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17th & Pearl. Denver continues adding deeply subsidized and supportive housing in dense central neighborhoods like Capitol Hill/Uptown, including Renaissance Uptown Lofts on Pearl, nearby projects adding 100+ units, and City Council eyeing another $4.5M purchase at 12th & Sherman for more “affordable” units. Last night: another outdoor death...

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The Mental Health Crisis in New York City: A System in Disarray New York City’s mental health and homelessness crisis, already severe, worsened in the wake of COVID-19. The isolation and trauma of the pandemic pushed many into mental health struggles, with some turning to drugs as a way to cope. As a result, the city is now grappling with a system that fails to adequately help its most vulnerable. Having spent years on the streets, researching this issue and speaking with hundreds of individuals, including both professionals and homeless New Yorkers, I’ve seen firsthand the extent of the problem. From Penn Station to Washington Square Park, the streets are filled with individuals struggling with severe mental health and addiction issues. Many of these individuals refuse to enter city shelters, citing the violence and unsafe conditions that make living on the streets seem like a safer option. “It’s safer on the street,” they say, as shelters are often described as places filled with crime and exploitation. At some locations where homeless people are living, cops are left as babysitters, assigned to watch over them while they should be fighting crime elsewhere. This not only wastes valuable resources but also highlights how the system has failed to address the root causes of homelessness and mental health crises. When police bring people in crisis to hospitals, they’re often released within 20 to 30 minutes, particularly if they lack insurance. This revolving door continues as the system struggles to provide proper treatment, due to both legal restrictions and underfunded services. Unless someone is deemed an immediate danger, intervention must be voluntary. But many individuals suffering from mental illness and addiction believe they’re fine, keeping them trapped in the cycle of homelessness and untreated conditions. Recent violent incidents, including stabbings and the death of multiplevictims, highlight the dangers of untreated mental illness in public spaces. Washington Square Park, for example, has become a hotspot where vulnerable individuals, often struggling with mental health and addiction, are preyed upon by drug dealers. The lack of intervention puts both these individuals and the public at risk. Politicians remain divided on how to solve the crisis. Some advocate for allowing the homeless to live on the streets, citing personal freedom, while others argue for involuntary treatment for those who pose a risk to themselves or others. The debate over how to handle those in crisis is complicated, with each side offering a different vision for what should happen next. Many individuals in the crisis have expressed a desire for help. “If I could get help, I know I could do better,” one man told me. But help remains scarce. Shelters must be made safer, hospitals must offer long-term care, and laws need to allow for earlier intervention. For those who don’t believe they need help, outreach and education are key to breaking through the denial. New York City has an opportunity to address this crisis, but it requires a unified approach that balances compassion, safety, and effective intervention. If the city can overcome its divisions and create a cohesive strategy, it can begin to break the cycle of mental illness and homelessness that continues to plague its streets. By Leeroy Johnson For licensing email viralnewsnyc@gmail.com
0:38

The Mental Health Crisis in New York City: A System in Disarray New York City’s mental health and homelessness crisis, already severe, worsened in the wake of COVID-19. The isolation and trauma of the pandemic pushed many into mental health struggles, with some turning to drugs as a way to cope. As a result, the city is now grappling with a system that fails to adequately help its most vulnerable. Having spent years on the streets, researching this issue and speaking with hundreds of individuals, including both professionals and homeless New Yorkers, I’ve seen firsthand the extent of the problem. From Penn Station to Washington Square Park, the streets are filled with individuals struggling with severe mental health and addiction issues. Many of these individuals refuse to enter city shelters, citing the violence and unsafe conditions that make living on the streets seem like a safer option. “It’s safer on the street,” they say, as shelters are often described as places filled with crime and exploitation. At some locations where homeless people are living, cops are left as babysitters, assigned to watch over them while they should be fighting crime elsewhere. This not only wastes valuable resources but also highlights how the system has failed to address the root causes of homelessness and mental health crises. When police bring people in crisis to hospitals, they’re often released within 20 to 30 minutes, particularly if they lack insurance. This revolving door continues as the system struggles to provide proper treatment, due to both legal restrictions and underfunded services. Unless someone is deemed an immediate danger, intervention must be voluntary. But many individuals suffering from mental illness and addiction believe they’re fine, keeping them trapped in the cycle of homelessness and untreated conditions. Recent violent incidents, including stabbings and the death of multiplevictims, highlight the dangers of untreated mental illness in public spaces. Washington Square Park, for example, has become a hotspot where vulnerable individuals, often struggling with mental health and addiction, are preyed upon by drug dealers. The lack of intervention puts both these individuals and the public at risk. Politicians remain divided on how to solve the crisis. Some advocate for allowing the homeless to live on the streets, citing personal freedom, while others argue for involuntary treatment for those who pose a risk to themselves or others. The debate over how to handle those in crisis is complicated, with each side offering a different vision for what should happen next. Many individuals in the crisis have expressed a desire for help. “If I could get help, I know I could do better,” one man told me. But help remains scarce. Shelters must be made safer, hospitals must offer long-term care, and laws need to allow for earlier intervention. For those who don’t believe they need help, outreach and education are key to breaking through the denial. New York City has an opportunity to address this crisis, but it requires a unified approach that balances compassion, safety, and effective intervention. If the city can overcome its divisions and create a cohesive strategy, it can begin to break the cycle of mental illness and homelessness that continues to plague its streets. By Leeroy Johnson For licensing email [email protected]

Viral News NYC

36,854 views • 1 year ago

🚨West Village Spiral: Drug Use, Violence, and Fear Grip One of NYC’s Wealthiest Neighborhoods I left the West Village a few years ago to document the migrant crisis and the rise in gang activity in Midtown. But when I came back, the neighborhood had completely fallen apart—just like a security guard warned me. I ran into him the other night while filming. He said, “I haven’t seen you in a long time. The minute you left to cover Midtown, this place went to crap again.” And the most shocking part? This is happening in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in New York City. Million-dollar brownstones line the streets. High-end boutiques and upscale restaurants are just blocks away. But none of that wealth is stopping the decay. Luxury and lawlessness now exist side by side. Drug addicts are passed out on stoops, lighting crack pipes on porches, and shooting heroin in the open. Lighters flicker all night as people stagger around or collapse in groups. The chemical stench in the air is overwhelming. Overdose calls come in multiple times a day and night at this location. EMTs respond constantly, reviving the same people over and over—only for them to relapse again. While documenting this location, I always carry Narcan. The other night, I had to bring someone back to life—right there on the street. Residents told me they’re scared to walk outside after dark. They say things briefly improved about three years ago—but that didn’t last. The neighborhood spiraled again, fast. Police officers are present, but they look helpless. Their presence hasn’t stopped the chaos. Drug dealers linger nearby, waiting to supply addicts as soon as their high fades. All night long, you hear shouting—usually fights between addicts over drugs. Random violence is now expected. Some residents have been attacked or even killed by individuals suffering from untreated mental illness and addiction who snap without warning. This isn’t the first report I’ve put out on the West Village—and it probably won’t be the last. I’ve documented this neighborhood for years. And now, even in a place as wealthy and high-profile as this, it’s clear: the city has lost control. By Leeroy Johnson . For licensing email viralnewsnyc@gmail.com
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🚨West Village Spiral: Drug Use, Violence, and Fear Grip One of NYC’s Wealthiest Neighborhoods I left the West Village a few years ago to document the migrant crisis and the rise in gang activity in Midtown. But when I came back, the neighborhood had completely fallen apart—just like a security guard warned me. I ran into him the other night while filming. He said, “I haven’t seen you in a long time. The minute you left to cover Midtown, this place went to crap again.” And the most shocking part? This is happening in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in New York City. Million-dollar brownstones line the streets. High-end boutiques and upscale restaurants are just blocks away. But none of that wealth is stopping the decay. Luxury and lawlessness now exist side by side. Drug addicts are passed out on stoops, lighting crack pipes on porches, and shooting heroin in the open. Lighters flicker all night as people stagger around or collapse in groups. The chemical stench in the air is overwhelming. Overdose calls come in multiple times a day and night at this location. EMTs respond constantly, reviving the same people over and over—only for them to relapse again. While documenting this location, I always carry Narcan. The other night, I had to bring someone back to life—right there on the street. Residents told me they’re scared to walk outside after dark. They say things briefly improved about three years ago—but that didn’t last. The neighborhood spiraled again, fast. Police officers are present, but they look helpless. Their presence hasn’t stopped the chaos. Drug dealers linger nearby, waiting to supply addicts as soon as their high fades. All night long, you hear shouting—usually fights between addicts over drugs. Random violence is now expected. Some residents have been attacked or even killed by individuals suffering from untreated mental illness and addiction who snap without warning. This isn’t the first report I’ve put out on the West Village—and it probably won’t be the last. I’ve documented this neighborhood for years. And now, even in a place as wealthy and high-profile as this, it’s clear: the city has lost control. By Leeroy Johnson . For licensing email [email protected]

Viral News NYC

74,714 views • 1 year ago

NEW: Friday afternoon, WA Governor Bob Ferguson quietly signed into law HB 2266. This controversial homeless housing bill strips away safeguards protecting communities from crime, chaos, and death that always follows "permanent supportive housing" units like the ones run by Plymouth Housing and the Downtown Emergency Service Center(DESC.) The government can now ram through these apartments and shelters for drug addicts and neighbors can't do anything about it. We knew the Democrats would vote for this insane bill. But I could not believe the Republicans were totally caught with their pants down and failed to understand what was at stake. All the GOP arguments against HB 2266 centered on the dangers of state overreach. They should have focused on the drug dealers living in these apartments or the fact more people now die of drug overdoses behind closed doors than on the streets. Let's also not forget about the inordinate amount of 911 calls these Housing First drug dens trigger in the community. The reality is, Republican lawmakers do not live in Seattle and King County. They can't win seats in these far-left progressive bastions. Point is, many of these conservative elected officials living in smaller cities have never seen these devastating effects first hand. But now they will. And they're going to have to explain to their constituents how we got to this point. I asked Governor Ferguson last week if he would consider vetoing HB 2266. Here 's what he had to say. 🧵👇 Center on Wealth & Poverty at Discovery Institute|Marsha Michaelis|Bob Ferguson
0:48

NEW: Friday afternoon, WA Governor Bob Ferguson quietly signed into law HB 2266. This controversial homeless housing bill strips away safeguards protecting communities from crime, chaos, and death that always follows "permanent supportive housing" units like the ones run by Plymouth Housing and the Downtown Emergency Service Center(DESC.) The government can now ram through these apartments and shelters for drug addicts and neighbors can't do anything about it. We knew the Democrats would vote for this insane bill. But I could not believe the Republicans were totally caught with their pants down and failed to understand what was at stake. All the GOP arguments against HB 2266 centered on the dangers of state overreach. They should have focused on the drug dealers living in these apartments or the fact more people now die of drug overdoses behind closed doors than on the streets. Let's also not forget about the inordinate amount of 911 calls these Housing First drug dens trigger in the community. The reality is, Republican lawmakers do not live in Seattle and King County. They can't win seats in these far-left progressive bastions. Point is, many of these conservative elected officials living in smaller cities have never seen these devastating effects first hand. But now they will. And they're going to have to explain to their constituents how we got to this point. I asked Governor Ferguson last week if he would consider vetoing HB 2266. Here 's what he had to say. 🧵👇 Center on Wealth & Poverty at Discovery Institute|Marsha Michaelis|Bob Ferguson

Jonathan Choe

70,332 views • 3 months ago

Day 601 of Israel’s Genocide | 70 Killed in New Strikes, All Hospitals Ordered Closed in North, Ceasefire Proposal in Review ▪️ Mass Killings Across Gaza At least 70 Palestinians—including many women and children—were killed on Thursday as Israeli forces intensified attacks on residential neighborhoods across the Gaza Strip. In one of the deadliest strikes, Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a home belonging to the Al-Qarnawi family east of al-Bureij refugee camp, flattening the house with its residents still inside and causing significant damage to nearby buildings. Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal confirmed that at least 23 people were killed in the strike, with several others wounded. ▪️ Al-Awda Hospital and New “Evacuation Orders” Israel has ordered the closure of Al-Awda Hospital—the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza—despite the World Health Organization warning that dozens of patients and staff remain inside. At the same time, Israeli forces issued new so-called “evacuation orders” in Jabalia al-Balad, Al-Atatra, and several neighborhoods of Gaza City, displacing thousands more civilians under fire. ▪️ Aid Blocked, Humanitarian Crisis Worsens The UN says Israel is blocking it from delivering desperately needed aid, with around 600 trucks stranded at the crossing. Meanwhile, Palestinians are denouncing the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for fueling chaos and deadly violence at distribution points, calling it a failed and dangerous model. ▪️ New Ceasefire Proposal Under Review The White House says Israel has “signed off” on a new ceasefire proposal delivered to Hamas by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. Hamas has confirmed it is reviewing the plan though it abandons many of the commitments Witkoff agreed to in direct U.S.-Hamas talks. Read Drop Site’s new report on the Trump “ceasefire” proposal at the link in reply. ▪️ Video: Israeli Strike on Al-Saraya Junction An Israeli drone strike on Thursday afternoon targeted a gathering at al-Saraya Junction, one of the busiest intersections in central Gaza City, killing at least 10 Palestinians and injuring dozens more, according to local medical sources and eyewitnesses who spoke to Drop Site. In a press statement, Hamas said the airstrike hit several of its members who were confronting a group of thieves, resulting in the deaths of both police officers and nearby civilians.
1:07

