-lighting-satellite-crime-map.md)
- [Where 311 Lighting Complaints and Crime Overlap: An Interactive Map](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rubber-meets-road-lighting-311-crime-map.md)
- [50 Years of Evidence](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rubber-meets-road-lighting-policy-primer.md) - A walkthrough of what research says about streetlighting and crime
- [What Well-Lit Streets Should Feel Like](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rubber-meets-road-lighting-design-deep-dive.md)
- [About This Project](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rubber-meets-road-about.md) - What ‘Rubber Meets Road’ is all about
- [How Dark is Your Block? A Proof-of-Concept Mobile App](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rubber-meets-road-lighting-app.md) - A Vital City demonstration of how a phone’s camera could turn more New Yorkers into streetlight inspectors
- [Hochul's School-Choice Choice](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/hochul-trump-school-choice-ny.md) - What’s behind her startling decision to back Trump’s education tax credit — and what might it mean for Democrats across the U.S.?
- [How Zohran Mamdani Can Help Shrink the Child Welfare System in New York City](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-child-welfare-community-safety-nyc.md) - Recognizing the connection between family safety and community safety is crucial to protecting children.
- [Lessons from Tokyo](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/joe-mcreynolds-interview-tokyo-zoning.md) - Joe McReynolds has two jobs. By day, he's a national security analyst tracking Chinese information warfare. Nights and weekends, he's a Tokyo obsessive with a PhD in progress, a private digital library of hundreds of Japanese-language urban studies books, and a story about the time he frantically c…
- [A Diamond, a Mayor and a Citywide Lesson Plan](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/museum-art-repatriation-mamdani-nyc.md) - Mamdani’s offhand remark about the Koh-I-Noor should spark new efforts to educate students about where many museum treasures actually come from.
- [Call It What It Is: A State Bailout of New York City](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-hochul-nyc-budget-bailout.md) - Making sense of Mamdani’s budget — and what it signals for his ambitious agenda
- [Mamdani’s Supermarket Mistake](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-city-run-grocery-stores-small-businesses-nyc.md) - His plan to launch five City-backed grocery stores clashes with his promises to help mom-and-pops.
- [New York’s Wooden Water Tanks: A Perfect Fusion of Form and Function](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-wooden-water-tanks-architecture-history.md) - An architectural history lesson
- [The Voting Rights Act in New York City](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/voting-rights-act-nyc-supreme-court.md) - How the landmark legislation continues to reverberate to this day
- [A Different Waymo Future Is Possible](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/waymo-nyc-robotaxi-future.md) - On what conditions should New York welcome robotaxis?
- [Just Fix It: 8 Policy Tweaks City Hall Can Make to Speed Up the Permitting Process](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-housing-permits-fast-track-construction-mamdani.md) - Building housing is a top Mamdani priority — so how to expedite it?
- [The Unions and the Cities](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/public-sector-unions-city-politics.md) - When public sector organized labor conflicts with the public interest — and what to do about it
- [Does When We’re Born Make Us Who We Are?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/robert-sampson-adam-gopnik-interview-transcript.md) - Robert J. Sampson talks to Adam Gopnik about crime, time and life trajectories
- [How Guadalajara Killed the Paper Permit](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/guadalajara-visor-urbano-permitting.md) - Streamlining that sped up construction and decreased bribery
- [Government AI, the Road to More Bureaucratic Discretion and Accountability](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-government-ai-accountability-discretion.md) - How new tech tools can streamline processes and make hidebound systems more rational
- [Local Politics, After Murder](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-declining-murders-politics.md) - How does the decline of lethal violence change the way New York thinks about government leadership?
- [How the Public Can Help Mamdani Guide New York City Schools](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-parents-nyc-schools.md) - Mamdani can make significant reforms to amplify parental voices using existing powers.
- [Want More Parental Input While Keeping Mayoral Control? Look to Community Schools](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-mayoral-control-parents-community-schools.md) - A proven model can amplify parents’ voices without undermining accountability.
- [The Cost of Freezing the Rent](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/alex-armlovich-interview-rent-freeze.md) - The limits and distortions of Mamdani’s core housing cost control strategy
- [New York's Nameless Knights](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-yorkers-help-each-other-despite-stereotype.md) - On a subway platform earlier this month, I witnessed quiet heroism. It’s far more common than non-New Yorkers realize.
