The Question-Mark Mayoralty

In the months before the election of the young democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor, panic seized members of New York’s elite business community. Real-estate moguls, hedge-fund princes, and a well-known supermarket-chain magnate forecast disaster. Several of them vowed to move to Texas or Florida, or at least Hoboken, if Mamdani was elected. So far, however, the city hasn’t seen an exodus of its richest residents, and their alarm has lapsed into glum acceptance. I recently asked Kathryn Wylde, the soon-to-be-retired president of the Partnership for New York City—a sort…

Read More...

Census Battle: How This Lawsuit Could Change Political Power in Congress

A federal lawsuit could be decided in early 2026 to require the Census Bureau to only count people rather than use statistical sampling—a move that could determine who controls Congress.  The 2020 Census overcounted the population of several Democrat-leaning states and undercounted the population of several Republican-leaning states. While the agency admitted this was an error, plaintiffs in the case of University of South Florida College Republicans et al. v. Lutnick allege that its method of sampling led to the inaccuracies in the Census—and, ultimately, to the wrong apportionment of seats in Congress. Commerce…

Read More...

MoveOn Slams Netflix-Warner Brothers Deal

WASHINGTON – In response to the Netflix and Warner Brothers deal that would result in a consolidation of streaming services and higher prices for consumers, MoveOn Civic Action spokesperson Britt Jacovich released the following statement:  “Higher subscription prices, more movie theater closures, and fewer options for what to watch—that’s what the future for movies and television looks like under this Netflix-Warner Bros. deal. We shouldn’t have to worry about our local movie theater closing or our streaming prices going up just so corporate execs can make even more money. There’s…

Read More...

Reducing the government’s real property portfolio: Meeting the moment

The hybrid and remote work paradigms spawned by COVID, coupled with the severe downsizing of the federal workforce, are resulting in a surfeit of federal office space, both owned and leased. Add the aging of the federal inventory and the growing cost and impact of decades of deferred maintenance, and literally hundreds of government properties nationwide have the potential to be vacated and disposed of. And yet, in the world of federal real estate, there persists the sense that despite all the alignment on the requirement for action, the government…

Read More...

The Santa Presidency

President Donald Trump can hardly conceal his disgust for the word affordability, referring to its ascendance in America’s political lexicon as a “hoax,” a “con job,” and a “fake narrative” perpetuated by Democrats. But there’s one sign that he’s treating it like a very real political vulnerability: The former reality-television host is trying to give people cash. In recent weeks, Trump has been pitching half a dozen schemes to, in the words of White House officials, put money “straight into the pockets of the American people.” After a year in…

Read More...