sam rabiyah

Landlords are emptying out rent-stabilized buildings in gentrifying areas, remodeling them into “coliving” spaces for fleeting young professionals, seeing rents surge 700% in one year and in theory, this is legal Our monthlong investigation explains➡️➡️thecity.nyc/brooklyn/2023/…

The distance between each bombed WCK & the other shows beyond any doubt how the IDF took their time to deliberately & surgically eliminate the entire crew. The 2nd car was bombed after it rescued the survivors of the 1st, & the 3rd after it rescued the survivors from the 2nd!

Last night, the group @wawog_now and others blocked delivery trucks from entering or leaving the New York Times's printing plant in Queens, in protest of the paper's coverage of Israel's war in Gaza. @macfathom was there: hellgatenyc.com/pro-palestine-…

Exclusive 🚨 Egyptian Halal Cart Vendors Harassed by Former Obama Adviser Speak Out “The police said ‘we can’t do anything, this is New York,’” My latest for @Documentedny/ @Report4America documentedny.com/2023/11/22/stu…

STATEMENT ON TREATMENT OF JOURNALISTS COVERING THE WAR IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL The Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA) condemns the recent killing of journalists in Palestine, Israel, and Lebanon. Targeting journalists is a stark violation of press freedom and international human rights law. AMEJA calls for accountability based on swift, thorough, and transparent investigations into the killings of our fellow journalists. AMEJA is also deeply troubled by reports that journalists of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) descent are facing bias at work, and being sidelined from reporting or commenting on the current war. Moreover, we are disturbed to hear of incidents where suggestions for nuance, balance, and using accurate and precise language in reporting are being ignored in newsrooms. Journalists who have deep knowledge of a region are an asset. We call on media organizations to ensure all employees are treated with the respect they deserve as professionals. #PressFreedom #JournalismIsNotACrime

Last week, @nadzhamz & I had a conversation w/ Pulitzer Prize finalist @abdallah_fayyad for @AMEJA's Re: Orient podcast about his thoughts on how the media has been covering the recent events in Palestine & Israel. If you work in a newsroom, this episode is especially for you.

NEW analysis shows strike that hit civilian convoy yesterday killing 70 was on one of two "safe routes" for evacuation identified by IDF. The strike means many still in N Gaza afraid to leave. Many thanks @AlHaq + @ForensicArchi. Also confirmed by BBC theguardian.com/world/2023/oct…

Landlords actually saw steadier income from rent stab apartments during COVID, compared to market-rate units in the same buildings. In 2021, 100% stabilized buildings faced a 4% loss in net income, while buildings with a mix of rent stab and unregulated lost 9%

According to income reports, owners of rent stabilized buildings took a hit during COVID. However, their net income has gone up steadily over the past few decades, far outpacing the cost of inflation 📈⬇️

🧵The supreme court DENIED hearing a case from landlord groups—one that argued rent stabilization infringed on owners' right to profit. We reviewed how much $$ landlords make from stabilized units. Our findings? Despite the claims, it’s still profitable. thecity.nyc/housing/2023/1…

At @THECITYNY we're reducing hours/pay to stave off layoffs, hoping @NYPRPR will consider alternatives to massive layoffs presented by my former colleagues at @NYPR_Union.

As of today anyone renting an entire apt for less than 30 days in NYC is required to register. Vast majority of these are already illegal. We found 10,000 such listings on Airbnb last week. In 2021 the city issued summonses to just 365 such rentals thecity.nyc/housing/2023/9…

Nothing says "summer's over" (or waning) quite like a story breaking down what's up with the U.S. Supreme Court and pending challenges to rent stabilization I did my best to help it go down easy: citylimits.org/2023/09/05/sco…

NEW INVESTIGATION: we found two clusters of suspicious donations, where at least four people said they never donated, or was reimbursed. e.g. a “deliveryman” who donated was a woman. for a restaurant that doesn’t deliver. and where she never worked at. thecity.nyc/2023/8/18/2383…

@samrabiyah @suhbhat 11/ Stay up to date with all our housing reporting by subscribing to our newsletter, THE CITY Scoop. Sign up here: projects.thecity.nyc/newsletter-for…

8/ Since then they’ve formed a tenant association with their neighbors, and have gone back-and-forth with Outpost. “We’re fighting to be here. It’s exhausting,” said Natalie. “But they need to see that we know what’s up.”

3/ Landlords Outpost works with — Duke Properties and Oved Group — rehab and deregulate stabilized buildings as part of their business. “Looking to purchase vacant multi-family buildings in gentrifying neighborhoods,” a past Duke employee posted on LinkedIn in 2017.

2/ By clearing out and renovating buildings, many in NYC’s gentrifying areas, landlords claimed "substantial rehabilitation," one of the remaining legal ways to remove units from rent stabilization. In 30 buildings Outpost runs, 11 used to be stabilized.

1/ Amid an affordable housing shortage, landlords have been converting stabilized apartments to coliving rentals, upping rents as much as 700% in one year. That was the case in an Outpost Club building, while tenants dealt with subpar living conditions 🧵