Samantha Maldonado
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smaldo.bsky.social
Samantha Maldonado
@smaldo.bsky.social
8.2K followers 300 following 210 posts
Reporter @thecity.nyc covering climate, resiliency, housing, development.
Question or story idea? Spill: smaldonado@thecity.nyc or @smaldo.11 on Signal
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smaldo.bsky.social
Samantha Maldonado @smaldo.bsky.social · Feb 27
I'm a reporter covering climate, resiliency, housing, development + politics in NYC for the nonprofit news outlet @thecity.bsky.social.

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smaldo.bsky.social
Mamdani names the five new members of the Rent Guidelines Board and reappoints one

gothamist.com/news/mamdani...
Mamdani names new Rent Guidelines Board majority, testing rent freeze pledge
The Rent Guidelines Board sets annual rent-stabilized increases and the mayor’s new picks could determine whether tenants get a freeze or another hike.
gothamist.com
February 18, 2026 at 1:28 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
NEW: @aarmlovi.bsky.social resigned from the Rent Guidelines Board today.

This gives @mayor.nyc.gov a total of six seats to play with on the nine-member board. His appointments could deliver his promise of a rent freeze for a million rent-stabilized apartments.

www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/17/r...
Rent Board Resignation Clears Path for Mamdani Rent Freeze Promise
The new mayor is now able to appoint a majority to the Rent Guidelines Board, giving him the numbers for a signature campaign promise.
www.thecity.nyc
February 17, 2026 at 5:58 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
If Gov. Kathy Hochul doesn't increase taxes on the rich, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is threatening property tax hikes in NYC to close a $5.5B budget gap.

More soon as the mayor unveils details of his budget proposal.

www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/17/m...
Mamdani Threatens Property Tax Hike, With Income Tax Raise a No-Go in Albany
The mayor is expected to present the option during his preliminary budget address later Tuesday at City Hall.
www.thecity.nyc
February 17, 2026 at 5:52 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
Whether developers can move on building out Hudson Yards is tied to $2 billion in tentative public subsidies that still need approval from Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
Iconic Hudson Yards project tests Mamdani’s approach to development
The project by one of the city’s largest developers is tentatively backed by $2 billion in public financing, which some progressive have derided as corporate welfare.
www.politico.com
February 17, 2026 at 12:42 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
New York State was supposed to pick its next offshore wind project today through a competitive process, but ended up not making any awards.

Why? @nyserda.bsky.social cited the "federal actions disrupting the offshore wind market," which make developing new projects uncertain.
February 13, 2026 at 5:03 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
NYCHA has no concrete plan to replace rental assistance for the thousands of people set to lose it.

gothamist.com/news/nyc-sti...
NYC still struggling to replace emergency housing vouchers set to expire under Trump
Just as one city housing agency devised a “stopgap” for replacing a federal housing assistance program for thousands of New Yorkers, NYCHA’s plan collapsed.
gothamist.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
apnews.com
BREAKING: The EPA revokes scientific finding that greenhouse gases endanger the public health, removing a key basis for the climate change fight.
Live updates: Trump's EPA revokes scientific finding that underpinned US fight against climate change
The Trump administration revoked a scientific finding at the center of U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, a significant rollback of regulations.
bit.ly
February 12, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
patrickspauster.com
NYC's new affordable housing is increasingly found in mixed-income bldgs

But affordable hsg tenants tell me @citylimitsnews.bsky.social they can't use all of their buildings b/c of exorbitant amenity fees

"My first thought was that it was making a two-tiered system"
citylimits.org/the-new-poor...
February 9, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
phillewis.bsky.social
A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad — the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years
February 11, 2026 at 3:43 AM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
rachelholliday.bsky.social
the new NYC housing commissioner is the first such leader in a decade to be a renter. and she had to move from Jersey City for the job.

@smaldo.bsky.social talked with her about the hunt:
Mamdani Chose Her to Manage City Housing. Then She Had to Find an NYC Rental.
After decades in New Jersey, Dina Levy says, “Now I can say I am actually a New Yorker.”
www.thecity.nyc
February 11, 2026 at 3:06 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
NYC @mayor.nyc.gov released a schedule for Rental Ripoff hearings.