Day 601 of Israel’s Genocide | 70 Killed in New Strikes, All Hospitals Ordered Closed in North, Ceasefire Proposal in Review ▪️ Mass Killings Across Gaza At least 70 Palestinians—including many women and children—were killed on Thursday as Israeli forces intensified attacks on residential neighborhoods across the Gaza Strip. In one of the deadliest strikes, Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a home belonging to the Al-Qarnawi family east of al-Bureij refugee camp, flattening the house with its residents still inside and causing significant damage to nearby buildings. Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal confirmed that at least 23 people were killed in the strike, with several others wounded. ▪️ Al-Awda Hospital and New “Evacuation Orders” Israel has ordered the closure of Al-Awda Hospital—the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza—despite the World Health Organization warning that dozens of patients and staff remain inside. At the same time, Israeli forces issued new so-called “evacuation orders” in Jabalia al-Balad, Al-Atatra, and several neighborhoods of Gaza City, displacing thousands more civilians under fire. ▪️ Aid Blocked, Humanitarian Crisis Worsens The UN says Israel is blocking it from delivering desperately needed aid, with around 600 trucks stranded at the crossing. Meanwhile, Palestinians are denouncing the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for fueling chaos and deadly violence at distribution points, calling it a failed and dangerous model. ▪️ New Ceasefire Proposal Under Review The White House says Israel has “signed off” on a new ceasefire proposal delivered to Hamas by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. Hamas has confirmed it is reviewing the plan though it abandons many of the commitments Witkoff agreed to in direct U.S.-Hamas talks. Read Drop Site’s new report on the Trump “ceasefire” proposal at the link in reply. ▪️ Video: Israeli Strike on Al-Saraya Junction An Israeli drone strike on Thursday afternoon targeted a gathering at al-Saraya Junction, one of the busiest intersections in central Gaza City, killing at least 10 Palestinians and injuring dozens more, according to local medical sources and eyewitnesses who spoke to Drop Site. In a press statement, Hamas said the airstrike hit several of its members who were confronting a group of thieves, resulting in the deaths of both police officers and nearby civilians.

Drop Site

46,246 views • 1 year ago

NEW: At Least 39 Killed Across Gaza in Past 24 Hours Amid Relentless Israeli Attacks Israeli airstrikes and artillery bombardments continue across the Gaza Strip. Medical sources told Al Jazeera that an additional 23 Palestinians were killed since dawn Wednesday, including 14 in central Gaza alone. Central and northern areas were especially hard hit, with the Nuseirat refugee camp described by residents as experiencing an “earthquake.” ➤ In Nuseirat camp, three residential buildings were bombed overnight while people were still inside. One strike killed eight people in a single home; six more were killed in a nearby building—all from one family. Death tolls are expected to rise as searches continue. ➤ In Jabalia, northern Gaza, at least three people from the same family were killed amid continued artillery fire and bombing. Israeli forces had previously declared a pause in operations in the area. ➤ In Gaza City, a fisherman was killed early this morning while pulling his boat ashore. ➤ Health officials report hospitals are overwhelmed and operating without basic medications like painkillers. Many wounded are dying silently in overcrowded emergency wards. ➤ Residents report hearing Israeli bulldozers demolishing homes in the Shujayea neighborhood of eastern Gaza City. What was once a bustling neighborhood is now reduced to rubble. Originally reported by Hani Mahmoud in Gaza for Al Jazeera ——— Video 1: A drone strike on a tent in western Khan Younis Tuesday night killed 6 people, including children Video 2: The Hamdan family home in Nusseirat was bombed, killing three siblings: Bahaa, Fatima, and Mais.
0:42

NEW: At Least 39 Killed Across Gaza in Past 24 Hours Amid Relentless Israeli Attacks Israeli airstrikes and artillery bombardments continue across the Gaza Strip. Medical sources told Al Jazeera that an additional 23 Palestinians were killed since dawn Wednesday, including 14 in central Gaza alone. Central and northern areas were especially hard hit, with the Nuseirat refugee camp described by residents as experiencing an “earthquake.” ➤ In Nuseirat camp, three residential buildings were bombed overnight while people were still inside. One strike killed eight people in a single home; six more were killed in a nearby building—all from one family. Death tolls are expected to rise as searches continue. ➤ In Jabalia, northern Gaza, at least three people from the same family were killed amid continued artillery fire and bombing. Israeli forces had previously declared a pause in operations in the area. ➤ In Gaza City, a fisherman was killed early this morning while pulling his boat ashore. ➤ Health officials report hospitals are overwhelmed and operating without basic medications like painkillers. Many wounded are dying silently in overcrowded emergency wards. ➤ Residents report hearing Israeli bulldozers demolishing homes in the Shujayea neighborhood of eastern Gaza City. What was once a bustling neighborhood is now reduced to rubble. Originally reported by Hani Mahmoud in Gaza for Al Jazeera ——— Video 1: A drone strike on a tent in western Khan Younis Tuesday night killed 6 people, including children Video 2: The Hamdan family home in Nusseirat was bombed, killing three siblings: Bahaa, Fatima, and Mais.

Drop Site

14,893 views • 1 year ago

HUMAN TRAGEDY: The fentanyl crisis continues to play out on multiple streets in Seattle, especially in places like #Chinatown-ID. This evening, a young man in his 20's showed me the early stages of "TRANQ FENTANYL" eating away at his skin. Pills laced with xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, are starting to show up more often on the streets. It's also leaving addicts walking around in a zombie like stupor. Another man nearby using fentanyl said, "I can see the silhouette of a demon" in his friend's flesh eating wound. Camp Site Seattle and others have documented the aftermath of "tranq" across the city. There is no denying the zombie drug is here. Nothing has changed in Councilmember Tammy Morales'(Councilmember Tammy J. Morales) district. Where is Morales? This is all happening on her watch. She recently voted against a common sense drug bill that would have allowed the City Attorney to prosecute open air drug use and possession of illegal drugs. Even this addict says a few days in jail could help in the journey to detox. But no one in the "harm reduction" lobby is out here trying to intervene. They're just giving away drug supplies like foil and meth pipes. Someone please tell me, what's the "harm reduction" plan for "tranq?" NARCAN doesn't even work. It's so upside down in this city right now. #Seattle Mayor Katie B. Wilson Kshama Sawant @GovInslee King County Executives Braddock & Constantine Joe McDermott Seattle City Council King County Council Public Health - Seattle & King County Sara Nelson Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda Seattle Fire Dept. Seattle Police Department King County Regional Homelessness Authority Downtown Seattle Seattle SeattleMetroChamber
2:34

HUMAN TRAGEDY: The fentanyl crisis continues to play out on multiple streets in Seattle, especially in places like #Chinatown-ID. This evening, a young man in his 20's showed me the early stages of "TRANQ FENTANYL" eating away at his skin. Pills laced with xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, are starting to show up more often on the streets. It's also leaving addicts walking around in a zombie like stupor. Another man nearby using fentanyl said, "I can see the silhouette of a demon" in his friend's flesh eating wound. Camp Site Seattle and others have documented the aftermath of "tranq" across the city. There is no denying the zombie drug is here. Nothing has changed in Councilmember Tammy Morales'(Councilmember Tammy J. Morales) district. Where is Morales? This is all happening on her watch. She recently voted against a common sense drug bill that would have allowed the City Attorney to prosecute open air drug use and possession of illegal drugs. Even this addict says a few days in jail could help in the journey to detox. But no one in the "harm reduction" lobby is out here trying to intervene. They're just giving away drug supplies like foil and meth pipes. Someone please tell me, what's the "harm reduction" plan for "tranq?" NARCAN doesn't even work. It's so upside down in this city right now. #Seattle Mayor Katie B. Wilson Kshama Sawant @GovInslee King County Executives Braddock & Constantine Joe McDermott Seattle City Council King County Council Public Health - Seattle & King County Sara Nelson Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda Seattle Fire Dept. Seattle Police Department King County Regional Homelessness Authority Downtown Seattle Seattle SeattleMetroChamber

Jonathan Choe

180,095 views • 3 years ago

🚨Death, Drugs, and Despair in Washington Square Park: West Village Store Owners Beg for Help as Crisis Deepens By Leeroy Johnson | Viral News NYC Email: viralnewsnyc@gmail.com Another visit to the north side of Washington Square Park in the West Village reveals the same nightmare—if not worse. The stench of death lingers in the air. Drug syringes litter the sidewalks. Paraphernalia is scattered everywhere. Drug addicts lie motionless on the pavement. And nearby, drug dealers stand like vultures, waiting for their next customer. Despite public officials claiming the area is improving, there is no visible sign of change. In fact, sources tell me the situation has gotten worse. Drug dealers, recently pushed out of Times Square, have moved into the neighborhood. According to those sources, they chose the area because, in their words, “the addicts live here” and “the money never stops.” NYPD sources tell me there’s not much they can do. One officer said, “We’re not mental health workers or drug counselors.” Another admitted they feel helpless: “We see this every day. We feel bad, but we can’t do any more to help these people.” Officers stress that it’s now up to the courts to start mandating individuals into drug treatment programs, because arrests alone aren’t solving anything. A big part of the problem is the drugs themselves. Many addicts are not even taking what they think they are. The drugs flooding the streets today are often mixed with fentanyl and crank—a synthetic drug that hooks people instantly and plays a huge role in the deadly overdose crisis. The mental health crisis is also spiraling. In the same area, someone was recently stabbed in the head by an individual described as having serious mental health issues—he walked right up and attacked with no warning. Just a few weeks earlier, another person was killed in a stabbing nearby. According to police, both attacks were committed by individuals struggling with drug addiction and untreated mental illness. The crisis isn’t limited to violence and addiction. A female resident told me she’s scared to walk the streets at night, afraid she might be robbed, hurt, or even worse—raped. Over the past few months, multiple rape and sexual abuse cases have been reported in the area, all allegedly committed by individuals with mental health and drug problems. Store owners are desperate. One shopkeeper told me their store is broken into regularly. Others say they no longer feel safe opening their doors. “It’s not just the crime. It’s the fear,” one local business owner said. “We’re scared. We don’t know what to do anymore.” Multiple store owners shared the same frustration: City officials and law enforcement came through once or twice, promised support, and then vanished. "They told us not to worry. That they'd be around to check in," one merchant said. "But they disappeared. Nothing changed." Politicians still occasionally visit the park—for photo-ops. But those moments don’t capture the real crisis. The overdose deaths. The drug markets. The shattered businesses. The lives lost every month while nothing is done. The people who live and work in the West Village are watching their community rot from the inside out—and they're running out of hope. For licensing email viralnewsnyc@gmail.com
1:35

🚨Death, Drugs, and Despair in Washington Square Park: West Village Store Owners Beg for Help as Crisis Deepens By Leeroy Johnson | Viral News NYC Email: [email protected] Another visit to the north side of Washington Square Park in the West Village reveals the same nightmare—if not worse. The stench of death lingers in the air. Drug syringes litter the sidewalks. Paraphernalia is scattered everywhere. Drug addicts lie motionless on the pavement. And nearby, drug dealers stand like vultures, waiting for their next customer. Despite public officials claiming the area is improving, there is no visible sign of change. In fact, sources tell me the situation has gotten worse. Drug dealers, recently pushed out of Times Square, have moved into the neighborhood. According to those sources, they chose the area because, in their words, “the addicts live here” and “the money never stops.” NYPD sources tell me there’s not much they can do. One officer said, “We’re not mental health workers or drug counselors.” Another admitted they feel helpless: “We see this every day. We feel bad, but we can’t do any more to help these people.” Officers stress that it’s now up to the courts to start mandating individuals into drug treatment programs, because arrests alone aren’t solving anything. A big part of the problem is the drugs themselves. Many addicts are not even taking what they think they are. The drugs flooding the streets today are often mixed with fentanyl and crank—a synthetic drug that hooks people instantly and plays a huge role in the deadly overdose crisis. The mental health crisis is also spiraling. In the same area, someone was recently stabbed in the head by an individual described as having serious mental health issues—he walked right up and attacked with no warning. Just a few weeks earlier, another person was killed in a stabbing nearby. According to police, both attacks were committed by individuals struggling with drug addiction and untreated mental illness. The crisis isn’t limited to violence and addiction. A female resident told me she’s scared to walk the streets at night, afraid she might be robbed, hurt, or even worse—raped. Over the past few months, multiple rape and sexual abuse cases have been reported in the area, all allegedly committed by individuals with mental health and drug problems. Store owners are desperate. One shopkeeper told me their store is broken into regularly. Others say they no longer feel safe opening their doors. “It’s not just the crime. It’s the fear,” one local business owner said. “We’re scared. We don’t know what to do anymore.” Multiple store owners shared the same frustration: City officials and law enforcement came through once or twice, promised support, and then vanished. "They told us not to worry. That they'd be around to check in," one merchant said. "But they disappeared. Nothing changed." Politicians still occasionally visit the park—for photo-ops. But those moments don’t capture the real crisis. The overdose deaths. The drug markets. The shattered businesses. The lives lost every month while nothing is done. The people who live and work in the West Village are watching their community rot from the inside out—and they're running out of hope. For licensing email [email protected]