- [The Unlikely Tool That Could Transform Second-Chance Hiring](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/second-chance-hiring-insurance-employer-risk.md) - Why insurance could unlock opportunity for thousands of previous offenders
- [Learn from Japan to Get New York City Commuter Rail on Track](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/japan-rail-system-lessons-mta-nj-transit.md) - What the MTA and NJ Transit can learn about rail from Japanese train systems
- [How the MTA Built Its New App In-House](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mta-new-app-subway-omny.md) - What lessons did the agency learn from developing its latest tech tool?
- [To Prioritize Pedestrians, We Need to Walk the Walk](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/pedestrian-foot-tracking-nyc-map-model-mit.md) - Behind a major new effort to track pedestrian flows in New York
- [Why It Takes Four New Housing Units to Get One Person Off the Street](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/why-it-takes-four-new-housing-units-to-get-one-person-off-the-street.md) - Understanding the complexity of troubled populations on sidewalks and subways
- [Homeless Encampments, Expenditures and the Evidence We Keep Ignoring](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-homeless-encampments-spending-81k.md) - What blaring headlines about excessive spending reveal — and what they miss
- [Why It (Almost) Always Makes Sense to Send the Cops](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/policing-alternative-response-cahoots.md) - Civilian alternative response systems are badly oversold.
- [When Push Comes to Budget](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/louisa-chafee-nyc-budget-interview.md) - A conversation with Louisa Chafee of the city's Independent Budget Office
- [Mamdani’s First 100 Days: A Scorecard](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-first-100-days-scorecard-nyc.md) - How’s he doing when it comes to helping the gears of government turn better?
- [Good Government, Beyond the Couch Cushions](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-nyc-vendors-contractors-staff.md) - New York City can run more cost effectively, but it'll require fixing what's broken inside the bureaucracy.
- [NYC’s Fiscal Tightrope Act](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-mark-levine-potential-fitch-moody-bond-downgrade.md) - Credit rating agencies have sent a strong message to the city: get your fiscal house in order.
- [Does When We're Born Make Us Who We Are? A New Way of Thinking About Crime and Success in America](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/robert-sampson-adam-gopnik-interview.md) - The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik interviews Harvard sociologist Robert J. Sampson.
- [A Road Safety Blueprint for the Mamdani Administration](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-speed-cameras-road-safety-mamdani-policy.md) - Speed cameras should be the first step toward improved transportation infrastructure across New York City.
- [Karen B. Shaer 1959-2026](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/karen-shaer-in-memoriam.md) - A remarkable New Yorker, and part of the founding team at Vital City
- [Why Your Pre-War Radiator Runs Hot, Clangs at 3 a.m. and is Painted Silver](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/radiator-steam-heat-history-nyc.md) - A short history of steam heat — and what’s at stake as New York City moves to replace it
- [Rent Stabilization: What’s Constitutional, Anyway?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-york-rent-stabilization-law-supreme-court-clash.md) - How the Supreme Court is likely to think about New York City’s housing regulation regime
- [What’s the Deal with SEQRA?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/whats-the-deal-with-seqra.md) - A conversation with Annemarie Gray about a change in state law that could unlock gobs of housing
- [It's a Jungle Out There](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/navigating-apartment-hunting-rising-rent-in-nyc.md) - One man’s apartment-hunting journey
- [London’s Quest for Low-Traffic Neighborhoods](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/london-low-traffic-neighborhoods-safety-urban-planning.md) - How the U.K. capital made car traffic scarce in some precincts — and how it changed the city
- [Dan Garodnick on What Comes After Yes](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/dan-garodnick-housing-zoning-city-of-yes-interview.md) - The just-departed City Planning chair tells us what he learned in his time shaping the cityscape.
- [New York’s Worst Housing Production Impediment?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-seqra-slows-housing-development-new-york.md) - The state’s environmental review law is a massive obstacle.
- [Can Mayor Mamdani Freeze the Rent? It’s Complicated](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-rent-freeze-nyc-rent-guidelines-board-explained.md) - Two former Rent Guidelines Board chairs explain how the process really works.
- [Landlords: The ‘Good,’ the ‘Bad’ and the Ugly Financial Realities](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/rental-ripoff-hearings-landlords-tenants-economics.md) - Should we see landlords and tenants as rival prizefighters, or as potential partners trapped in a dysfunctional system?
