Phil BuildTheFutureNow
@philsustainability.bsky.social
Economics and sustainability
A moment of silence for our helpless bank back offices, brutally wiped out by a tsunami of 550 stroller-pushing, juice-box-wielding families. Is no bank vault safe in this town? #brooklyntower
November 25, 2025 at 3:32 AM
A moment of silence for our helpless bank back offices, brutally wiped out by a tsunami of 550 stroller-pushing, juice-box-wielding families. Is no bank vault safe in this town? #brooklyntower
Rent is high in NYC because property taxes on single family homes are waaay too low
November 24, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Rent is high in NYC because property taxes on single family homes are waaay too low
Grandparents Announce Bold Plan To Address Financial Apocalypse Kids Inherit: “We’ll Keep Spending, You Kids Handle The Paperwork”
“The point is to signal to children we care, since all the debt transfers in full to the grandchildren. Not actually, you know, save money.” #cop30
“The point is to signal to children we care, since all the debt transfers in full to the grandchildren. Not actually, you know, save money.” #cop30
PhilBuildTheFutureNow (@philbuildthefuturenow)
COP30 Climate Talks: Grandparents Announce Bold New Plan To Address Financial Apocalypse Kids Will Inherit: “We’ll Keep Spending, You Kids Handle The Paperwork”
PALM SPRINGS, CA, Local grandparents ...
substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Grandparents Announce Bold Plan To Address Financial Apocalypse Kids Inherit: “We’ll Keep Spending, You Kids Handle The Paperwork”
“The point is to signal to children we care, since all the debt transfers in full to the grandchildren. Not actually, you know, save money.” #cop30
“The point is to signal to children we care, since all the debt transfers in full to the grandchildren. Not actually, you know, save money.” #cop30
“Out of more than 900,000 students in the public schools, nearly 1 in 7 were homeless during the last school year, the highest proportion on record.”
(NYC Families with students and no home should always be first in line for any rent stabilized home)
cccnewyork.org/press-and-me...
(NYC Families with students and no home should always be first in line for any rent stabilized home)
cccnewyork.org/press-and-me...
Number of homeless New York City public school students reaches a new high | CCC New York
cccnewyork.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:29 PM
“Out of more than 900,000 students in the public schools, nearly 1 in 7 were homeless during the last school year, the highest proportion on record.”
(NYC Families with students and no home should always be first in line for any rent stabilized home)
cccnewyork.org/press-and-me...
(NYC Families with students and no home should always be first in line for any rent stabilized home)
cccnewyork.org/press-and-me...
NYC's housing paradox:
Build 200k affordable homes ➡️ instantly filled by 200k suburban grads with trust funds.
Build 200k market-rate homes ➡️ people move up, freeing their old apartments. The new supply actually lowers rents for everyone.
The second one is the cheat code.
Build 200k affordable homes ➡️ instantly filled by 200k suburban grads with trust funds.
Build 200k market-rate homes ➡️ people move up, freeing their old apartments. The new supply actually lowers rents for everyone.
The second one is the cheat code.
November 23, 2025 at 11:49 PM
NYC's housing paradox:
Build 200k affordable homes ➡️ instantly filled by 200k suburban grads with trust funds.
Build 200k market-rate homes ➡️ people move up, freeing their old apartments. The new supply actually lowers rents for everyone.
The second one is the cheat code.
Build 200k affordable homes ➡️ instantly filled by 200k suburban grads with trust funds.
Build 200k market-rate homes ➡️ people move up, freeing their old apartments. The new supply actually lowers rents for everyone.
The second one is the cheat code.