Viral News NYC

398,691 views • 1 year ago

The Dirty Little Secret About Homelessness Is Also The Key To Ending It The US Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments about what cities can and cannot do to end homelessness. "What if there is a bed available in the Gospel Rescue Mission, but Ms. Johnson, a person, doesn't want it? Doesn’t wish to leave their pet. Her Rottweiler's not permitted there. So that is a difficult question for a person and a difficult policy question..." What everyone agreed on was that homelessness is a difficult problem. "Many people have mentioned this is a serious policy problem… So, the policy questions in this case are very difficult….Martin speaks in terms of someone who is involuntarily homeless and that raises all of those policy questions… We usually think about whether state law, local law already achieves those purposes so that the federal courts aren't micromanaging homeless policy…" I think most people listening to the Supreme Court would agree: it isn’t going to solve homelessness. That is a job for state legislators. So why haven’t they? Why has homelessness gotten worse? The answer that many homeless advocates give is that it’s because we don’t have enough homes, and poverty has increased. But neither is true. Poverty has steadily declined since the 1980s, when homelessness first became an issue of public concern. And very few people are on the street simply because they can’t afford the rent. The evidence is overwhelming that the majority of people on the street are there because of untreated mental illness or addiction, which leads people to use all their money to support their drug habit and be high, rather than work. People who can’t afford the rent but are able to work and aren’t in the grip of addiction or untreated mental illness find a cheaper place to live, move somewhere cheaper, or live with family and friends. It’s true there aren’t enough shelter beds, case workers, group homes, and psychiatric hospitals to care for the homeless. But a big part of the reason for that is that advocates for the homeless have, for 40 years, demanded that funding for dealing with the homeless go into giving people private studio apartments rather than building sufficient shelter beds. They call this “Housing First,” and its record is awful. Few stay in housing, and many die because it fails to treat the cause of the problem, addiction, and untreated mental illness rather than the symptoms. Studies find that cities that prioritize basic shelter over expensive housing reduce the deaths of homeless by 3-fold. And so in LA, homeless die at a rate 3 times higher than New York because living inside protects people from murder, drug overdose, and car accidents. Making matters worse, homeless advocates, along with the ACLU, have opposed expanding psychiatric hospitals, and mandatory care in general, because they believe it’s worse to mandate hospitalization for people who are dangerously psychotic or manic than to simply leave them on the street. But it’s not. Last year, 112,000 Americans died from drug overdose and poisoning because we failed to mandate treatment. Two of my friends from high school would still be alive today had we mandated they get treatment for addiction rather than letting them die. What is happening on homelessness is a record of failure. The number of drug deaths quintupled from 20,000 in 2022 to 112,000 last year. That’s more people dying per year than died in Hiroshima. Homelessness is not a fundamental problem of housing. It’s a problem of enabling addiction and untreated mental illness, both of which lead people to give up on work, lie, steal, cheat their families and friends, and live on the street, where they turn to petty crime to sustain their drug habits. This seems cruel to many people, which is why homelessness has gotten worse. In other words, the reason homelessness has gotten worse is because we’ve enabled it, and subsidized it, rather than funded treatment and recovery. Nobody has subsidized homelessness more than California, Washington, and Oregon. And it’s been in those states that homelessness has worsened the most. Why? The homelessness groups really believe it’s more cruel to mandate care than to let people die on the streets. But there is an ideology behind this, too. It’s the idea that people suffering from addiction and mental illness are victims of society or the system, which is fundamentally evil. And, according to their logic, to restore justice in the world, we must give victims whatever they want, including the right to camp anywhere and use hard drugs, even if it results in their death. You might call this "pathological altruism. Think of the Kathy Bates character in Misery. Or of the mother who poisons her child in order to have a sick person to take care of, like in “Sixth Sense.” It’s no coincidence that the same people who believe this also think civilization is evil and should be replaced by something more akin to primitive anarchism, like the kind romanticized by intellectuals since Rousseau. The alternative to this dystopia is tough love. We need to give people the care they need, but that’s not through enabling addiction and illegal behavior, but rather enforcing laws and mandating care, as an alternative to jail, when they are broken. It’s not enough to do what many Republicans want to do, which is to enforce laws and recriminalize shoplifting and hard drugs simply. We need to do that, for sure. But states must also have caseworkers, group homes, and psychiatric hospitals so there is an alternative to jail, and so states can provide people with the specialized care where it’s available, which simply isn’t going to be in many of the small towns, like the one at the center of the Supreme Court hearing. The dirty little secret about homelessness, which is also the key to ending it, is...
5:52

The Dirty Little Secret About Homelessness Is Also The Key To Ending It The US Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments about what cities can and cannot do to end homelessness. "What if there is a bed available in the Gospel Rescue Mission, but Ms. Johnson, a person, doesn't want it? Doesn’t wish to leave their pet. Her Rottweiler's not permitted there. So that is a difficult question for a person and a difficult policy question..." What everyone agreed on was that homelessness is a difficult problem. "Many people have mentioned this is a serious policy problem… So, the policy questions in this case are very difficult….Martin speaks in terms of someone who is involuntarily homeless and that raises all of those policy questions… We usually think about whether state law, local law already achieves those purposes so that the federal courts aren't micromanaging homeless policy…" I think most people listening to the Supreme Court would agree: it isn’t going to solve homelessness. That is a job for state legislators. So why haven’t they? Why has homelessness gotten worse? The answer that many homeless advocates give is that it’s because we don’t have enough homes, and poverty has increased. But neither is true. Poverty has steadily declined since the 1980s, when homelessness first became an issue of public concern. And very few people are on the street simply because they can’t afford the rent. The evidence is overwhelming that the majority of people on the street are there because of untreated mental illness or addiction, which leads people to use all their money to support their drug habit and be high, rather than work. People who can’t afford the rent but are able to work and aren’t in the grip of addiction or untreated mental illness find a cheaper place to live, move somewhere cheaper, or live with family and friends. It’s true there aren’t enough shelter beds, case workers, group homes, and psychiatric hospitals to care for the homeless. But a big part of the reason for that is that advocates for the homeless have, for 40 years, demanded that funding for dealing with the homeless go into giving people private studio apartments rather than building sufficient shelter beds. They call this “Housing First,” and its record is awful. Few stay in housing, and many die because it fails to treat the cause of the problem, addiction, and untreated mental illness rather than the symptoms. Studies find that cities that prioritize basic shelter over expensive housing reduce the deaths of homeless by 3-fold. And so in LA, homeless die at a rate 3 times higher than New York because living inside protects people from murder, drug overdose, and car accidents. Making matters worse, homeless advocates, along with the ACLU, have opposed expanding psychiatric hospitals, and mandatory care in general, because they believe it’s worse to mandate hospitalization for people who are dangerously psychotic or manic than to simply leave them on the street. But it’s not. Last year, 112,000 Americans died from drug overdose and poisoning because we failed to mandate treatment. Two of my friends from high school would still be alive today had we mandated they get treatment for addiction rather than letting them die. What is happening on homelessness is a record of failure. The number of drug deaths quintupled from 20,000 in 2022 to 112,000 last year. That’s more people dying per year than died in Hiroshima. Homelessness is not a fundamental problem of housing. It’s a problem of enabling addiction and untreated mental illness, both of which lead people to give up on work, lie, steal, cheat their families and friends, and live on the street, where they turn to petty crime to sustain their drug habits. This seems cruel to many people, which is why homelessness has gotten worse. In other words, the reason homelessness has gotten worse is because we’ve enabled it, and subsidized it, rather than funded treatment and recovery. Nobody has subsidized homelessness more than California, Washington, and Oregon. And it’s been in those states that homelessness has worsened the most. Why? The homelessness groups really believe it’s more cruel to mandate care than to let people die on the streets. But there is an ideology behind this, too. It’s the idea that people suffering from addiction and mental illness are victims of society or the system, which is fundamentally evil. And, according to their logic, to restore justice in the world, we must give victims whatever they want, including the right to camp anywhere and use hard drugs, even if it results in their death. You might call this "pathological altruism. Think of the Kathy Bates character in Misery. Or of the mother who poisons her child in order to have a sick person to take care of, like in “Sixth Sense.” It’s no coincidence that the same people who believe this also think civilization is evil and should be replaced by something more akin to primitive anarchism, like the kind romanticized by intellectuals since Rousseau. The alternative to this dystopia is tough love. We need to give people the care they need, but that’s not through enabling addiction and illegal behavior, but rather enforcing laws and mandating care, as an alternative to jail, when they are broken. It’s not enough to do what many Republicans want to do, which is to enforce laws and recriminalize shoplifting and hard drugs simply. We need to do that, for sure. But states must also have caseworkers, group homes, and psychiatric hospitals so there is an alternative to jail, and so states can provide people with the specialized care where it’s available, which simply isn’t going to be in many of the small towns, like the one at the center of the Supreme Court hearing. The dirty little secret about homelessness, which is also the key to ending it, is...

Michael Shellenberger

29,148,070 views • 2 years ago

🚨HOLY SH*T! If Democrats lose CNN, then you know we’re in trouble. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria TORCHES NYC and other Democrat-led cities over failed policies and astronomical spending, promising everything while wasting billions of taxpayers’ dollars and dodging accountability. “Zohran Mamdani ran on a promise to make New York affordable — a mandate for a city we can afford. Last week, he unveiled a budget that is, in a word, UNAFFORDABLE. NYC’s budget has ballooned in recent years. Michael Bloomberg’s last budget, adopted for fiscal year 2014, totaled about $70 billion. With population decline, New York’s general spending in 2023 was more than 30% higher per capita than Los Angeles and more than double Houston’s. NYC’s largest school district in the country — the city’s education budget — has climbed while enrollment has shrunk. The DOE budget has risen from roughly $34 billion in 2019 to over $40 billion, while the DOE says per-student spending is projected to reach nearly $35,000 in fiscal year 2026, among the highest in the nation. The outputs — graduation numbers, test scores, and reading levels — are, at best, middling, often comparable to places that spend a fraction of what New York does. New York already sits at the extreme end of the American tax spectrum. For high earners, the combined state-plus-city income tax reaches 14.76%, and the combined marginal rate can reach roughly 55% on certain investment income. New Yorkers pay tax rates comparable to European countries that, in return, provide universal healthcare, free college education, and outstanding infrastructure. New Yorkers get some 300 miles of sidewalk sheds. On business taxation, the city is also off the charts: the Citizens Budget Commission reports that New York City business activity faces the country’s highest combined corporate tax rate, 70.44%. Mamdani wants to hike income and corporate rates even further — or else, he says, he will raise property taxes by almost 10%. Property taxes already made up more than 27% of the cost of homeownership in the city as of 2022, above the national average. New York is really a prime example of a problem Democrats seem unwilling to confront: blue cities are out of control — promising more, spending more, delivering less, and pushing off fiscal problems to some future day. Los Angeles is another one-party metropolis wrestling with affordability and disorder. The city’s homelessness budget for fiscal year 2025–2026 totals about $950 million. The LA Homeless Services Authority reported that in 2023 homelessness was up 9% countywide and 10% in the city, and a 2024 AP account noted that homelessness has surged 70% countywide since 2015 and 8% in the city — all this amid public frustration despite billions spent. An audit reviewed $2.4 billion in city homelessness funding and found that officials could not reliably track where it went, what it achieved, or take Chicago, with a mayor whose approval rating is deep underwater, where the pension promises are so large that they will surely bankrupt the city at some point. What is the theory of good government here? If the answer is “keep adding programs,” the city will keep producing unaffordability — because unaffordability is what happens when government becomes a machine that grows faster than the society it governs. NYC’s rental assistance spending rose from $263 million in fiscal year 2020 to $1.3 billion in the most recently reported fiscal year — a fivefold increase in a handful of years — and housing costs only got worse. For Democrats in city halls, there is a choice: stop governing as if the goal is to announce new entitlements, and instead make government work — safer streets, functioning schools, predictable sanitation, and, above all, enough housing that the middle class can find places to live. New York City does not need more soaring rhetoric; it needs more homes.”
6:01