- [Stanley Richards on the Past, Present and Future of Rikers Island](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/stanley-richards-rikers-island-nyc-jails.md) - A conversation with the new correction commissioner
- [What Molly Park Knows About Homelessness and City Government](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/molly-park-dss-exit-interview.md) - An exit interview with New York City's outgoing Department of Social Services commissioner
- [Can Erin Dalton Make Progress in Curbing Chronic Homelessness?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/erin-dalton-data-driven-social-services-nyc.md) - An appreciation of what New York City’s new commissioner of social services accomplished in Pittsburgh
- [Sewer Socialism, Meet Toilet Socialism](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-public-bathrooms-mamdani-plan.md) - Where other mayors have failed, Mamdani can succeed. Here’s how.
- [Tokyo’s Toilet Teachings](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-tokyo-built-clean-accessible-toilets-nyc-wants.md) - What New York can learn from another global city about helping people relieve themselves
- [Reality Check: Why Do New York City’s Crime Numbers Change?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/real-crime-numbers-nyc-nypd.md) - Why the actual state of crime might be worse than initially trumpeted
- [Abundance On a Budget](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-can-mamdani-do-nyc-budget.md) - What pro-housing, pro-public service Mayor Mamdani ought to do with limited resources
- [For Whom the Plows Come](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/snow-complaints-staten-island-nyc.md) - A 311 data analysis shows Staten Island got the short end of the snow stick.
- [The Hidden Cost of Trash](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-trash-removal-cost-mamdani.md) - How to make waste removal much more affordable for New Yorkers
- [Of Molehills, Mountains and Snowballs](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-nypd-snowball-fight-police-arrest.md) - Those who hurled snowballs at cops in Washington Square Park committed a crime — albeit not a huge one.
- [A New Mayor’s Trial By Snow](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-snow-emergency-response.md) - What the storms showed Mamdani, and what he showed New York
- [Criminal Risk Assessment and the Character Trap](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-birth-cohort-affects-criminal-outcomes-robert-sampson.md) - People born in different years, even not that far apart, have wildly different outcomes.
- [Evidence Over Intuition](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/jennifer-doleac-book-review.md) - Jennifer Doleac’s new book delivers some hard truths about criminal justice to both progressives and conservatives.
- [The Invisible Thread That Connects Cases of Excessive Force and Low Clearance Rates](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/ice-impunity-police-law-enforcement-accountability.md) - The underlying problem is impunity.
- [The NYPD’s Crime-Reduction Strategy: Chief of Department Michael LiPetri in Conversation](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nypd-crime-strategy-questions-michael-lipetri.md) - Gun violence is way down; assaults and other forms of violence are not. What’s next?
- [The Top Five Crime and Justice Stories of 2025](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/biggest-crime-justice-stories-america-2025.md) - What shaped perception and realities of crime in America
- [Gang Databases Are Crucial to Shooting Reduction Efforts](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nypd-gang-database-shooting-reduction.md) - Reforms are warranted, abolition is not.
- [How To Deploy AI To Improve Policing in New York](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-to-deploy-ai-policing-nyc-nypd.md) - Powerful new technology has the potential to improve the City’s justice system, but to get it right, the NYPD has to address serious risks.
- [New York City’s Crime Puzzle](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-york-city-gun-violence-down-major-crime-high.md) - Gun violence and homicides are way, way down. Overall major crime remains high. Why?
- [How Prevention Reduced Crime and How To Get More of It](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-prevention-reduced-crime-suggestions-analysis.md) - We have to understand what drove 2025 dramatic nationwide declines to build on them.
- [CompStat, Meet SafeStat](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/compstat-safestat-public-safety-nyc-mamdani.md) - As he works to build a Department of Community Safety, Mayor Mamdani should pioneer a new way to measure not just crime, but broader public safety.
- [Does Mayor Mamdani Have a Public Safety Strategy?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-public-safety-strategy-nyc.md) - It’s not an easy question to answer.
- [The State of Crime in New York City: 2025 and Beyond](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/crime-in-new-york-city-trends-statistics.md) - What happened in 2025 and what it bodes for 2026
- [Historic Declines, Contested Borders](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/crime-reduction-trends-immigration-enforcement.md) - Public safety and immigration enforcement in focus
- [Governments That Get Results](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/gloria-gong-interview.md) - A conversation with Gloria Gong
- [Mayor Mamdani, Here’s What Mass Engagement Looks Like in Practice](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mass-engagement-mamdani-nyc.md) - Hyperlocal democratic decision-making tools are out there, ready to be applied.
