Protestors need to be arrested and banned from the MTA

[west point]

Housing costs ? Even our small city it costs. New subdivision impact fees come to $25,000 per lot 1/2 to 3/4 acre. Then sewer tap fee $2500 water tap fee $2000, gas fee $1500. Then all the other costs loan companies require especially FHA and GI.. 36" doors, wide stairways, energy efficient water heaters and HVAC, expansion tank, 200 amp service, storm water retention wells, curbing and sidewalks, high wind house anchors, home run water, telephone, cable connections, fire resistant construction, insulated windows, new insulation standards R-19 to R-24 walls , R40 ceilings, max air loss turnover standards. etc.

Then you have region costs hurricane, tornado cellars, earthquake proofing to a certain Richter scale, flood plain mitigation raising homes, green vegetation installation so forth.

All that adds up which has the effect of driving up older home resale values.

 

[jis]

Or you could live in a mobile home like a significant number of people seem to do around here. Next level up is manufactured homes. Problem is that both are mandatory evacuation homes during a hurricane warning. But they are much cheaper than hurricane resistant concrete cinder block homes or even hurricane resistant wood frame homes.

 

[neroden]

There's also the issue of whether the subway is under- or over-policed

It's both!

It's sadly well documented that the NYPD is harassing people of disfavored ethnic groups for essentially harmless behavior, while simultaneously running away and hiding when there's an actual robbery or assault. They like to hang out near the faregates and play with their phones, because it's less work than actually patroling the subways to deter real crimes.

and whether the added police will disproportionately crack down on certain racial or ethnic groups.

Unfortunately, NYPD has a *record* here. A really bad one.

They are also really lawless -- NYPD crooks park their private cars on the sidewalk, in crosswalks, in parks, in NO STANDING zones, in bus stops, in bike lanes, totally illegally and gets away with it. See https://twitter.com/placardabuse .

There is a reason nobody sane in NYC trusts the police. After incidents like the ones with James Blake, why would they? Adrian Schoolcraft and Frank Serpico both say that NYPD is just as corrupt as when they blew the whistle.

I have begun to think the only solution is to fire everyone in the NYPD and start fresh.

Nothing like yellow-press sensationalism to generate clicks.

Indeed.

 

[neroden]

The subways are only a little more expensive than they were in 1970. Real earnings (at least at the bottom) are actually a bit higher. The real problem is housing costs. I couldn't afford an apartment in New York City, and I have a six-figure income (or at least I did before I retired.) These people should be demonstrating in front of real-estate investment companies, landlords, the city housing department, etc, not at Grand Central Station.

Correct. The major culprit turns out to be ZONING, which basically prohibits building taller apartment buildings in most of the city. The developers are actually on the right side here! It's the city zoning board which has severely constricted the supply of housing, with the support of "single-family zoning" and "neighborhood character" NIMBYs.

The first city to do anything major to correct this is Minneapolis, which legalized triplexes citywide just last year.