🚨HOLY SH*T! If Democrats lose CNN, then you know we’re in trouble. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria TORCHES NYC and other Democrat-led cities over failed policies and astronomical spending, promising everything while wasting billions of taxpayers’ dollars and dodging accountability. “Zohran Mamdani ran on a promise to make New York affordable — a mandate for a city we can afford. Last week, he unveiled a budget that is, in a word, UNAFFORDABLE. NYC’s budget has ballooned in recent years. Michael Bloomberg’s last budget, adopted for fiscal year 2014, totaled about $70 billion. With population decline, New York’s general spending in 2023 was more than 30% higher per capita than Los Angeles and more than double Houston’s. NYC’s largest school district in the country — the city’s education budget — has climbed while enrollment has shrunk. The DOE budget has risen from roughly $34 billion in 2019 to over $40 billion, while the DOE says per-student spending is projected to reach nearly $35,000 in fiscal year 2026, among the highest in the nation. The outputs — graduation numbers, test scores, and reading levels — are, at best, middling, often comparable to places that spend a fraction of what New York does. New York already sits at the extreme end of the American tax spectrum. For high earners, the combined state-plus-city income tax reaches 14.76%, and the combined marginal rate can reach roughly 55% on certain investment income. New Yorkers pay tax rates comparable to European countries that, in return, provide universal healthcare, free college education, and outstanding infrastructure. New Yorkers get some 300 miles of sidewalk sheds. On business taxation, the city is also off the charts: the Citizens Budget Commission reports that New York City business activity faces the country’s highest combined corporate tax rate, 70.44%. Mamdani wants to hike income and corporate rates even further — or else, he says, he will raise property taxes by almost 10%. Property taxes already made up more than 27% of the cost of homeownership in the city as of 2022, above the national average. New York is really a prime example of a problem Democrats seem unwilling to confront: blue cities are out of control — promising more, spending more, delivering less, and pushing off fiscal problems to some future day. Los Angeles is another one-party metropolis wrestling with affordability and disorder. The city’s homelessness budget for fiscal year 2025–2026 totals about $950 million. The LA Homeless Services Authority reported that in 2023 homelessness was up 9% countywide and 10% in the city, and a 2024 AP account noted that homelessness has surged 70% countywide since 2015 and 8% in the city — all this amid public frustration despite billions spent. An audit reviewed $2.4 billion in city homelessness funding and found that officials could not reliably track where it went, what it achieved, or take Chicago, with a mayor whose approval rating is deep underwater, where the pension promises are so large that they will surely bankrupt the city at some point. What is the theory of good government here? If the answer is “keep adding programs,” the city will keep producing unaffordability — because unaffordability is what happens when government becomes a machine that grows faster than the society it governs. NYC’s rental assistance spending rose from $263 million in fiscal year 2020 to $1.3 billion in the most recently reported fiscal year — a fivefold increase in a handful of years — and housing costs only got worse. For Democrats in city halls, there is a choice: stop governing as if the goal is to announce new entitlements, and instead make government work — safer streets, functioning schools, predictable sanitation, and, above all, enough housing that the middle class can find places to live. New York City does not need more soaring rhetoric; it needs more homes.”

I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸

137,280 views • 4 months ago

A Real New Yorker for New Yorkers: Curtis Sliwa Still Fighting for the City He Loves As usual, while I was out on the streets talking to people — including NYPD officers — the topic of the day was the New York City elections. When I mentioned Curtis Sliwa, the reactions were all the same: people lit up. They told me they support him because he understands this city in ways most politicians never could. Many said after the debate, they saw a different side of him — someone who truly knows the streets of New York and what they’ve become. I also spent some time with Curtis yesterday at the Halloween Parade, and one thing really stood out — he stopped for everyone. And I don’t mean just a few blocks. Curtis walked the entire parade route, shaking hands, taking photos, and talking to anyone who wanted a moment with him. You could see the respect and love people had for him — families, kids, and long-time New Yorkers alike. It wasn’t just a photo-op; it was Curtis being Curtis. This really highlights the disconnect between what the mainstream polls are showing and what the streets are actually saying. Out here, people are telling me they want Curtis. You can feel the support, you can see it in how people react to him. But the media keeps pushing a different story — one that doesn’t reflect the energy and the voices echoing across this city. Myself, as a native New Yorker who’s lived here for over 40 years, I know a b******* artist when I see one. I understand people — their tone, their movement, their energy — and I can spot the fake ones from a mile away. Now, look — nobody’s perfect. People do stupid things sometimes, and Curtis is no exception. He’s pulled off a few stunts in the past that made people shake their heads or laugh, maybe even question him. But that’s part of who he is — raw, unfiltered, and human. Sometimes people act out to get attention, but in his case, it always came from a place of caring about the city and trying to wake people up. That’s the difference. Curtis might have done things that looked crazy, but his heart’s always been in the right place. He’s real. He’s not a politician — he’s a regular guy who truly wants to save this city and have honest conversations with real New Yorkers. Some people say Curtis is a little crazy — s***, we’re all a little crazy. The man got shot multiple times trying to protect these same streets. Of course he’s going to be a little different. We’ve all seen a lot. Me, being in the line of work I’m in, I’ve seen things I didn’t want to see — things I never signed up to see. Did it make me a little crazy? Absolutely. It changes the way you look at life, at people, and at this city. Let’s not forget, Curtis founded The Marvelous 13 back in 1979 — a small group that later evolved into the now world-famous Guardian Angels. That was the start of a lifelong mission to protect and serve New Yorkers, and he’s been doing it ever since. For over 45 years, Curtis has stood up for the city when few others would. Now, at his age, this is most likely his last run for New York City Mayor, and you can see he’s giving it everything he’s got. Whether he’s walking a parade route, visiting neighborhoods most politicians avoid, or talking directly to everyday New Yorkers, Curtis is still doing what he’s always done — showing up. After so many years putting his life and energy into protecting New Yorkers, the city owes him respect, and voters owe him a fair shot at leading this city the way he’s been fighting to protect it for decades. That’s what makes him different. He’s not trying to be perfect — he’s trying to be real. And in a city that’s seen it all, that’s exactly what people are looking for. By Leeroy Johnson For licensing email viralnewsnyc@gmail.com
0:46

A Real New Yorker for New Yorkers: Curtis Sliwa Still Fighting for the City He Loves As usual, while I was out on the streets talking to people — including NYPD officers — the topic of the day was the New York City elections. When I mentioned Curtis Sliwa, the reactions were all the same: people lit up. They told me they support him because he understands this city in ways most politicians never could. Many said after the debate, they saw a different side of him — someone who truly knows the streets of New York and what they’ve become. I also spent some time with Curtis yesterday at the Halloween Parade, and one thing really stood out — he stopped for everyone. And I don’t mean just a few blocks. Curtis walked the entire parade route, shaking hands, taking photos, and talking to anyone who wanted a moment with him. You could see the respect and love people had for him — families, kids, and long-time New Yorkers alike. It wasn’t just a photo-op; it was Curtis being Curtis. This really highlights the disconnect between what the mainstream polls are showing and what the streets are actually saying. Out here, people are telling me they want Curtis. You can feel the support, you can see it in how people react to him. But the media keeps pushing a different story — one that doesn’t reflect the energy and the voices echoing across this city. Myself, as a native New Yorker who’s lived here for over 40 years, I know a b******* artist when I see one. I understand people — their tone, their movement, their energy — and I can spot the fake ones from a mile away. Now, look — nobody’s perfect. People do stupid things sometimes, and Curtis is no exception. He’s pulled off a few stunts in the past that made people shake their heads or laugh, maybe even question him. But that’s part of who he is — raw, unfiltered, and human. Sometimes people act out to get attention, but in his case, it always came from a place of caring about the city and trying to wake people up. That’s the difference. Curtis might have done things that looked crazy, but his heart’s always been in the right place. He’s real. He’s not a politician — he’s a regular guy who truly wants to save this city and have honest conversations with real New Yorkers. Some people say Curtis is a little crazy — s***, we’re all a little crazy. The man got shot multiple times trying to protect these same streets. Of course he’s going to be a little different. We’ve all seen a lot. Me, being in the line of work I’m in, I’ve seen things I didn’t want to see — things I never signed up to see. Did it make me a little crazy? Absolutely. It changes the way you look at life, at people, and at this city. Let’s not forget, Curtis founded The Marvelous 13 back in 1979 — a small group that later evolved into the now world-famous Guardian Angels. That was the start of a lifelong mission to protect and serve New Yorkers, and he’s been doing it ever since. For over 45 years, Curtis has stood up for the city when few others would. Now, at his age, this is most likely his last run for New York City Mayor, and you can see he’s giving it everything he’s got. Whether he’s walking a parade route, visiting neighborhoods most politicians avoid, or talking directly to everyday New Yorkers, Curtis is still doing what he’s always done — showing up. After so many years putting his life and energy into protecting New Yorkers, the city owes him respect, and voters owe him a fair shot at leading this city the way he’s been fighting to protect it for decades. That’s what makes him different. He’s not trying to be perfect — he’s trying to be real. And in a city that’s seen it all, that’s exactly what people are looking for. By Leeroy Johnson For licensing email [email protected]

Viral News NYC

78,182 views • 8 months ago

Have you heard about the new R18 billion ‘city’ being built right next to Sandton in Jozi?👀 It’s called the Bankenveld District City (BDC), and here’s what’s up: • Size: 300 hectares • Construction timeline: 15 - 20 years • Location: Between Sandton and Waterfall, just off the Marlboro offramp. • Developers: Eris Property Group & Calgro M3 (with Nedbank Property Partners as equity partner) The plan is ambitious: nearly 30 000 homes, plus a shopping centre, schools, offices, clinics, green spaces and 500 000m2 of industrial, commercial and retail space. The land (portion 5 of the Farm Bergvallei 37) once belonged to Wits and was sold for R200 million. About 34% of the site will go into infrastructure. Calgro M3 will drive the residential side, while Eris handles retail, commercial, industrial, healthcare and education. Developers are calling it a “city”… but to me, it feels more like a large-scale mixed-use precinct. Still, it raises important questions about how Joburg is growing: • Will projects like this ease pressure on Sandton and Waterfall, or just extend the urban sprawl? • Can infrastructure keep up, especially roads, utilities, water, electricity, and public transportation? • And at a time when housing affordability is a national concern, how many of these 30 000 homes will really be accessible to the middle market? South Africa needs bold developments that match the scale of our challenges. Challenges that we know the government cannot solve solo. I am looking forward to seeing these private developers make a difference with BDC. Is this the future of Joburg’s growth, or just another mega-project with too many promises?
1:04

Have you heard about the new R18 billion ‘city’ being built right next to Sandton in Jozi?👀 It’s called the Bankenveld District City (BDC), and here’s what’s up: • Size: 300 hectares • Construction timeline: 15 - 20 years • Location: Between Sandton and Waterfall, just off the Marlboro offramp. • Developers: Eris Property Group & Calgro M3 (with Nedbank Property Partners as equity partner) The plan is ambitious: nearly 30 000 homes, plus a shopping centre, schools, offices, clinics, green spaces and 500 000m2 of industrial, commercial and retail space. The land (portion 5 of the Farm Bergvallei 37) once belonged to Wits and was sold for R200 million. About 34% of the site will go into infrastructure. Calgro M3 will drive the residential side, while Eris handles retail, commercial, industrial, healthcare and education. Developers are calling it a “city”… but to me, it feels more like a large-scale mixed-use precinct. Still, it raises important questions about how Joburg is growing: • Will projects like this ease pressure on Sandton and Waterfall, or just extend the urban sprawl? • Can infrastructure keep up, especially roads, utilities, water, electricity, and public transportation? • And at a time when housing affordability is a national concern, how many of these 30 000 homes will really be accessible to the middle market? South Africa needs bold developments that match the scale of our challenges. Challenges that we know the government cannot solve solo. I am looking forward to seeing these private developers make a difference with BDC. Is this the future of Joburg’s growth, or just another mega-project with too many promises?