Median income in Alabama: ~$59,600
Median income in Russia: ~$9,300
Turns out 'Roll Tide' pays a bit better. 🇺🇸 🐘 vs. 🇷🇺
Median income in Russia: ~$9,300
Turns out 'Roll Tide' pays a bit better. 🇺🇸 🐘 vs. 🇷🇺
November 23, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Median income in Alabama: ~$59,600
Median income in Russia: ~$9,300
Turns out 'Roll Tide' pays a bit better. 🇺🇸 🐘 vs. 🇷🇺
Median income in Russia: ~$9,300
Turns out 'Roll Tide' pays a bit better. 🇺🇸 🐘 vs. 🇷🇺
Isamu Noguchi, Red Cube, 1968, steel, aluminum, 24 feet tall, 140 Broadway, New York
November 23, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Isamu Noguchi, Red Cube, 1968, steel, aluminum, 24 feet tall, 140 Broadway, New York
Turns out our little public library had a killer side hustle. 📚➡️💰 Brooklyn turned an old library into a $52M check, a gorgeous NEW 26,000-sq-ft library, a coffeehouse, 134 frikking homes, AND a flood of new tax dollars for schools. Now that's a smart read.
November 23, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Turns out our little public library had a killer side hustle. 📚➡️💰 Brooklyn turned an old library into a $52M check, a gorgeous NEW 26,000-sq-ft library, a coffeehouse, 134 frikking homes, AND a flood of new tax dollars for schools. Now that's a smart read.
You can go inside the darn thing? #adultswim #smilingfriends
November 23, 2025 at 3:17 AM
You can go inside the darn thing? #adultswim #smilingfriends
NY found a clever workaround for the SALT deduction cap! It's called the Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET). Instead of business owners paying state taxes personally (where deductions are capped), the BUSINESS pays it directly, and gets a full federal deduction.
November 23, 2025 at 1:48 AM
NY found a clever workaround for the SALT deduction cap! It's called the Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET). Instead of business owners paying state taxes personally (where deductions are capped), the BUSINESS pays it directly, and gets a full federal deduction.
Buffalo's architectural signature is a surface parking lot. Where Chicago has a skyline, Buffalo is a flatline. Replace those parking spots with apartments over cafes and you wouldn't just stop the brain drain to Brooklyn, you'd start a reverse commute. Besides, Buffalo is better
November 22, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Buffalo's architectural signature is a surface parking lot. Where Chicago has a skyline, Buffalo is a flatline. Replace those parking spots with apartments over cafes and you wouldn't just stop the brain drain to Brooklyn, you'd start a reverse commute. Besides, Buffalo is better
Syracuse has a world-class collection of parking spots. Sadly, they're mostly empty space. Imagine if that sea of asphalt was a sea of tall multi-family homes with corner stores and retail. Syracuse can put its land back to work and be rich
November 22, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Syracuse has a world-class collection of parking spots. Sadly, they're mostly empty space. Imagine if that sea of asphalt was a sea of tall multi-family homes with corner stores and retail. Syracuse can put its land back to work and be rich
It’s crazy seeing parking lots in Downtown Rochester, NY. The city should be as rich as Brooklyn today, but chose pavement instead
November 22, 2025 at 5:37 PM
It’s crazy seeing parking lots in Downtown Rochester, NY. The city should be as rich as Brooklyn today, but chose pavement instead
This dirty SoHo parking garage grew up. 🚗→🏘️ It's now 100 homes & new retail, kicking off millions in new property & income tax revenue for NYC. That's long-term funding for city services and schools, right there. And new sibling stands right next to it!
November 22, 2025 at 3:13 PM
This dirty SoHo parking garage grew up. 🚗→🏘️ It's now 100 homes & new retail, kicking off millions in new property & income tax revenue for NYC. That's long-term funding for city services and schools, right there. And new sibling stands right next to it!
The ultimate in detailing and restoration. A SoHo carwash 🧼 grew up into 20 homes and new shops. Proof that in New York, even the pavement has potential. Adds Millions a year in taxes to fund schools and services.
November 22, 2025 at 1:48 PM
The ultimate in detailing and restoration. A SoHo carwash 🧼 grew up into 20 homes and new shops. Proof that in New York, even the pavement has potential. Adds Millions a year in taxes to fund schools and services.
323 new homes for families grow in Brooklyn
November 22, 2025 at 2:46 AM
323 new homes for families grow in Brooklyn
Started as a polluting gas station, now a seven-story building with 80,000 sq ft of SoHo office and retail space.