- [An Underutilized Tool in the Fight for Good Government](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-department-of-investigation-mamdani.md) - The Department of Investigation is often overlooked and underappreciated. Mayor Mamdani should change that.
- [Too Cold for New York City’s Streets](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/explained-what-is-involuntary-removal-outdoor-deaths-nyc.md) - An explainer on involuntary removal powers, encampments and the Mamdani administration’s response to the deep freeze
- [Hochul’s Going Nuclear. Environmentalists Should Cheer Her On.](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/hochul-nuclear-energy-climate-new-york.md) - Nuclear energy is essential to New York’s low-emission, high-electricity future.
- [Where Juvenile Justice Goes From Here](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/juvenile-justice-close-to-home-nyc-results.md) - We must be guided by evidence, not breathless headlines.
- [Evaluating Mamdani’s Diagnosis of New York City’s Budget Deficit](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/eric-adams-zohran-mamdani-nyc-budget.md) - Identifying the real underlying causes is key to fixing the problem
- [Continue Encampment Sweeps — But Do Them Right](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/unhoused-new-yorkers-randy-santos-mamdani.md) - Lessons from recent New York City history for Mayor Mamdani
- [Technology Transformation Will Make or Break Progressive Governance](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/zohran-mamdani-technology-innovation-new-york.md) - Mayor Mamdani should revitalize New York City government’s capacity to innovate.
- [Reducing Crime by Improving Neighborhoods](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/renita-francois-interview-neighborhood-safety.md) - In January, Renita Francois — who has just been appointed as Mayor Mamdani's deputy mayor of community safety — joined Jamie Rubin to discuss helping residents define and co-produce their own safety.
- [Observation Decks for All New Yorkers](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/free-observation-decks-new-york.md) - Bring what’s high above the city down to earth
- [Tokyo and London are Test-Driving Waymo. New York, Take Notes.](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/waymo-robotaxi-autonomous-driving-nyc.md) - How the two global cities could pave the way for Gotham’s adoption of self-driving cars
- [Urban Design as Social Infrastructure](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-parks-public-spaces-nyc.md) - Investments in the physical city are essential to achieving Zohran Mamdani’s goal of creating a fair and affordable New York.
- [How Off the Rails Is ICE? A Q&A With Former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/questions-answers-trump-noem-dhs-ice.md) - The Trump administration’s actions in Minnesota are testing the bounds of immigration enforcement.
- [What ICE’s Recklessness Teaches Us About Real Policing](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/minnesota-ice-alex-pretti-policing.md) - The illegitimate Minneapolis surge gives municipal departments an opportunity to demonstrate what legitimacy looks like.
- [Trump’s Unconstitutional Coercion](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/trump-sanctuary-cities-funding.md) - The president cannot constitutionally threaten to withhold funds from so-called sanctuary cities.
- [How Criminals Get Their Guns](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/underground-gun-markets-urban-violence.md) - The underground markets fueling urban violence
- [A Crucial Tool in the Fight Against Pollution](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-local-law-97-enforcement-pollution.md) - Despite the opposition of the real estate lobby, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani should fully implement and enforce Local Law 97.
- [Supporting Children Who Experience Violence at Home](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/children-domestic-violence-acs-family-court.md) - Many vulnerable young people in New York City are falling between the cracks in government systems.
- [Small Children, Big Looming Policy Questions](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-universal-childcare-policy-questions.md) - In expanding child care, Mamdani will have to wrestle with some serious tradeoffs.
- [Mamdani as Mr. Fix-It](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/just-fix-it-after-hours.md) - Jamie Rubin and Vital City founder Liz Glazer dig into a pragmatic to-do list for the new Mamdani administration.
- [Mayor Mamdani, Here’s the Real Reason New Yorkers’ Groceries Cost So Much](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-grocery-cost-explained.md) - The mayor's public supermarket proposal is a distraction. To get cheaper apples, the Big Apple must correctly diagnose why prices are high.
- [Mamdani’s Affordability Dilemma: The Challenge of Making New York City Housing Less Expensive](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-housing-affordability-new-york.md) - He has limited tools to make good on his central promise, but can make a dent using the ones he has.
- [Revealing Hidden Signals in City Hotline Data](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/revealing-hidden-signals-in-city-hotline-data.md) - What Mayor Mamdani’s new administration can learn from one of the longest-running neighborhood engagement initiatives in the U.S.