Ash Müller

158,696 views • 10 months ago

My graphic illustrates the large number of vacant and derelict properties in Dublin City. It also shows the 4,666 entire houses or apartments currently listed for short-term letting on the Airbnb platform, with a total of 18,649 across Ireland. Landowners owe councils €50 million as 90% of vacant site levies go unpaid. Intended to prevent land hoarding and accelerate housing development, only €138,335 of €9.6 million owed in 2022 was collected. Thirteen of 31 local authorities issued no demands, and of the 18 that did, only four collected any money. Dublin City Council imposed nearly €4.9 million in levies but collected nothing. The prolonged dereliction of properties should be considered social vandalism, a crime against the state and the common good. An effective vacant and derelict tax, coupled with a compulsory sales order, could dissuade landlords from hoarding land, particularly sites that have been vacant and derelict for an extended period. Homelessness in Ireland has reached another new record high, with 14,760 people homeless and relying on emergency accommodation, including 4,561 children from 2,133 families, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Housing. The Housing for All plan, launched by the Irish government in September 2021, is their housing strategy aimed at addressing the country's housing crisis. However, since its implementation, statistics have revealed alarming trends: • Total homelessness increased by 74%, from 8,475 to 14,760. • Homeless adults increased by 66%, from 6,131 to 10,199 . • Homeless children increased by 95%, from 2,344 to 4,561. The 2022 Census shows that the country has 166,752 vacant homes and 66,135 empty holiday homes. Notably, nearly a third of these vacant homes (48,387) have been unoccupied since 2016. Predictably, rent has doubled over the past 13 years and house prices have surged by 55%, marking the fastest growth in any major EU economy. Average rents have soared by 43% compared to pre-Covid levels, with Dublin rents now averaging €2,476. In the capital, a typical three-bed semi-detached home costs €517,333. The average house price in Dublin is rising by €469 per week. To purchase a new home in Dublin priced around €395,000, a first-time buyer typically needs an annual income of at least €77,142 and must also have a minimum deposit of 10%, amounting to around €39,500. This financial barrier helps explain why an estimated 10,600 people left Ireland to live in Australia last year, up from 4,700 the previous year—a staggering 126% increase. This marks the highest level of emigration to Australia since 2013. Currently, vulture funds own 1 in 6 mortgages in the Irish housing market, while cuckoo funds and the State purchase 42% of new homes. This situation has led to a record number of first-time buyers competing for the smallest supply of housing stock in over a decade. Nationally, just over 11,000 homes are available for purchase, a stark contrast to 2012 when 60,000 homes were on the market. A garda and a nurse with a combined salary of €89,000 cannot afford a three-bedroom semi-detached house in greater Dublin. To add to the crisis, the income needed to buy a new home in Dublin is €127,000, which surpasses even a TD's basic salary of €108,987. Consequently, 68% of people in their late 20s still live with their parents, a figure that is nearly 26% higher than the EU average of 42.1%. #Dublin #Ireland #HousingCrisis #DerelictIreland #homeless #Airbnb #GE2024 #HousingForAll #Election24 #RTEPT
1:42

My graphic illustrates the large number of vacant and derelict properties in Dublin City. It also shows the 4,666 entire houses or apartments currently listed for short-term letting on the Airbnb platform, with a total of 18,649 across Ireland. Landowners owe councils €50 million as 90% of vacant site levies go unpaid. Intended to prevent land hoarding and accelerate housing development, only €138,335 of €9.6 million owed in 2022 was collected. Thirteen of 31 local authorities issued no demands, and of the 18 that did, only four collected any money. Dublin City Council imposed nearly €4.9 million in levies but collected nothing. The prolonged dereliction of properties should be considered social vandalism, a crime against the state and the common good. An effective vacant and derelict tax, coupled with a compulsory sales order, could dissuade landlords from hoarding land, particularly sites that have been vacant and derelict for an extended period. Homelessness in Ireland has reached another new record high, with 14,760 people homeless and relying on emergency accommodation, including 4,561 children from 2,133 families, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Housing. The Housing for All plan, launched by the Irish government in September 2021, is their housing strategy aimed at addressing the country's housing crisis. However, since its implementation, statistics have revealed alarming trends: • Total homelessness increased by 74%, from 8,475 to 14,760. • Homeless adults increased by 66%, from 6,131 to 10,199 . • Homeless children increased by 95%, from 2,344 to 4,561. The 2022 Census shows that the country has 166,752 vacant homes and 66,135 empty holiday homes. Notably, nearly a third of these vacant homes (48,387) have been unoccupied since 2016. Predictably, rent has doubled over the past 13 years and house prices have surged by 55%, marking the fastest growth in any major EU economy. Average rents have soared by 43% compared to pre-Covid levels, with Dublin rents now averaging €2,476. In the capital, a typical three-bed semi-detached home costs €517,333. The average house price in Dublin is rising by €469 per week. To purchase a new home in Dublin priced around €395,000, a first-time buyer typically needs an annual income of at least €77,142 and must also have a minimum deposit of 10%, amounting to around €39,500. This financial barrier helps explain why an estimated 10,600 people left Ireland to live in Australia last year, up from 4,700 the previous year—a staggering 126% increase. This marks the highest level of emigration to Australia since 2013. Currently, vulture funds own 1 in 6 mortgages in the Irish housing market, while cuckoo funds and the State purchase 42% of new homes. This situation has led to a record number of first-time buyers competing for the smallest supply of housing stock in over a decade. Nationally, just over 11,000 homes are available for purchase, a stark contrast to 2012 when 60,000 homes were on the market. A garda and a nurse with a combined salary of €89,000 cannot afford a three-bedroom semi-detached house in greater Dublin. To add to the crisis, the income needed to buy a new home in Dublin is €127,000, which surpasses even a TD's basic salary of €108,987. Consequently, 68% of people in their late 20s still live with their parents, a figure that is nearly 26% higher than the EU average of 42.1%. #Dublin #Ireland #HousingCrisis #DerelictIreland #homeless #Airbnb #GE2024 #HousingForAll #Election24 #RTEPT

Rob Cross

46,347 views • 1 year ago

Glen Beck is another podcaster that is right far more than he's wrong. I told you this Housing Bill was a scam, and so it is. The following research went out to my subscribers first, as they deserve some perks for supporting me, but now it's time for you all to see the truth: 🚨The "bipartisan" housing bill is another masterclass in missing the point. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act just passed the House 358-32 (Senate passed it earlier). 32 Republicans actually voted NO and stood against this watered-down garbage. Here’s what the bill SAYS vs what it actually means (10 points): 1. What it says: “We’re investing $200 million in an Innovation Fund to boost housing supply!” 😡What it actually means: Thanks to Rashida Tlaib’s amendment, we’re dumping more taxpayer money into dense subsidized housing projects that frequently become crime magnets and tanks nearby property values. 2. What it says: “We’re cracking down on big investors buying up single-family homes!” 😡What it actually means: Only American institutional investors who already own 350+ homes are restricted. Foreign buyers (especially from China and other countries) can still purchase American homes with zero limits. 3. What it says: “We’re streamlining regulations and cutting red tape to build more homes faster!” 😡What it actually means: Minor NEPA tweaks and some grants, while local zoning and NIMBY rules (the real barriers) stay mostly untouched. Plus new federal “incentives” that pressure localities into more government control. 4. What it says: “We’re helping tenants with counseling and support services!” 😡What it actually means: Funding special counselors and hotlines to help problem tenants fight or delay lawful evictions, making it even harder for landlords to remove bad actors. 5. What it says: “We’re modernizing and reauthorizing key HUD programs!” 😡What it actually means: Expanding and reauthorizing the same bloated, failed HUD bureaucracy that’s been mismanaging housing policy for decades. 6. What it says: “We’re protecting housing stability and access!” 😡What it actually means: Lingering tenant protections and extensions keep elements of the old COVID-era eviction environment alive, shielding deadbeats instead of prioritizing responsible landlords and paying tenants. 7. What it says: (Absolutely silent on illegals still qualifying for housing which is a main driver of the problem) 😡What it actually means: Housing benefits and assistance can still flow to illegal immigrants, increasing demand and driving up costs for American citizens. 8. What it says: (Silent on Sanctuary cities) 😡What it actually means: Sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement still get full access to federal housing-related funding. No cuts, no accountability. 9. What it says: “This will increase housing supply and lower costs for families!” 😡What it actually means: It does almost nothing to address the massive surge in demand from record illegal immigration while only nibbling at supply-side barriers. Real relief requires both more building and securing the border. 10. What it says: “Bipartisan victory for housing affordability!” 😡What it actually means: Classic “bipartisan” = Republicans and Democrats agreeing to do something that sounds nice but changes very little for working Americans because they think we're stupid. Are they right? ✅Foreign buyers welcome ✅Bad tenants protected ✅Bureaucracy expanded ✅Citizens ignored This bill was sold as a big win. It’s mostly theater. The 32 Republicans who voted NO saw through it. The rest just wanted something to brag about before midterms. Homes should be for American families, not foreign investors, not government-subsidized experiments, and not endless bureaucracy. We need real solutions, not more of the same failed policies wrapped in bipartisan wrapping paper. 💫Give Glenn Beck a follow because he's one of the good ones! Links to his channel and the Blaze in the comments!
15:28

Glen Beck is another podcaster that is right far more than he's wrong. I told you this Housing Bill was a scam, and so it is. The following research went out to my subscribers first, as they deserve some perks for supporting me, but now it's time for you all to see the truth: 🚨The "bipartisan" housing bill is another masterclass in missing the point. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act just passed the House 358-32 (Senate passed it earlier). 32 Republicans actually voted NO and stood against this watered-down garbage. Here’s what the bill SAYS vs what it actually means (10 points): 1. What it says: “We’re investing $200 million in an Innovation Fund to boost housing supply!” 😡What it actually means: Thanks to Rashida Tlaib’s amendment, we’re dumping more taxpayer money into dense subsidized housing projects that frequently become crime magnets and tanks nearby property values. 2. What it says: “We’re cracking down on big investors buying up single-family homes!” 😡What it actually means: Only American institutional investors who already own 350+ homes are restricted. Foreign buyers (especially from China and other countries) can still purchase American homes with zero limits. 3. What it says: “We’re streamlining regulations and cutting red tape to build more homes faster!” 😡What it actually means: Minor NEPA tweaks and some grants, while local zoning and NIMBY rules (the real barriers) stay mostly untouched. Plus new federal “incentives” that pressure localities into more government control. 4. What it says: “We’re helping tenants with counseling and support services!” 😡What it actually means: Funding special counselors and hotlines to help problem tenants fight or delay lawful evictions, making it even harder for landlords to remove bad actors. 5. What it says: “We’re modernizing and reauthorizing key HUD programs!” 😡What it actually means: Expanding and reauthorizing the same bloated, failed HUD bureaucracy that’s been mismanaging housing policy for decades. 6. What it says: “We’re protecting housing stability and access!” 😡What it actually means: Lingering tenant protections and extensions keep elements of the old COVID-era eviction environment alive, shielding deadbeats instead of prioritizing responsible landlords and paying tenants. 7. What it says: (Absolutely silent on illegals still qualifying for housing which is a main driver of the problem) 😡What it actually means: Housing benefits and assistance can still flow to illegal immigrants, increasing demand and driving up costs for American citizens. 8. What it says: (Silent on Sanctuary cities) 😡What it actually means: Sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement still get full access to federal housing-related funding. No cuts, no accountability. 9. What it says: “This will increase housing supply and lower costs for families!” 😡What it actually means: It does almost nothing to address the massive surge in demand from record illegal immigration while only nibbling at supply-side barriers. Real relief requires both more building and securing the border. 10. What it says: “Bipartisan victory for housing affordability!” 😡What it actually means: Classic “bipartisan” = Republicans and Democrats agreeing to do something that sounds nice but changes very little for working Americans because they think we're stupid. Are they right? ✅Foreign buyers welcome ✅Bad tenants protected ✅Bureaucracy expanded ✅Citizens ignored This bill was sold as a big win. It’s mostly theater. The 32 Republicans who voted NO saw through it. The rest just wanted something to brag about before midterms. Homes should be for American families, not foreign investors, not government-subsidized experiments, and not endless bureaucracy. We need real solutions, not more of the same failed policies wrapped in bipartisan wrapping paper. 💫Give Glenn Beck a follow because he's one of the good ones! Links to his channel and the Blaze in the comments!

