Brenden Beck

What can Mamdani do to reduce pedestrian deaths and make NYC's roads safer? I wrote about some answers with @jbenmenachem.com and @astagoff.bsky.social in Vital City: www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-speed-ca...

The ICE shooting in NYC threatened to upend relations between City Hall, the mayor’s base, and the NYPD. It seems a stalemate remains, however. I explain the situation in this interview w/ @nplusonemag.com www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

If you're reading Malcolm Gladwell on policing, read this great John Pfaff thread, too.

The NYPD intensified its low-level enforcement under Eric Adams. Has Mamdani reversed course? Yes, but only gradually. Details in a new Substack post. brendenbeck.substack.com/p/the-first-...

New paper out in @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social Who should social housing be for? Targeted to those most in need? Or more universalist to serve a broad constituency? Gianpaolo Baiocchi and I propose a hybrid we call "Redistributive Majoritarianism" (RM) doi.org/10.1177/1078...

My book, "The Fog of Accountability: How Institutions Keep Voters from Holding Their Local Governments Accountable," is here! I hope you'll grab a copy if you're interested in cities 🏙️, elections 🗳️, and how we can make them better 📚📦 www.amazon.com/Fog-Accounta...

#OnlineFirst Why are household surveillance technologies like Ring cameras so popular despite historic declines in crime? A new paper by @maxlubell.bsky.social answers this question using a geocoded dataset of Ring Neighbors posts. Read more here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/....

They did the tweet

God, grant me the courage to change the things I can and incredible new powers to change the things I can't.

The TV list is good! Only omission is Taskmaster.

Yemeni Anthropomorphic Stele (3rd–1st Century BCE)

I heard Malcolm Gladwell on the radio pushing to hire more cops. Where will recruits will come from? Depts struggle to keep the officers they have. ICE is lowering their standards to get just 10,000 new hires. And Gladwell wants to find *500,000* more officers. This will not be easy.

❗New Article❗ The Great American Property Tax Freakout! Since 2024, many states have radically reshaped their property tax systems.The changes are an example of a national trend of carving out influential groups from taxation, in this case a majority group: homeowners papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

My wife, a prodigious sleep-talker, failed to disclose her affliction when we started dating, which led to the fright of my life the night she sat bolt upright in bed and in a low flat monotone loudly declared that “THIRTEEN BABIES REMAIN UNFATHERED.”

en esta economía??????

Yet another city seeing homicides plummet to historic lows. And the article is long, in-depth, and posted on the front page of the website. It's a case of significant crime decline getting prominent treatment (with a mention before the first ad of the national decline). It's genuinely good to see!

Since the speed camera discourse has invoked our recent study, I figured I’d also flag how we threaded the needle on this issue—we can have traffic enforcement without allowing cops to use the cameras to stalk their exes. www.vitalcitynyc.org/nyc-speed-ca...

The cure to male loneliness crisis sending young men on journeys. You used to be bundled off on an expedition with a 20% chance of killing you and a 20% of making you see or do horrors. You’d come back and write a cryptic journal and drink heavily. Can’t do this anymore, because of woke.

I'm struck that AOC & Mamdani's statements disavowing "woke 1" don't mention police violence. Deaths from police encounters are as frequent today as they were in 2020, but the issues has lost a lot of salience. AOC et al. could remind the public of the context.

There's understandable worry that using speed cameras will disproportionately target Black & Latino neighborhoods, but as this new research makes clear, there's also disproportionately in the traffic collisions that speed cameras are meant to reduce.

Molly Young is so good mollyyoung.substack.com/p/a-velcro-b...

That’s enough to fund 11 years worth of $2000 monthly housing vouchers for all 5300 individuals facing homelessness in DC right now.

Homicides of white and wealthy people get more press attention. In this excellent new study, @jbenmenachem.com interviews journalists to understand why. Short version: journalists often recognize the inequity but feel constrained by resources and demands for novelty. doi.org/10.1111/1745...

This is Chubbers. He is catching a wave. But more importantly, catching a vibe. 14/10 (IG: nataliepaigebentley)

New w/ @shelleyliu.bsky.social in Science Advances We show that a police trust-building proj: - raised police trust among non-Black respondents - lowered it among Black respondents - cut non-Black support for BLM + racial equity policies doi.org/10.1126/scia... Funding: @RussellSageFdn

The US built the greatest talent magnet ever, attracting the smart, skilled, and striving. They’d come to study, then stay and build things here, or leave with positive impressions and fruitful connections. Helped make the US wealthy and powerful. Then America chose to throw it away. And for what?

As Zoom meetings, sprawl, and working from home have proliferated, even this city booster has been surprised by how sticky urban centers have proven. The most profit-driven firms recognize the importance of dense meat space. www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/07/09/b...