- [Mamdani, Like Mayors Before Him, Can Have a Foreign Policy](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/zohran-mamdani-trump-maduro-nyc.md) - Why the chief executive of the largest city in America necessarily engages in some global politics
- [Congestion Pricing, One Year In: A Qualified Success](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/one-year-into-congestion-pricing-in-new-york-city.md) - A data-driven look at what the policy achieved and how to improve it going forward
- [Remembering a Talented, Troubled Knick](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/remembering-michael-ray-richardson.md) - Tune in to the latest episode of "After Hours with Jamie Rubin" about a New York basketball legend.
- [2025: A Look Back](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/2025-a-look-back-most-read.md) - Your Vital City favorites and ours from the year gone by
- [From Crisis Response to System Coordination](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/system-coordination-in-crisis-response-to-high-acuity-homelessness.md) - A data-driven roadmap to addressing ‘high-acuity’ homelessness
- [Just Fix It: 11 Governance Improvements The Mamdani Administration Can Tackle in the First 100 Days](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/government-improvements-mamdani-can-tackle-in-the-first-100-days.md) - The first in a series that needs your input
- [What is the Future of ‘Renewable Rikers’ Island?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-future-of-renewable-rikers.md) - As Mayor-elect Mamdani presses to close the jail complex, what comes after should come into sharper focus.
- [The Other Side of Affordability](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/job-creation-and-upward-mobility-for-affordability-mamdani.md) - Mamdani must work hard to create jobs, train the workforce and unlock true upward mobility for New Yorkers.
- [What To Do (and Not To Do) About People in Crisis on Streets and Subways](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-to-do-about-people-in-crisis-on-streets-and-subways.md) - How can the toughest problems of urban life be addressed in a serious, sustained way? The purpose of this series, which began with “What To Do (and Not To Do) About Subway Safety” and will continue with installments on disorder, policing and other topics, is to deliver to policymakers the best idea…
- [What To Do (and Not To Do) About Subway Safety](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-to-do-about-subway-safety-nyc-policy-recommendations.md) - Vital City policy recommendations to fix an urgent set of problems
- [How the System Works (or Doesn’t)](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-the-system-works-for-people-in-crisis-on-streets-and-subways.md) - This is one of three supporting documents connected to Vital City’s recommendations on serious mental illness and homelessness, A profile of the population On any given night, about 4,000 people are living on the street in New York City. That figure, drawn from a point-in-time count, understates th…
- [What the Data Show](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-the-data-show-people-in-crisis-on-the-streets-and-subways.md) - This is one of three supporting documents connected to Vital City's recommendations on serious mental illness and homelessness, "What To Do (and Not To Do) About People in Crisis on Streets and Subways." Find "How the System Works (or Doesn't)" here and "Case Studies from Other Large Cities" here.…
- [Subway Safety: What the Data Show](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-the-data-show-about-subway-safety.md) - What do we know about crime on New York City's subway system? A lot and a little. A lot, in that crimes that happen there tend to be covered intensely in the media — especially pushings and homicides, including notorious incidents such as the arson homicide at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue stat…
- [Case Studies from Other Large Cities](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/case-studies-from-large-cities-people-in-crisis-on-streets-and-subways.md) - This is one of three supporting documents connected to Vital City's recommendations on serious mental illness and homelessness, "What To Do (and Not To Do) About People in Crisis on Streets and Subways." Find "How the System Works (or Doesn't)" here and "What the Data Show" here. A primary recommen…
- [What Mamdani Can Learn from a de Blasio Administration Safety Innovation](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/nstat-should-be-key-to-mamdani-public-safety-plan.md) - NeighborhoodStat should be a key part of his approach to public safety.
- [Reality Check: Has Youth Crime in New York Risen After Raise the Age?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/youth-crime-in-new-york-after-raise-the-age.md) - Overall, no. In one specific area, there’s serious cause for concern.
- [A New Manhattan Project](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/why-the-future-of-ai-should-be-shaped-in-new-york-city.md) - Why Zohran Mamdani and fellow progressives should want AI’s future to be sculpted in New York City
- [How Mamdani Can Deliver Free Buses — and Subways, Too](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-mamdani-can-delivery-free-buses-and-subways-too.md) - Start charging for street parking
- [The Rikers Receivership Risk — and Opportunity](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-rikers-receivership-risk-and-opportunity.md) - This is a moment for true reform, not half-measures.
- [New York City Needs a Smarter Way to Control Rents](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-york-needs-a-smarter-way-to-control-rents.md) - Note to Mamdani: One-size-fits-all freezes are the wrong way forward.