Lj Priest (Formerly Trader Jill)

10,472 views • 17 days ago

The election of a charismatic democratic socialist as the Democratic Party’s mayoral candidate yesterday stunned New York's political establishment and appears to signal the most radical shift in city politics in a generation. With no executive experience, limited name recognition, and a fraction of the budget of his rival, a 33-year-old State Assemblyman named Zohran Mamdani defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo outright in the Democratic primary, winning 44 percent of the vote in the first round and avoiding a runoff entirely. Mamdani’s rise was powered by younger, progressive voters hungry for moral clarity and economic redistribution. Mamdani is a practicing Muslim and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018. He is a true political star, radiating warmth and intelligence. Mamdani called for a citywide rent freeze, universal rent control, fare-free public transit, and city-run grocery stores — all without raising taxes on working- and middle-class New Yorkers. But if Mamdani wins the general election in November and implements his policies, their impact would be disastrous for the people of New York City, including the poor, the working class, and many of the young voters who carried him to victory. A citywide rent freeze and expanded rent control would choke new housing supply, discourage landlords from maintaining existing units, and entrench inequality by rewarding incumbency while locking out newcomers. The evidence is already stark: New York City's acknowledgment on February 8 that the latest Housing and Vacancy Survey (HVS), a study of housing conditions, shows the rental vacancy rate in early 2023 at 1.4 percent, the lowest in more than 50 years. This crisis emerged after the 2019 rent laws that Mamdani wants to expand. Berlin tried a similar approach in 2020; construction collapsed, black markets emerged, and rents ultimately surged when the courts overturned the law. Mamdani's plan to eliminate transit fares would exacerbate the Metropolitan Transit Authority's multibillion-dollar deficit and compromise service quality in a system already operating at capacity. His proposal for city-run grocery stores ignores Chicago’s failed attempt, where poor oversight led to spoiled food, inventory gaps, and unsustainable losses. And his pledge to slash the NYPD budget comes at a time when violent crime remains elevated, assaults on transit workers are rising, and 911 response times lag across the boroughs. Mamdani is raising legitimate concerns, including on affordability and the city’s poor treatment of the mentally ill. From 1968 to 2024, the full span of New York’s current rent stabilization system, rents went up 1,017 percent, while costs for all other measured goods rose 826 percent. Public transit in New York is expensive and unreliable, grocery prices are punishing, and far too many mentally ill New Yorkers are left untreated on the streets, cycling through shelters, jails, and emergency rooms. In April 2025, 108,464 people slept each night in NYC shelters, while the majority of unsheltered homeless individuals are people living with a mental illness or other severe health problems. Mamdani’s willingness to confront issues that the other candidates evaded made him a symbol of hope for voters who rightly feel abandoned. But Mamdani’s proposals would make each of those issues worse, not better. A citywide rent freeze and expanded rent control would drive down construction, accelerate building withdrawal, and deepen the housing shortage. Operating costs of buildings containing rent-stabilized apartments already increased by 6.3 percent between 2024 and 2025. His call for fare-free public transit ignores the experience of other cities where eliminating fares led to overcrowding, reduced reliability, and funding crises. His plan to establish city-run grocery stores fails to take into account operational challenges. On safety, Mamdani pledges to remove police from schools, public housing, and subways, even as violent crime remains above pre-pandemic levels. And on mental illness, his opposition to court-ordered treatmentwould leave people in psychosis on the streets, untreated and deteriorating. And the people those policies would most harm would be many of the very people Mamdani claims to care most about. It would be low-income renters who find themselves unable to move because no new units are being built. It would be transit-dependent workers in the outer boroughs who rely on reliable subway service but would be left waiting for overcrowded, underfunded trains. It would be families in food deserts who need access to affordable groceries, not government-run stores plagued by mismanagement and waste. It would be children in public schools, tenants in public housing, and straphangers who face rising violence and would see fewer officers on patrol. And it would be the mentally ill and addicts themselves in crisis who need an intervention, not just outreach, left to suffer on sidewalks and subway platforms in the name of autonomy. Why then did he win such a resounding victory, particularly from those voters under 40 years old? ... Please subscribe to support Public's award-winning investigative journalism, watch the full video, and read the rest of this article coauthored with Alex Gutentag alex gutentag !
5:52

The election of a charismatic democratic socialist as the Democratic Party’s mayoral candidate yesterday stunned New York's political establishment and appears to signal the most radical shift in city politics in a generation. With no executive experience, limited name recognition, and a fraction of the budget of his rival, a 33-year-old State Assemblyman named Zohran Mamdani defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo outright in the Democratic primary, winning 44 percent of the vote in the first round and avoiding a runoff entirely. Mamdani’s rise was powered by younger, progressive voters hungry for moral clarity and economic redistribution. Mamdani is a practicing Muslim and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018. He is a true political star, radiating warmth and intelligence. Mamdani called for a citywide rent freeze, universal rent control, fare-free public transit, and city-run grocery stores — all without raising taxes on working- and middle-class New Yorkers. But if Mamdani wins the general election in November and implements his policies, their impact would be disastrous for the people of New York City, including the poor, the working class, and many of the young voters who carried him to victory. A citywide rent freeze and expanded rent control would choke new housing supply, discourage landlords from maintaining existing units, and entrench inequality by rewarding incumbency while locking out newcomers. The evidence is already stark: New York City's acknowledgment on February 8 that the latest Housing and Vacancy Survey (HVS), a study of housing conditions, shows the rental vacancy rate in early 2023 at 1.4 percent, the lowest in more than 50 years. This crisis emerged after the 2019 rent laws that Mamdani wants to expand. Berlin tried a similar approach in 2020; construction collapsed, black markets emerged, and rents ultimately surged when the courts overturned the law. Mamdani's plan to eliminate transit fares would exacerbate the Metropolitan Transit Authority's multibillion-dollar deficit and compromise service quality in a system already operating at capacity. His proposal for city-run grocery stores ignores Chicago’s failed attempt, where poor oversight led to spoiled food, inventory gaps, and unsustainable losses. And his pledge to slash the NYPD budget comes at a time when violent crime remains elevated, assaults on transit workers are rising, and 911 response times lag across the boroughs. Mamdani is raising legitimate concerns, including on affordability and the city’s poor treatment of the mentally ill. From 1968 to 2024, the full span of New York’s current rent stabilization system, rents went up 1,017 percent, while costs for all other measured goods rose 826 percent. Public transit in New York is expensive and unreliable, grocery prices are punishing, and far too many mentally ill New Yorkers are left untreated on the streets, cycling through shelters, jails, and emergency rooms. In April 2025, 108,464 people slept each night in NYC shelters, while the majority of unsheltered homeless individuals are people living with a mental illness or other severe health problems. Mamdani’s willingness to confront issues that the other candidates evaded made him a symbol of hope for voters who rightly feel abandoned. But Mamdani’s proposals would make each of those issues worse, not better. A citywide rent freeze and expanded rent control would drive down construction, accelerate building withdrawal, and deepen the housing shortage. Operating costs of buildings containing rent-stabilized apartments already increased by 6.3 percent between 2024 and 2025. His call for fare-free public transit ignores the experience of other cities where eliminating fares led to overcrowding, reduced reliability, and funding crises. His plan to establish city-run grocery stores fails to take into account operational challenges. On safety, Mamdani pledges to remove police from schools, public housing, and subways, even as violent crime remains above pre-pandemic levels. And on mental illness, his opposition to court-ordered treatmentwould leave people in psychosis on the streets, untreated and deteriorating. And the people those policies would most harm would be many of the very people Mamdani claims to care most about. It would be low-income renters who find themselves unable to move because no new units are being built. It would be transit-dependent workers in the outer boroughs who rely on reliable subway service but would be left waiting for overcrowded, underfunded trains. It would be families in food deserts who need access to affordable groceries, not government-run stores plagued by mismanagement and waste. It would be children in public schools, tenants in public housing, and straphangers who face rising violence and would see fewer officers on patrol. And it would be the mentally ill and addicts themselves in crisis who need an intervention, not just outreach, left to suffer on sidewalks and subway platforms in the name of autonomy. Why then did he win such a resounding victory, particularly from those voters under 40 years old? ... Please subscribe to support Public's award-winning investigative journalism, watch the full video, and read the rest of this article coauthored with Alex Gutentag alex gutentag !

Michael Shellenberger

182,912 views • 1 year ago

My graphic illustrates the high number of vacant and derelict properties in Dublin City. It also shows 4,666 entire houses or apartments currently listed for short-term letting on the Airbnb platform, with a total of 18,649 across Ireland. By the way, the red blocks in my graphic represent some of the derelict and vacant sites in Dublin City, while the red houses represent Airbnb short-term rentals. The graphic also highlights a new housing development at Fosterstown Place in Swords where Ryanair purchased 25 out of 28 homes. Ireland's housing system is dysfunctional and not fit for purpose as it fails to deter vulture funds from bulk buying properties that could be homes for individual buyers. On May 20, 2021, the Irish Government introduced a 10% stamp duty on bulk purchases of residential houses. This measure aimed to discourage large-scale acquisitions by investors and vulture funds. This is one of the reasons why the housing system is broken in Ireland. Ryanair cabin crew salaries in Ireland are notably lower than those of their counterparts at other airlines. Their pay ranges from €17,000 to €29,000, depending on flight hours and additional bonuses. The average salary for cabin crew across Ireland is approximately €2,120 per month or €25,400 annually, indicating that Ryanair's pay is about 15% lower than the national average for flight attendants. It's worth mentioning that Michael O'Leary's current salary stands at €1.2 million—about €49,271 per month. His total compensation package could reach up to €4.7 million, depending on performance bonuses. O'Leary's net worth, primarily derived from his shareholding in Ryanair, is estimated at around €700 million. It's no wonder Ryanair staff struggle to afford average rent in Dublin. Last January, the airline purchased 25 out of 28 homes in a new housing development at Fosterstown Place in Swords. Ryanair stated that these properties were acquired to accommodate staff who work at Dublin Airport. However, to make matters worse, 18 of these homes are sitting empty—six months after the developer completed them. Homelessness in Ireland has reached another new record high, with 14,760 people homeless and relying on emergency accommodation, including 4,561 children from 2,133 families, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Housing. The Government failed to meet its social and affordable housing targets by 2,680 homes last year and significantly underestimated the number of houses needed to be built annually by 17,000. It's widely accepted that Ireland requires up to 50,000 additional houses each year; however, the government's "Housing for All" plan only aims to build an average of 33,000. The Housing for All plan, launched by the Irish government in September 2021, is their housing strategy aimed at addressing the country's housing crisis. However, since its implementation, statistics have revealed alarming trends: • Total homelessness increased by 74%, from 8,475 to 14,760. • Homeless adults increased by 66%, from 6,131 to 10,199 . • Homeless children increased by 95%, from 2,344 to 4,561. The 2022 Census shows that the country has 166,752 vacant homes and 66,135 empty holiday homes. Notably, nearly a third of these vacant homes (48,387) have been unoccupied since 2016. Predictably, rent has doubled over the past 13 years and house prices have surged by 55%, marking the fastest growth in any major EU economy. Average rents have soared by 43% compared to pre-Covid levels, with Dublin rents now averaging €2,476. In the capital, a typical three-bed semi-detached home costs €517,333. The average house price in Dublin is rising by €469 per week. To purchase a new home in Dublin priced around €395,000, a first-time buyer typically needs an annual income of at least €77,142 and must also have a minimum deposit of 10%, amounting to around €39,500. This financial barrier helps explain why an estimated 10,600 people left Ireland to live in Australia last year, up from 4,700 the previous year—a staggering 126% increase. This marks the highest level of emigration to Australia since 2013. Currently, vulture funds own 1 in 6 mortgages in the Irish housing market, while cuckoo funds and the State purchase 42% of new homes. This situation has led to a record number of first-time buyers competing for the smallest supply of housing stock in over a decade. Nationally, just over 11,000 homes are available for purchase, a stark contrast to 2012 when 60,000 homes were on the market. A garda and a nurse with a combined salary of €89,000 cannot afford a three-bedroom semi-detached house in greater Dublin. To add to the crisis, the income needed to buy a new home in Dublin is €127,000, which surpasses even a TD's basic salary of €108,987. Consequently, 68% of people in their late 20s still live with their parents, a figure that is nearly 26% higher than the EU average of 42.1%. #Dublin #Ireland #HousingCrisis #DerelictIreland #homeless #Airbnb #GE2024 #Ryanair #HousingForAll
1:28