Testimonies shared "will directly inform policy changes to strengthen city policies to protect tenants."

www.nyc.gov/main/rental-...
Rental Ripoff Hearings - nyc.gov
www.nyc.gov
February 10, 2026 at 7:29 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
A collection of letters from children kept in ICE detention, some for months

www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility
Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...
www.propublica.org
February 10, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
gwynnefitz.bsky.social
ICE officials, under a judge’s order to clean up overcrowded and squalid conditions inside holding cells at 26 Federal Plaza detained migrants on a separate floor where they decided the the ruling didn't apply. The revelation comes in a hearing today:

www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/09/2...
ICE Moved Detainees to Previously Undisclosed Floor of 26 Federal Plaza
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reduce overcrowding and squalid conditions at a Manhattan holding room. Months later, he finds ICE merely shifted floors.
www.thecity.nyc
February 10, 2026 at 1:25 AM
smaldo.bsky.social
The Mamdani admin made 31 hires out of 80K applications submitted... but still no answers on who controls the portal now or whether its applicants are being shared with city departments.

by @katiehonan.bsky.social

www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/06/m...
80,000 People Applied to Work for Mamdani. City Hall Has Hired Just 31 of Them.
The successful 0.039% includes new Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn — a DOT veteran who had also been selected as a member of Mamdani’s transition team..
www.thecity.nyc
February 6, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
joshuajfriedman.com
OK, procrastinators, you have two days to get through Becky’s six-week Bad Bunny 101!! Still worth it
beckyhammer.bsky.social Becky Hammer @beckyhammer.bsky.social · Oct 1
Ooookay here we go. Bad Bunny 101 condensed into six weeks of music, reading material, and perreo
Bad Bunny 101
docs.google.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:56 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
Companies that work with ICE are collecting at least $260.4 million from New York City taxpayers, an analysis found

documentedny.com/2026/02/05/n...
These Companies Work With ICE. New York City Pays Them Millions. - Documented
New York City is paying at least $260 million in contracts to companies fueling ICE's immigration crackdown, according to a Documented analysis.
documentedny.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
davidfbrand.bsky.social
A new report shows NYC has about 3,200 supportive housing units sitting empty, despite record-high homelessness

@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social tells me filling them is a priority:

“That will be a focus for us… as it's a long-standing city issue that needs to be resolved”
gothamist.com/news/thousan...
Thousands of supportive apartments sit empty in NYC as homeless die on the streets
Mayor Mamdani has vowed to place people in the apartments more quickly.
gothamist.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
51st.news
6/ The Post has lost over 375,000 subscribers in just over a year. If 10% of those readers subscribed to The 51st instead, we could hire 10 reporters and five editors, dramatically scaling our coverage of the city at this critical time. 51st.news/signup
Join The 51st
The 51st is a worker-led nonprofit news source for D.C. Our reporting is rooted in our conviction that local journalism is meant to make people’s lives better — no paywalls, ever. But that's only…
51st.news
February 4, 2026 at 7:21 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
NYC @mayor.nyc.gov and officials announce expansion of electric heat pump program at NYCHA development in Far Rockaway.

The pilot program started at NYCHA’s Woodside Houses with promising results, as we reported.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/02/27/n...
Electric Heat Pumps Get Warm Reviews at Queens Public Housing Development
Woodside Houses residents say the eco-friendly alternatives to steam radiators have served them well through the winter.
www.thecity.nyc
February 4, 2026 at 4:18 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
The story we’ve been waiting for— How Heated Rivalry is taking over New York, by @rachelholliday.bsky.social

www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/04/h...
Join the Club: ‘Heated Rivalry’ is Making Queer Hockey New York’s Hottest Sport
The Pride Hockey Alliance has been bringing “hot queer friends” together for years before the buzziest show on ice.
www.thecity.nyc
February 4, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
karrieurbanist.bsky.social
“New York is creating a team of legal observers that will don purple vests to monitor and record the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement officers as they seek to detain and deport migrants, the state’s attorney general said on Tuesday.”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
New York to create team of legal observers to document ICE raids
Attorney general Letitia James says observers will monitor if Trump enforcement ‘remains within bounds of the law’
www.theguardian.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
miriamwasser.bsky.social
#NEW: A federal judge rules that another offshore wind project, Sunrise Wind near New York, can resume construction.