- [Daylight Savings: A Safer, Cheaper and Quicker Way to Design Intersections](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/a-safer-cheaper-quicker-way-of-daylighting-intersections.md) - How drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists can all get clearer views
- [Taking Mamdani’s Revolution to the Streets](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/taking-mamdanis-revolution-to-the-streets.md) - How can New York’s roadways and sidewalks be transformed for the people?
- [The Urban Optimist’s Holiday Gift Guide](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-urban-optimist-holiday-gift-guide.md) - Suggestions for the New Yorker (or other metropolitan) who loves cities, believes in their future and wants gifts with civic soul
- [Rolling the Dice? How New York City Came to Approve Three Vegas-Style Casinos](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-new-york-city-got-to-the-brink-of-hosting-vegas-style-casinos.md) - An explainer
- [What Mamdani Gets Wrong About Severe Mental Illness & Crisis Response](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-mamdani-gets-wrong-about-severe-mental-illness-and-crisis-response.md) - Mayor Eric Adams’ senior advisor on the topic has some thoughts on the incoming mayor’s plans for a new Department of Community Safety.
- [New Mexico: Surprising Proving Ground for Two Big Mamdani Ideas?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/department-of-community-safety-and-universal-childcare-albequerque-new-york.md) - What the mayor-elect can learn from the Southwest state
- [A Department of Community Safety: Theory Meets Practice](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-department-of-community-safety-where-theory-meets-practice.md) - Mamdani’s proposed agency must deliver outcomes, not just add programs.
- [A Pipeline to Somewhere](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/kathy-hochul-nese-pipeline-empire-wind.md) - Gov. Hochul's critics need to step back and see the larger picture.
- [Filling in the Blanks on Mamdani’s Education Agenda](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/filling-in-the-blanks-on-zohran-mamdanis-education-agenda.md) - A dozen concrete steps the mayor-elect should take
- [Trump vs. Civil Society](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-should-nonprofits-and-foundations-respond-to-trump.md) - How should nonprofits and foundations respond to an unprecedented assault from the federal government?
- [Tax Revenue is Destiny](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/tax-revenue-is-destiny.md) - A top aide to Andrew Cuomo argues that New York City’s looming budget deficit may be the biggest obstacle to Zohran Mamdani’s affordability agenda.
- [New York’s Civil Service System vs. Public Sector Progress](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-yorks-mamdani-ny-civil-service-system.md) - Mamdani must fix city hiring if he wants to get big things done
- [Mamdani’s Victory, and Memories of Dinkins’](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdanis-victory-and-memories-of-dinkins.md) - A new coalition rises in New York — and will soon be tested.
- [How Modern Mayors Meet the Moment](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-modern-new-york-city-mayors-meet-the-moment.md) - Zohran Mamdani, like mayors before him, is a vessel of hope and a reaction to his predecessors.
- [How About Energy Affordability?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-about-energy-affordability-for-new-york-city.md) - Zohran Mamdani and Kathy Hochul should look to our power grid — and demand a say in the nonprofit that runs it.
- [Putting Tech To Work for All New Yorkers](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/putting-tech-to-work-for-all-new-yorkers.md) - If Mamdani is smart, he’ll use emerging technologies to help implement some big advances.
- [Mamdani’s Charter School Dilemma](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdanis-charter-school-dilemma.md) - New York City’s mayor-elect will be urged to rethink his opposition to a reform movement that is serving low-income kids.
- [A Housing Roadmap for New York’s Next Mayor](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/a-housing-roadmap-for-new-yorks-next-mayor.md) - How Mayor-elect Mamdani can rise to the central challenge facing the city
- [Why Mayor-Elect Mamdani Should Embrace Mayoral Control of Our Schools](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/why-mamdani-should-embrace-mayoral-control-of-schools.md) - It’s the best way to get results.
- [How Things Really Get Done](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-york-city-deputy-mayors-on-how-things-really-get-done.md) - Four former deputy mayors offer candid advice to New York City’s new mayor.
- [Which Way Mamdani?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/zohran-mamdani-michelle-wu-and-brandon-johnson.md) - Chicago’s Brandon Johnson and Boston’s Michelle Wu are progressive mayors with very different approaches. Whose lead will Mamdani follow?