My graphic illustrates the high number of vacant and derelict properties in Dublin City. It also shows 4,666 entire houses or apartments currently listed for short-term letting on the Airbnb platform, with a total of 18,649 across Ireland. By the way, the red blocks in my graphic represent some of the derelict and vacant sites in Dublin City, while the red houses represent Airbnb short-term rentals. The graphic also highlights a new housing development at Fosterstown Place in Swords where Ryanair purchased 25 out of 28 homes. Ireland's housing system is dysfunctional and not fit for purpose as it fails to deter vulture funds from bulk buying properties that could be homes for individual buyers. On May 20, 2021, the Irish Government introduced a 10% stamp duty on bulk purchases of residential houses. This measure aimed to discourage large-scale acquisitions by investors and vulture funds. This is one of the reasons why the housing system is broken in Ireland. Ryanair cabin crew salaries in Ireland are notably lower than those of their counterparts at other airlines. Their pay ranges from €17,000 to €29,000, depending on flight hours and additional bonuses. The average salary for cabin crew across Ireland is approximately €2,120 per month or €25,400 annually, indicating that Ryanair's pay is about 15% lower than the national average for flight attendants. It's worth mentioning that Michael O'Leary's current salary stands at €1.2 million—about €49,271 per month. His total compensation package could reach up to €4.7 million, depending on performance bonuses. O'Leary's net worth, primarily derived from his shareholding in Ryanair, is estimated at around €700 million. It's no wonder Ryanair staff struggle to afford average rent in Dublin. Last January, the airline purchased 25 out of 28 homes in a new housing development at Fosterstown Place in Swords. Ryanair stated that these properties were acquired to accommodate staff who work at Dublin Airport. However, to make matters worse, 18 of these homes are sitting empty—six months after the developer completed them. Homelessness in Ireland has reached another new record high, with 14,760 people homeless and relying on emergency accommodation, including 4,561 children from 2,133 families, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Housing. The Government failed to meet its social and affordable housing targets by 2,680 homes last year and significantly underestimated the number of houses needed to be built annually by 17,000. It's widely accepted that Ireland requires up to 50,000 additional houses each year; however, the government's "Housing for All" plan only aims to build an average of 33,000. The Housing for All plan, launched by the Irish government in September 2021, is their housing strategy aimed at addressing the country's housing crisis. However, since its implementation, statistics have revealed alarming trends: • Total homelessness increased by 74%, from 8,475 to 14,760. • Homeless adults increased by 66%, from 6,131 to 10,199 . • Homeless children increased by 95%, from 2,344 to 4,561. The 2022 Census shows that the country has 166,752 vacant homes and 66,135 empty holiday homes. Notably, nearly a third of these vacant homes (48,387) have been unoccupied since 2016. Predictably, rent has doubled over the past 13 years and house prices have surged by 55%, marking the fastest growth in any major EU economy. Average rents have soared by 43% compared to pre-Covid levels, with Dublin rents now averaging €2,476. In the capital, a typical three-bed semi-detached home costs €517,333. The average house price in Dublin is rising by €469 per week. To purchase a new home in Dublin priced around €395,000, a first-time buyer typically needs an annual income of at least €77,142 and must also have a minimum deposit of 10%, amounting to around €39,500. This financial barrier helps explain why an estimated 10,600 people left Ireland to live in Australia last year, up from 4,700 the previous year—a staggering 126% increase. This marks the highest level of emigration to Australia since 2013. Currently, vulture funds own 1 in 6 mortgages in the Irish housing market, while cuckoo funds and the State purchase 42% of new homes. This situation has led to a record number of first-time buyers competing for the smallest supply of housing stock in over a decade. Nationally, just over 11,000 homes are available for purchase, a stark contrast to 2012 when 60,000 homes were on the market. A garda and a nurse with a combined salary of €89,000 cannot afford a three-bedroom semi-detached house in greater Dublin. To add to the crisis, the income needed to buy a new home in Dublin is €127,000, which surpasses even a TD's basic salary of €108,987. Consequently, 68% of people in their late 20s still live with their parents, a figure that is nearly 26% higher than the EU average of 42.1%. #Dublin #Ireland #HousingCrisis #DerelictIreland #homeless #Airbnb #GE2024 #Ryanair #HousingForAll

Rob Cross

30,241 views • 1 year ago

First Arrests Hint at How Billions in California Homeless $$$ Vanished Without a Trace on Gavin's Watch | Victoria Taft, PJ Media With the arrests and federal indictments of two California men announced on Thursday, we're now getting an idea of how California's billions of dollars to "end homelessness" vanished without a trace. Instead of helping to solve the problem of rampant tent encampments filled with addicts on the beaches and streets in California, things got worse. Where did all that money go? An audit in 2024 revealed that no one knew how the homeless money was spent. I wrote about this in "No Wonder Gavin Newsom Didn't Want an Audit to Track $24 Billion in Homeless Spending." The audit revealed that there were no guardrails or accountability for the use of that money or its expenditure. How could that be? No one was watching the store. California and Los Angeles handed out billions of dollars approved by voters to help end homelessness, and when homelessness got worse, no one in government could answer where all that money went—because no one checked. Now, the federal Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force has begun running down the homeless scams that possess all the hallmarks of the ones Californians saw in its COVID spending and the notoriously poorly vetted unemployment scam, in which Nigerian princes and prison inmates alike received federal and state unemployment money. And then came the $100 million FireAid scam. All of this happened on Gavin Newsom's watch. The Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force, which includes the IRS, FBI, and the Central California Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose nomination sits untouched by the U.S. Senate, announced the alleged scams that had escaped the notice of Los Angeles homeless officials and the State of California. One of the scams was run by the former chief financial officer at a downtown Los Angeles-based developer of affordable housing. Another was run by a property flipper who allegedly sold a property to a homeless housing developer for twice what he'd just paid for it, and lied to the original seller that he was going to develop the property for himself. The former CFO of the affordable housing developer, Cody Holmes, is charged with mail fraud, which could land the 31-year-old man in federal prison for 20 years. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) "paid approximately $25.9 million in grant money – for a state homelessness project called “Homekey” – to Shangri-La Industries LLC, a downtown Los Angeles-based developer of affordable housing." The money had to be used to purchase, construct, and operate a homeless housing development in Thousand Oaks. The company already had other homeless developments in the works as well. In 2022, when Holmes was Shangri-La's CFO, he "knowingly submitted fake bank records to HCD that purportedly showed approximately $160 million supposedly controlled by Shangri-La and its affiliates to prove that Shangri-La had the capacity to fulfill the homeless housing projects for which it had co-applied for grants from HCD, including the Thousand Oaks project." The bank accounts were fake. Nobody double-checked proof of funds, apparently. In the case of the property flipper, Steven Taylor, he is accused of constructing a labyrinth of bankers and lenders and lying to each of them to establish lines of credit. Get out your scorecard; you'll need one to keep up with this guy's moves: He is further alleged to have lied to Lender B in opening the $3 million credit line with Lender B, falsely telling Lender B that he had closed his $1 million unsecured line of credit with Lender C. He lied by fabricating and sending a document that purported to be an email from an employee of Lender C falsely confirming that the Lender C credit line was closed. In fact, Taylor continued to keep open and draw down on his line of credit with Lender C, even after he opened his $3 million line of credit with Lender B, and the email from Lender C was forged... And then he's accused of using "the fraudulently obtained lines of credit to make down payments on real estate that he also obtained with the fraudulent loans." Whoa. Can't stop, won't stop. He could go away for more than 30 years. And now you know why billions have been lost in an effort to "end homelessness." Voters and appropriators use other people's money to do what they think is good and then assume someone else will do the bean-counting. All programs like this must fund a program chief, an auditor, special master, and cops to keep watch over the cheaters, fakes, and bad guys. Any program that doesn't at least have those guardrails can't go forward. California's political class once again has beclowned itself and should be forced to undergo oversight and show a little humility. They're the real scam in the state. Read more:
12:10

First Arrests Hint at How Billions in California Homeless $$$ Vanished Without a Trace on Gavin's Watch | Victoria Taft, PJ Media With the arrests and federal indictments of two California men announced on Thursday, we're now getting an idea of how California's billions of dollars to "end homelessness" vanished without a trace. Instead of helping to solve the problem of rampant tent encampments filled with addicts on the beaches and streets in California, things got worse. Where did all that money go? An audit in 2024 revealed that no one knew how the homeless money was spent. I wrote about this in "No Wonder Gavin Newsom Didn't Want an Audit to Track $24 Billion in Homeless Spending." The audit revealed that there were no guardrails or accountability for the use of that money or its expenditure. How could that be? No one was watching the store. California and Los Angeles handed out billions of dollars approved by voters to help end homelessness, and when homelessness got worse, no one in government could answer where all that money went—because no one checked. Now, the federal Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force has begun running down the homeless scams that possess all the hallmarks of the ones Californians saw in its COVID spending and the notoriously poorly vetted unemployment scam, in which Nigerian princes and prison inmates alike received federal and state unemployment money. And then came the $100 million FireAid scam. All of this happened on Gavin Newsom's watch. The Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force, which includes the IRS, FBI, and the Central California Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose nomination sits untouched by the U.S. Senate, announced the alleged scams that had escaped the notice of Los Angeles homeless officials and the State of California. One of the scams was run by the former chief financial officer at a downtown Los Angeles-based developer of affordable housing. Another was run by a property flipper who allegedly sold a property to a homeless housing developer for twice what he'd just paid for it, and lied to the original seller that he was going to develop the property for himself. The former CFO of the affordable housing developer, Cody Holmes, is charged with mail fraud, which could land the 31-year-old man in federal prison for 20 years. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) "paid approximately $25.9 million in grant money – for a state homelessness project called “Homekey” – to Shangri-La Industries LLC, a downtown Los Angeles-based developer of affordable housing." The money had to be used to purchase, construct, and operate a homeless housing development in Thousand Oaks. The company already had other homeless developments in the works as well. In 2022, when Holmes was Shangri-La's CFO, he "knowingly submitted fake bank records to HCD that purportedly showed approximately $160 million supposedly controlled by Shangri-La and its affiliates to prove that Shangri-La had the capacity to fulfill the homeless housing projects for which it had co-applied for grants from HCD, including the Thousand Oaks project." The bank accounts were fake. Nobody double-checked proof of funds, apparently. In the case of the property flipper, Steven Taylor, he is accused of constructing a labyrinth of bankers and lenders and lying to each of them to establish lines of credit. Get out your scorecard; you'll need one to keep up with this guy's moves: He is further alleged to have lied to Lender B in opening the $3 million credit line with Lender B, falsely telling Lender B that he had closed his $1 million unsecured line of credit with Lender C. He lied by fabricating and sending a document that purported to be an email from an employee of Lender C falsely confirming that the Lender C credit line was closed. In fact, Taylor continued to keep open and draw down on his line of credit with Lender C, even after he opened his $3 million line of credit with Lender B, and the email from Lender C was forged... And then he's accused of using "the fraudulently obtained lines of credit to make down payments on real estate that he also obtained with the fraudulent loans." Whoa. Can't stop, won't stop. He could go away for more than 30 years. And now you know why billions have been lost in an effort to "end homelessness." Voters and appropriators use other people's money to do what they think is good and then assume someone else will do the bean-counting. All programs like this must fund a program chief, an auditor, special master, and cops to keep watch over the cheaters, fakes, and bad guys. Any program that doesn't at least have those guardrails can't go forward. California's political class once again has beclowned itself and should be forced to undergo oversight and show a little humility. They're the real scam in the state. Read more:

Owen Gregorian

38,320 views • 9 months ago

Why Is This Rotting Sears Still Standing? The billionaire who controls the property seems willing to wait for a market overcorrection, and city officials fear redevelopment By Jay Murray Jay Murray (JZ DeLorean) Livonia — Some in this city view capitalism with suspicion, much to the distress of Livonia’s city officials, entrepreneurs, and business interests. Meanwhile, a giant monolith looms over the city, the empty and decaying relic once called Sears. Formerly the anchor of the mostly forgotten Livonia Mall, the massive building sits on a plot of over 16 acres of unused land. Rarely is this rotting behemoth discussed, and inquiries with city officials result in frustrated sighs and quick declarations of “That’s private land, we can’t do anything about it.” The location is, in fact, a big problem due to its rapid decay and because the building is not fully secure. Last year, Michigan Enjoyer revealed homeless people living in and around the structure, using it as a safe haven from the weather and other dangerous persons. The owner of the building is, like the structure, immovable. On paper, it is owned and managed by a privately-held corporation named ESL Investments. The property is controlled by former SEARS Holdings CEO Eddie Lampert, a billionaire businessman and hedge fund founder, known more famously as a contrarian investor. Lampert buys undervalued or depreciating assets and waits, and waits, and keeps waiting, for what is anyone’s guess, but common sense dictates a market overcorrection. Lampert took the investment world by storm in 2004 and eventually took ownership stake in Sears and Kmart, merging both companies in a successful takeover. The first founder to make $1 billion in a year, his investment model was the toast of Wall Street, but the 2008 financial crisis severely impacted his portfolio and ill-timed investment in Citigroup further dimmed his rising star status. With Sears and Kmart failing nationally, he took the reins and named himself CEO in 2013. His financial remodeling of Sears Holdings failed to save the once mighty American company and may have hastened the decline. Sears in Livonia officially closed in April 2020 and only five locations remain in operation today, with Lampert shuttering, closing, and strategically selling off various properties under the ESL Investments banner. Here’s where the speculation begins on his motive. Michigan Enjoyer spoke with experts who floated the notion Lampert was intentionally managing the decline. Under his leadership, Sears shredded employees, performed no ostensible store maintenance, and appeared willing to allow the properties to decline in value as the company lost more than half its market share. So Livonia’s empty Sears building is stuck in a state of perpetual limbo. Lampert has attached unusual caveats to the property itself, such as a 30-day closing demand, making it virtually impossible for another developer to purchase the property. Why? The Enjoyer received no response from ESL Holdings, but experts in commercial real estate and investments believe Lampert, like other contrarian investors, buys deprecating real estate with declining taxable value and waits out the market for buyers to come in willing to pay ten, fifteen, twenty times the value of the property. Folks like him are willing to wait for years. The building is worthless at this point, a tear-down that might cost several million dollars. Any interested developer—and there’s been at least one, according to sources in City Hall—would have a major expenditure in not just the demolition, but land remediation. Those are the hard facts, but city officials are already lamenting even the idea of redevelopment, with one city official stating: “The Sears at 7 & Middlebelt is going to be the one. The shit is most certainly going to hit the fan.” One would think an enormous empty building serving as a rat’s nest of nefarious activity requiring police manpower might spark a YIMBY moment, but prospective car washes and gas stations ignite protests here. Why? Because, according to one local business leader: “Many long-tenured and older residents worship empty buildings as a form of crippling nostalgia.” But even more ominous is the pessimism around economic growth and an adherence to central planning as a means to limit and or stifle economic competition. Exhibit A is newly elected city council woman Eileen McDonnell, who openly lamented the notion of new car wash possibly pulling customers away from long-established car wash elsewhere in the city. Yes, you read that right. One day, maybe even tomorrow, Lampert will find his buyer with a plan for redevelopment. Odds are likely given the location and proximity to Walmart another consumer-based enterprise will look to set up shop on that pad, and the fight by locals to save an empty Sears building will commence.
1:09