This now means that all five wind farms paused by the Trump administration on Dec 22 have received preliminary injunctions.
February 2, 2026 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by Samantha Maldonado
colinreports.bsky.social
Hochul, speaking to @danclarkreports.bsky.social just now, makes clear that she wants to change NY’s emissions accounting standards and maybe revisit other CLCPA deadlines.

“We’re held to a very different standard… we’re always gonna look like we’re coming up short despite our best efforts”
CLARK: You had said I think last year, November, December, that you wanted to engage with the legislature on those climate mandates, the 2030, 2040, 2050, from the Climate Act. Have you talked to them about that? Is that something that’s still on the table? And is that something that you want as part of the budget this year possibly? HOCHUL: What I want and what I have to deal with are two different things. I wanted to meet those goals, okay? They’re great, it’s always fun to be nation-leading. But two dynamics here. One is that the legislature, before my time, put in place a measurement standard that is only used by one other state. And if we were not held to a stricter standard for engaging emissions, we have, more than you need to know, but 20 years versus 100 years, we’d be one of the top in the nation for reducing greenhouse emissions. We’d be almost number one. But we’re held to a very different standard. It’s like, why is that? ‘Cause we’re always gonna look like we’re coming up short despite our best efforts. So that’s the dynamic over there. In terms of hitting the goals, if we miss it by three years, yeah, judge says we’re not in compliance. What would you like me to do about the fact that we had a pandemic that cut In terms of hitting the goals, if we miss it by three years, yeah, judge says we’re not in compliance. What would you like me to do about the fact that we had a pandemic that cut off supply chain networks that were supposed to be building more of our wind and offshore wind and onshore wind, as well as transmission, that all stopped during the pandemic. You come out of the pandemic, you’re now dealing with inflation. You come out of inflation, although it’s not quite out of it, now you’re dealing with Trump tariffs, which affect the cost of all the supplies to build out the infrastructure to deliver the energy that was hoped for back in 2019 when this was passed. I just say to the legislature and others, where am I gonna go? I’m trying my best to meet these goals. They’re great, fine. But change the calculation will look a lot better. We met our goals a year early for community solar, but that’s because Donald Trump didn’t eliminate it. And he didn’t take away the incentives. If you take away the financial incentives for wind and solar from the federal government, they’re not gonna build wind and solar. CLARK: And electric cars too. HOCHUL: That’s right. All of our electrification efforts, they’re great goals. I want to meet them desperately. We just have to look at what options are on the table. I have to deal in reality. … CLARK: So on the climate goals, would you rather, I don’t know, what’s your dream scenario? Do you want to renegotiate the dates of them, or would you rather renegotiate the formula for accounting? Or both? HOCHUL: For my all-of-the-above approach. CLARK: Yeah, this is your all-above approach. HOCHUL: These are the conversations I want to have with the legislature. I don’t want to get ahead of it because this is something that they’re very proud of, and I have to recognize that this is something that is hard for people to change when they really believe in something they did. I get that. I’m just gonna be having conversations with them on, okay, let’s look at the reality. What do you think we should be doing differently? How are we gonna get power? how I’m gonna power this state and make sure, because I have to focus on affordability. I have to focus on resiliency. I cannot have this state go dark.
February 2, 2026 at 8:35 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
Incredible photos on a fascinating, freezing journey through Newtown Creek

www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/30/n...
WATCH: This 85-Year-Old Tugboat Is Why You’re Not Freezing Right Now
THE CITY was aboard the Shoofly as it carved through the ice to let barges carrying essential heating fuel make their way up and down Newtown Creek.
www.thecity.nyc
January 30, 2026 at 10:03 PM
smaldo.bsky.social
Read @haidee.bsky.social's sensitive, nuanced reporting on how New Yorkers without homes have been getting through this cold, and why they're largely staying outside.

www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/30/c...
How Unsheltered New Yorkers Face Down the Cold: ‘It’s Survive or Die’
Some unsheltered New Yorkers say they prefer the freedom of the streets. Others say they have not been asked in.
www.thecity.nyc
January 30, 2026 at 2:48 PM