Rafael and Kirk dish on a possibly unsexy but definitely critical tool for preserving New York's affordable housing stock: J-51. Before Governor and lawmakers decide its future, they explain what it is, where it's fallen short, and whether the reforms currently under consideration will help it live up to its potential.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Stacie Young, president and CEO of the Community Investment Corporation, about the housing problem in Chicago. Also, how important is naturally occurring affordable housing, and how can it be preserved in markets where it exists?
Rafael and Kirk talk to NY State Senator Brian Kavanagh, Chair of the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction, and Community Development, about NY's landmark 2019 tenant protection law, increasing funding for rental assistance vouchers, and insurance as a hidden driver of housing costs. Also, why are places like Atlanta, Charlotte, and Austin building so much housing while NY lags?
Rafael and Kirk talk to Adam Weinstein, CEO of NYC's largest non-profit housing developer, Phipps Houses, about why developer profits aren't what's standing in the way of creating more affordable homes. Also, a developer's perspective on City of Yes, the recently passed ballot measures, the Mamdani administration, and social housing.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Samantha Magistro of the family-owned property owner BronxPro Group about the math problem facing rent-stabilized and affordable housing and what policy changes it would take to make the math work.
Rafael and Kirk return to the subject of homelessness with a focus on unhoused New Yorkers living with mental illness. Dr. Mitchell Katz, president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, joins The Housing Problem to talk about housing as a critical foundation for addressing mental illness.
Rafael and Kirk recap the 2025 NYC mayoral election, including Mayor-elect Mamdani's first hires, what's needed to make a rent-freeze feasible, what's broken at City Hall that needs fixing, and what a successful first 100 days would look like.
Rafael and Kirk kick off season 5 with Alec Schierenbeck, executive director of the NYC Charter Revision Commission to give voters a primer on the major housing measures on the ballot this Election Day.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Deborah VanAmerongen of Nixon Peabody about Mitchell Lama. What is it, how close did Timothee Chalamet come to getting it right, and is Mitchell Lama 2.0 the easy solution so many NY politicians think it is?
Rafael and Kirk talk to Andrew Kimball, President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, better known as EDC.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Doug Apple, chair of the Rent Guidelines Board, about the contentious process of deciding what owners of NYC's 1 million rent stabilized apartments can charge tenants. Plus, managing scarcity and the 2019 rent stabilization law.
Rafael and Kirk talk to former New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson about what the Wall Street Journal called "the city that defied NIMBY." They dive into how the New Rochelle model works and if it can be replicated.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Molly Park, commissioner of NYC's Department of Social Services, about the real drivers of homelessness in New York, the city's unique right to shelter, and how to house our neighbors with the most acute mental health challenges. Also, supportive housing, how to improve rental assistance, and using project-based vouchers to create homes.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Open NY Executive Director Annemarie Gray about a wide range of topics, including faith-based housing, zoning reform, the state's role in pushing towns to legalize homes, and the growing political clout of the YIMBY movement.
Rafael and Kirk talk to firefighter-turned-developer Ken Kearney about his unusual journey and what it takes to break into housing development from scratch.
Mayor Eric Adams just created a Charter Revision Commission focused on making it easier to build housing. Rafael and Kirk give their hot take, including who's on it, what changes the Commission could propose, and the use of executive power in a housing emergency.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Kathy Wylde, president & CEO of the Partnership for NYC, about City of Yes, why it's so expensive to build housing, and the economic toll the housing problem takes on cities like New York.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Cea Weaver, coalition director at Housing Justice For All, about the ideological diversity of the pro-homes movement, what exactly is social housing, and the housing deal Governor Hochul struck with the State Legislature. Also, how can we protect tenants while ensuring there are adequate resources to invest in maintaining and upgrading properties?
As the New York City Council holds its public hearings on City of Yes, Rafael and Kirk give their hot take on what impact the plan will have, whether its critics have a point, and if Mayor Adams' legal troubles will jeopardize the most significant effort to solve New York's housing crisis in decades.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Amy Hovey, CEO of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, about how she's made government work more efficiently, Governor Whitmer's approach to housing, the political dynamic in the Midwest, and how states can cut local red tape.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Pete Harrison, Connecticut Director of the Regional Plan Association, about the CT Zoning Atlas, transit-oriented development, builders remedies, and the DesegregateCT approach to changing NIMBY hearts and minds.
Rafael and Kirk kick off Season 4 by recapping Vice President Harris' new housing plan and giving their take on what these policies - including her commitment to creating 3 million new homes by the end of her first term - could mean for the housing crisis.
Rafael and Kirk get together with the Urban Land Institute NY's Young Leaders Group to discuss the housing deal struck between Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature, recount their own housing journeys, and share some perspective on making it through the housing crisis of the 70s.
Rafael and Kirk talk to former Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen about the de Blasio administration's housing legacy, the evolution of NYC's housing policy over the last 30 years, and what the Adams administration is getting right/what it's getting wrong. The founder and managing principal of M Squared also discusses the Gateway Project, asylum seekers, and why developers are leaving NYC.
Rafael and Kirk talk to former HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan about catastrophe as a driver of solutions to the housing problem, touching on Superstorm Sandy, the subprime mortgage crisis, and the decline of public housing. Also, are housing abundance and resilience in conflict or compatible?
Rafael and Kirk talk to Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder of the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism, about supply and demand denialism, the weaponization of Jane Jacobs' legacy, and how to add housing when a city is "full."
Rafael and Kirk talk to NFL safety turned real estate developer Jamar Adams - founder and managing principal of Essence Development - about his journey from the gridiron to the board room and the challenge of breaking into the development world as a person of color. Also, public-private partnerships as a tool for improving public housing, pragmatism vs. purity tests, and cities that are making housing development easier.
Rafael and Kirk talk to Gregg Colburn, PhD - author and professor of housing and urban development at the University of Washington - about his book "Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Problems Explain U.S. Patterns," NYC's right to shelter, and why homelessness rates are actually lower where poverty rates are higher.
On the eve of a potential long-awaited housing deal between New York's Governor and Legislature, Rafael and Kirk talk to Jeff Blau, chief executive of Related Companies, about some of the most fiercely debated housing policies, including tax incentives for developers and tenant protections. Also, can market-rate housing and office buildings help address the affordability problem?
It doesn't add up. Rafael and Kirk talk to Eric Enderlin, president of the NYC Housing Development Corporation, about the brutal math of building affordable housing. Plus, public housing, the lopsided financial benefits of homeownership, single-room occupancy (SRO) units, and the obstacles to filling vacant housing.