Why Is This Rotting Sears Still Standing? The billionaire who controls the property seems willing to wait for a market overcorrection, and city officials fear redevelopment By Jay Murray Jay Murray (JZ DeLorean) Livonia — Some in this city view capitalism with suspicion, much to the distress of Livonia’s city officials, entrepreneurs, and business interests. Meanwhile, a giant monolith looms over the city, the empty and decaying relic once called Sears. Formerly the anchor of the mostly forgotten Livonia Mall, the massive building sits on a plot of over 16 acres of unused land. Rarely is this rotting behemoth discussed, and inquiries with city officials result in frustrated sighs and quick declarations of “That’s private land, we can’t do anything about it.” The location is, in fact, a big problem due to its rapid decay and because the building is not fully secure. Last year, Michigan Enjoyer revealed homeless people living in and around the structure, using it as a safe haven from the weather and other dangerous persons. The owner of the building is, like the structure, immovable. On paper, it is owned and managed by a privately-held corporation named ESL Investments. The property is controlled by former SEARS Holdings CEO Eddie Lampert, a billionaire businessman and hedge fund founder, known more famously as a contrarian investor. Lampert buys undervalued or depreciating assets and waits, and waits, and keeps waiting, for what is anyone’s guess, but common sense dictates a market overcorrection. Lampert took the investment world by storm in 2004 and eventually took ownership stake in Sears and Kmart, merging both companies in a successful takeover. The first founder to make $1 billion in a year, his investment model was the toast of Wall Street, but the 2008 financial crisis severely impacted his portfolio and ill-timed investment in Citigroup further dimmed his rising star status. With Sears and Kmart failing nationally, he took the reins and named himself CEO in 2013. His financial remodeling of Sears Holdings failed to save the once mighty American company and may have hastened the decline. Sears in Livonia officially closed in April 2020 and only five locations remain in operation today, with Lampert shuttering, closing, and strategically selling off various properties under the ESL Investments banner. Here’s where the speculation begins on his motive. Michigan Enjoyer spoke with experts who floated the notion Lampert was intentionally managing the decline. Under his leadership, Sears shredded employees, performed no ostensible store maintenance, and appeared willing to allow the properties to decline in value as the company lost more than half its market share. So Livonia’s empty Sears building is stuck in a state of perpetual limbo. Lampert has attached unusual caveats to the property itself, such as a 30-day closing demand, making it virtually impossible for another developer to purchase the property. Why? The Enjoyer received no response from ESL Holdings, but experts in commercial real estate and investments believe Lampert, like other contrarian investors, buys deprecating real estate with declining taxable value and waits out the market for buyers to come in willing to pay ten, fifteen, twenty times the value of the property. Folks like him are willing to wait for years. The building is worthless at this point, a tear-down that might cost several million dollars. Any interested developer—and there’s been at least one, according to sources in City Hall—would have a major expenditure in not just the demolition, but land remediation. Those are the hard facts, but city officials are already lamenting even the idea of redevelopment, with one city official stating: “The Sears at 7 & Middlebelt is going to be the one. The shit is most certainly going to hit the fan.” One would think an enormous empty building serving as a rat’s nest of nefarious activity requiring police manpower might spark a YIMBY moment, but prospective car washes and gas stations ignite protests here. Why? Because, according to one local business leader: “Many long-tenured and older residents worship empty buildings as a form of crippling nostalgia.” But even more ominous is the pessimism around economic growth and an adherence to central planning as a means to limit and or stifle economic competition. Exhibit A is newly elected city council woman Eileen McDonnell, who openly lamented the notion of new car wash possibly pulling customers away from long-established car wash elsewhere in the city. Yes, you read that right. One day, maybe even tomorrow, Lampert will find his buyer with a plan for redevelopment. Odds are likely given the location and proximity to Walmart another consumer-based enterprise will look to set up shop on that pad, and the fight by locals to save an empty Sears building will commence.

Michigan Enjoyer

38,289 views • 5 months ago

Mike Duggan’s Poisoned Dirt Scandal Is Unraveling The city suspended a contractor for dumping bad dirt into demo holes, and now a sprawling organized crime investigation is underway By Charlie LeDuff Charlie LeDuff Detroit — An ancient Buddhist proverb says there are three things that cannot long be hidden: The Sun, The Moon, and The Truth. In the “new” Detroit there is now a fourth: The Dirt. The city has quietly put out bid requests to dig up and replace poisoned dirt used by a contractor to fill demolition holes. That contractor, Brian McKinney, was suspended from city work last month after an independent investigation alleged that his company, Gayanga, used contaminated soil from the old Northland Mall to backfill holes in Detroit neighborhoods where houses once stood. McKinney, who once served prison time for weapon and drug possession, has also been banished from the city’s wrecking board pending a final report from the city’s Office of Inspector General. McKinney is appealing his suspension, claiming he got the dirt from a city-approved source. And now the whole sordid affair is starting to unravel. Michigan Enjoyer has since learned that McKinney and the city’s demolition practices are now the subject of a sprawling organized crime investigation. We have also learned that the office of Mayor Mike Duggan has ordered the name and likeness of McKinney and his companies not be mentioned or posted on the city’s social media accounts. That’s a remarkable change by Hizzoner: disappearing the man he once touted at the State of the City address as a model of minority contracting. McKinney donated to politicians, rubbed elbows with Detroit’s high society, and was even appointed to the board of Detroit Institute of Arts. McKinney—a demolition contractor by trade—rose so high in the world of fine art that he was named co-chair of the DIA’s 2024 gala. In just a few short years under Duggan’s tutelage, McKinney also became fantastically wealthy, winning $64 million in city demolition contracts alone. brian mckinney partying He leaves behind a string of angry former employees and subcontractors who claim they’ve been stiffed by McKinney for work provided. Mckinney did not respond to requests for comment on this story. How far this goes is anyone’s guess. According to city records, McKinney’s company tore down approximately 2,500 houses in the city. A random sampling of 40 of those sites revealed that 33 (80%) were filled with toxic fill dirt containing arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury, and cadmium among other potential killers. This isn’t the first instance. Last year, the cost of cleaning up just one poisoned site like this was $60,000. At that price, the city might very well slide back into insolvency. Even Big Oil thinks McKinney is too toxic to deal with. On the city’s southwest side, near the Marathon refinery, sits another hellscape created by McKinney’s company. At least a dozen structures were ground up and dumped in their holes. They remain there, covered in plastic, next to lots where children live. It’s so bad, Gayanga got kicked off the job. “We have hired and onboarded a new demolition contractor,” said Amy Nusbaum, a spokeswoman for Marathon Petroleum Corp. “We are aware that Gayanga Company’s contract was suspended by the City of Detroit.” That’s of little consolation to residents of Liebold Street, who have battled the company and the city for decades over health concerns. “All I want to say is they need to clean up all this,” said Mary, an elderly woman whose grandchild was peeking through the plate glass. “Kid’s can’t play. No sidewalk. Nothing.” “They forgot all about you,” I said. “I guess so.” There is no doubt in my mind that the mayor and the city council knew about the grift in the demolition program. How could they not? I’ve been telling them for years. I sat in their offices and walked them through the documents. I wrote dozens of articles. Did a dozen television reports. So did other media outlets. There was a federal grand jury empaneled. A raid of the Land Bank Authority. A yearslong multi-million-dollar Treasury Department investigation. It all disappeared under Joe Biden, Duggan’s close friend. Now Biden is gone, and Duggan’s moving on. But the people of Detroit are still here and so is the poison. Duggan’s demolition program is quite likely Michigan’s biggest environmental catastrophe of the century. But just like the sun, the truth is finally coming out.
1:52

Mike Duggan’s Poisoned Dirt Scandal Is Unraveling The city suspended a contractor for dumping bad dirt into demo holes, and now a sprawling organized crime investigation is underway By Charlie LeDuff Charlie LeDuff Detroit — An ancient Buddhist proverb says there are three things that cannot long be hidden: The Sun, The Moon, and The Truth. In the “new” Detroit there is now a fourth: The Dirt. The city has quietly put out bid requests to dig up and replace poisoned dirt used by a contractor to fill demolition holes. That contractor, Brian McKinney, was suspended from city work last month after an independent investigation alleged that his company, Gayanga, used contaminated soil from the old Northland Mall to backfill holes in Detroit neighborhoods where houses once stood. McKinney, who once served prison time for weapon and drug possession, has also been banished from the city’s wrecking board pending a final report from the city’s Office of Inspector General. McKinney is appealing his suspension, claiming he got the dirt from a city-approved source. And now the whole sordid affair is starting to unravel. Michigan Enjoyer has since learned that McKinney and the city’s demolition practices are now the subject of a sprawling organized crime investigation. We have also learned that the office of Mayor Mike Duggan has ordered the name and likeness of McKinney and his companies not be mentioned or posted on the city’s social media accounts. That’s a remarkable change by Hizzoner: disappearing the man he once touted at the State of the City address as a model of minority contracting. McKinney donated to politicians, rubbed elbows with Detroit’s high society, and was even appointed to the board of Detroit Institute of Arts. McKinney—a demolition contractor by trade—rose so high in the world of fine art that he was named co-chair of the DIA’s 2024 gala. In just a few short years under Duggan’s tutelage, McKinney also became fantastically wealthy, winning $64 million in city demolition contracts alone. brian mckinney partying He leaves behind a string of angry former employees and subcontractors who claim they’ve been stiffed by McKinney for work provided. Mckinney did not respond to requests for comment on this story. How far this goes is anyone’s guess. According to city records, McKinney’s company tore down approximately 2,500 houses in the city. A random sampling of 40 of those sites revealed that 33 (80%) were filled with toxic fill dirt containing arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury, and cadmium among other potential killers. This isn’t the first instance. Last year, the cost of cleaning up just one poisoned site like this was $60,000. At that price, the city might very well slide back into insolvency. Even Big Oil thinks McKinney is too toxic to deal with. On the city’s southwest side, near the Marathon refinery, sits another hellscape created by McKinney’s company. At least a dozen structures were ground up and dumped in their holes. They remain there, covered in plastic, next to lots where children live. It’s so bad, Gayanga got kicked off the job. “We have hired and onboarded a new demolition contractor,” said Amy Nusbaum, a spokeswoman for Marathon Petroleum Corp. “We are aware that Gayanga Company’s contract was suspended by the City of Detroit.” That’s of little consolation to residents of Liebold Street, who have battled the company and the city for decades over health concerns. “All I want to say is they need to clean up all this,” said Mary, an elderly woman whose grandchild was peeking through the plate glass. “Kid’s can’t play. No sidewalk. Nothing.” “They forgot all about you,” I said. “I guess so.” There is no doubt in my mind that the mayor and the city council knew about the grift in the demolition program. How could they not? I’ve been telling them for years. I sat in their offices and walked them through the documents. I wrote dozens of articles. Did a dozen television reports. So did other media outlets. There was a federal grand jury empaneled. A raid of the Land Bank Authority. A yearslong multi-million-dollar Treasury Department investigation. It all disappeared under Joe Biden, Duggan’s close friend. Now Biden is gone, and Duggan’s moving on. But the people of Detroit are still here and so is the poison. Duggan’s demolition program is quite likely Michigan’s biggest environmental catastrophe of the century. But just like the sun, the truth is finally coming out.

Michigan Enjoyer

32,342 views • 8 months ago