November 21, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Started as a polluting gas station, now a seven-story building with 80,000 sq ft of SoHo office and retail space.
A gas station grows up into 31 homes in the east village
November 21, 2025 at 11:01 PM
A gas station grows up into 31 homes in the east village
NYC's school system is in a crisis trifecta: chronic absenteeism is skyrocketing, 2 in 3 kids can't read or do math at grade level, and billions are being spent with little to show for it. We are failing our students, and it's a scandal playing out in plain sight.
November 21, 2025 at 7:06 PM
NYC's school system is in a crisis trifecta: chronic absenteeism is skyrocketing, 2 in 3 kids can't read or do math at grade level, and billions are being spent with little to show for it. We are failing our students, and it's a scandal playing out in plain sight.
We've been cat people for 10,000 years. Archaeologists in Cyprus found a 9,500-year-old Neolithic man, buried alongside his cat. #adoptdontshop
November 21, 2025 at 3:17 AM
We've been cat people for 10,000 years. Archaeologists in Cyprus found a 9,500-year-old Neolithic man, buried alongside his cat. #adoptdontshop
If the president got every American walking 10k steps a day, healthcare costs could fall about 8 ~12%, about $800 to 1200 dollars back per taxpayer. The federal deficit could shrink $250 to 400 billion dollars. Our strongest budget tool might just be a daily walk.
November 20, 2025 at 2:22 PM
If the president got every American walking 10k steps a day, healthcare costs could fall about 8 ~12%, about $800 to 1200 dollars back per taxpayer. The federal deficit could shrink $250 to 400 billion dollars. Our strongest budget tool might just be a daily walk.
The NYC mayor’s real job is fixing our 1 in 3 chronic absenteeism crisis. Get every kid taking the ACT and SAT, track the results, and push scores up. Right now this city is throwing away hundreds of thousands of children every year. #NYC
NYC is spending hundreds of millions every year on the fallout from student homelessness, while stable housing for families would cost less and boost attendance + test scores. Moving kids from shelters (66% chronically absent) into rent stabilization could save NYC maybe $200M–$700M/yr.
PhilBuildTheFutureNow (@philbuildthefuturenow)
Student Homelessness in NYC
New York City spends a ridiculous amount of money, hundreds of millions every year, dealing with the fallout of student homelessness. You know, the expensive consequences?...
substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:14 AM
The NYC mayor’s real job is fixing our 1 in 3 chronic absenteeism crisis. Get every kid taking the ACT and SAT, track the results, and push scores up. Right now this city is throwing away hundreds of thousands of children every year. #NYC
At the time of the American Revolution, the foreign-born population was actually a much higher percentage of the total, around 15-20%, than it is in much of the US today (~13.7%).
November 20, 2025 at 3:14 AM
At the time of the American Revolution, the foreign-born population was actually a much higher percentage of the total, around 15-20%, than it is in much of the US today (~13.7%).
NYC is spending hundreds of millions every year on the fallout from student homelessness, while stable housing for families would cost less and boost attendance + test scores. Moving kids from shelters (66% chronically absent) into rent stabilization could save NYC maybe $200M–$700M/yr.
PhilBuildTheFutureNow (@philbuildthefuturenow)
Student Homelessness in NYC
New York City spends a ridiculous amount of money, hundreds of millions every year, dealing with the fallout of student homelessness. You know, the expensive consequences?...
substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:27 PM
NYC is spending hundreds of millions every year on the fallout from student homelessness, while stable housing for families would cost less and boost attendance + test scores. Moving kids from shelters (66% chronically absent) into rent stabilization could save NYC maybe $200M–$700M/yr.
The “dog that didn’t bark” analogy applies to suburbs in the NYC housing debate. The silence on regional housing isn’t disinterest; it’s the sound of the suburbs quietly amassing wealth by restricting supply. Pay attention to what’s not being said.
November 17, 2025 at 10:56 PM
The “dog that didn’t bark” analogy applies to suburbs in the NYC housing debate. The silence on regional housing isn’t disinterest; it’s the sound of the suburbs quietly amassing wealth by restricting supply. Pay attention to what’s not being said.