- [The Devil Is in the Details (of 911 Dispatch)](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-devil-is-in-the-details-of-911-dispatch.md) - Helping people with serious mental illness hinges on giving better tools and guidance to those who take emergency calls.
- [Tough Budget Choices Ahead](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/tough-budget-choices-ahead-for-zohran-mamdani.md) - Mamdani the manager should work hard to find savings in the sprawling New York City budget.
- [No City for Old Monuments?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/no-city-for-old-monuments.md) - What our ultra-progressive mayor should do about contentious statues
- [A New Era in New York City Political History?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/a-new-era-in-new-york-city-political-history.md) - Putting Mamdani’s huge win in perspective — from La Guardia to today
- [Reality Check: How Safe are Manhattan (and Brooklyn)?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/reality-check-how-safe-are-manhattan-and-brooklyn.md) - Alvin Bragg and Eric Gonzalez are on the ballot. How are the boroughs doing on crime and prosecutions?
- [Bringing the Fun Back to Fun City: Mamdani, Mailer and Breslin](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/mamdani-mailer-and-breslin-bringing-fun-to-new-york-city.md) - What the mayoral frontrunner seems to have learned from the insurgents of a half-century ago
- [What Came After ‘Drop Dead’](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-came-after-1975-new-york-fiscal-crisis.md) - In the 1970s, the federal government helped rescue New York, but cities today can’t count on help from Washington.
- [New York’s Next Mayor Must Put Heads Together](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-yorks-next-mayor-must-put-heads-together.md) - 50 years after New York City’s near-fiscal meltdown, Mamdani or Cuomo must reinvigorate government, nonprofit and business partnerships.
- [A True Mandate for New York City](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/move-local-elections-to-even-years.md) - What moving local elections to even years will do for local politics
- [Flip the Script, and the Ballot, for Housing](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/flip-the-script-and-the-ballot-for-housing.md) - City Charter changes would help produce the affordable apartments New York desperately needs.
- [Two Mayoral Debates: Not Nearly Enough](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/two-mayoral-debates-are-not-nearly-enough.md) - Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa should have had to answer detailed questions on housing, public safety, the economy, public schools and public transit.
- [How Zohran Mamdani Can Get Out of the ‘Gifted & Talented’ Trap](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-zohran-mamdani-can-get-out-of-the-gifted-and-talented-trap.md) - A better approach to accelerating education in the early grades
- [Done Right, Universal Child Care Would Be a Seismic Shift for New York’s Children](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/universal-child-care-could-be-a-seismic-shift-for-new-yorks-children.md) - The benefits go well beyond cost savings.
- [Why Isn’t Education at the Center of the New York City Mayoral Race?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/why-isnt-education-at-the-center-of-the-new-york-city-mayoral-race.md) - A former chancellor and an assemblyman say Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa haven't been talking nearly enough about one of the mayor’s core responsibilities.
- [The One Debate Answer that Spoke Volumes about Zohran Mamdani](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/the-one-debate-answer-that-spoke-volumes-about-zohran-mamdani.md) - No, it wasn’t about Israel-Palestine.
- [Zohran Mamdani’s Year One: A Time for Testing](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/zohran-mamdanis-year-one-a-time-for-testing.md) - Tough choices are piling up for the man who would be mayor.
- [Can Cities Withstand Trump’s Assault?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/can-cities-withstand-trumps-assault.md) - Economically, New York faces few good options in the face of Washington’s hostility.
- [Zohran Mamdani’s Real-World Constraints](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/zohran-mamdanis-real-world-constraints.md) - He has big plans — but the mayor’s power has clear limits.
- [John Lindsay, Zohran Mamdani and How Ambitions Collide with Reality](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/john-lindsay-zohran-mamdani-and-how-ambitions-collide-with-reality.md) - Sixty years ago, a charismatic young politician took New York City by storm. His record in office offers some warnings to the current Democratic candidate for mayor.
- [Even Mamdani’s New York Needs Millionaires](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/even-mamdanis-new-york-needs-millionaires.md) - The city has not kept pace attracting the ultrawealthy, and that has serious economic and fiscal consequences.
- [Bill de Blasio, Role Model?](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/bill-de-blasio-role-model.md) - Which tendencies of the tall two-term mayor Mayor-elect Mamdani should embrace — and which he should reject
- [Living in the City, Floating on the Hudson: A Conversation with Leslie Day](https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/leslie-day-interview-hudson-river-houseboat.md) - A new book tells the story of a woman and her unusual life in a houseboat on the Hudson.

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