Stephen Jacob Smith
@stephenjacobsmith.com
Executive director of the Center for Building in North America, stephen@centerforbuilding.org. Personal account. Brooklyn, NY.
Most unobtrusive minisplit placement in the eastern bloc
February 10, 2026 at 2:53 AM
Most unobtrusive minisplit placement in the eastern bloc
Does anybody else's Google Calendar just completely shit the bed when it comes to respecting your privacy settings? Like, you share your calendar with somebody but set it so that they cannot see event details, just generally that you are busy, but it shares event details anyway?
February 9, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Does anybody else's Google Calendar just completely shit the bed when it comes to respecting your privacy settings? Like, you share your calendar with somebody but set it so that they cannot see event details, just generally that you are busy, but it shares event details anyway?
What pro-induction regulations in Europe are they talking about? That’s surprising to me, since I feel like in Europe they’re behind the US on fully electric homes www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/r...
February 9, 2026 at 9:00 PM
What pro-induction regulations in Europe are they talking about? That’s surprising to me, since I feel like in Europe they’re behind the US on fully electric homes www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/r...
“Israel’s government has taken unilateral steps to give itself greater control over the occupied West Bank, challenging President Trump’s opposition to Israeli annexation of the territory and possibly violating international law.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Israel Gives Itself More Control Over Occupied West Bank
www.nytimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:48 PM
“Israel’s government has taken unilateral steps to give itself greater control over the occupied West Bank, challenging President Trump’s opposition to Israeli annexation of the territory and possibly violating international law.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Reposted by Stephen Jacob Smith
I took the city planner civil service exam in May 2016. In July, I received a notice to show up at some building if I wanted to be considered to be hired (for 65% of my salary at the time). July of **2018**
February 9, 2026 at 7:30 PM
I took the city planner civil service exam in May 2016. In July, I received a notice to show up at some building if I wanted to be considered to be hired (for 65% of my salary at the time). July of **2018**
Amazing how the MTA has lost all will or ability to make in-station announcements about service disruptions. L is not running between Lorimer and Myrtle due to a passenger struck by a train 30 mins ago, and there’s no communication whatsoever about this at Lorimer.
February 9, 2026 at 7:14 PM
Amazing how the MTA has lost all will or ability to make in-station announcements about service disruptions. L is not running between Lorimer and Myrtle due to a passenger struck by a train 30 mins ago, and there’s no communication whatsoever about this at Lorimer.
Snow on a low-traffic side street vs. snow on a busier avenue
February 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Snow on a low-traffic side street vs. snow on a busier avenue
Big drop in the number of short-term rentals in Spain due to government restrictions – down 12.4% in one year. And yet the housing shortage just keeps getting worse, with market rents up 8.5%: es.euronews.com/2026/01/02/e...
February 9, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Big drop in the number of short-term rentals in Spain due to government restrictions – down 12.4% in one year. And yet the housing shortage just keeps getting worse, with market rents up 8.5%: es.euronews.com/2026/01/02/e...
Reposted by Stephen Jacob Smith
La patronal de la construcción admite que el sector ya emplea a “un porcentaje muy importante” de migrantes sin papeles
La patronal de la construcción admite que el sector ya emplea a "un porcentaje muy importante" de migrantes sin papeles
La CNC presenta un informe en el que lamenta que el absentismo laboral se sitúe en el 6,2%, a causa de las incapacidades temporales, los retrasos en la sanidad pública y el envejecimiento de las plant...
www.eldiario.es
February 9, 2026 at 5:26 PM
La patronal de la construcción admite que el sector ya emplea a “un porcentaje muy importante” de migrantes sin papeles
If the $10 million annual savings is close to being true, that’s a good return on a $90 million investment…way more than their bonds’ rate of interest
Source for the $90 million cost: missionlocal.org/2025/06/sf-b...
Source for the $90 million cost: missionlocal.org/2025/06/sf-b...
BART’s new tall fare gates are bringing in an additional ten million dollars a year in revenue that would have been lost to fare evasion.
February 9, 2026 at 5:01 PM
If the $10 million annual savings is close to being true, that’s a good return on a $90 million investment…way more than their bonds’ rate of interest
Source for the $90 million cost: missionlocal.org/2025/06/sf-b...
Source for the $90 million cost: missionlocal.org/2025/06/sf-b...
Reposted by Stephen Jacob Smith
Very excited to say that the stars have aligned and NYU Marron/Transit Costs Project have landed a grant that will fund a second edition of Momentum, which will apply the high-throughput framework to major regional rail networks beyond the NY area.
Our three big new cases:
- NJT
- SEPTA
- METRA
Our three big new cases:
- NJT
- SEPTA
- METRA
The NYU-Marron report on electrification is out: It pairs electrification and other components to develop a high-throughput infrastructure design framework, which slashes time off of existing commuter and inter-city passenger rail services. We call it Momentum -- transitcosts.com/wp-content/u...
February 9, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Very excited to say that the stars have aligned and NYU Marron/Transit Costs Project have landed a grant that will fund a second edition of Momentum, which will apply the high-throughput framework to major regional rail networks beyond the NY area.
Our three big new cases:
- NJT
- SEPTA
- METRA
Our three big new cases:
- NJT
- SEPTA
- METRA
This may be the single most pressing problem in NYC government:
February 9, 2026 at 3:54 PM
This may be the single most pressing problem in NYC government:
Reposted by Stephen Jacob Smith
From a Diab & El-Geneidy 2015 paper:
Just moving stops far-side and removing the right-turn/stop conflict could save up to 8.7% of running times on line 165 in Montréal, equivalent to adding 7-9 trips per weekday per direction for free
We leave so much on the table.
tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Pub...
Just moving stops far-side and removing the right-turn/stop conflict could save up to 8.7% of running times on line 165 in Montréal, equivalent to adding 7-9 trips per weekday per direction for free
We leave so much on the table.
tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Pub...
February 9, 2026 at 2:39 PM
From a Diab & El-Geneidy 2015 paper:
Just moving stops far-side and removing the right-turn/stop conflict could save up to 8.7% of running times on line 165 in Montréal, equivalent to adding 7-9 trips per weekday per direction for free
We leave so much on the table.
tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Pub...
Just moving stops far-side and removing the right-turn/stop conflict could save up to 8.7% of running times on line 165 in Montréal, equivalent to adding 7-9 trips per weekday per direction for free
We leave so much on the table.
tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Pub...
Good god, they are recladding a 47-story, 755-foot-tall skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan without a tower crane. This city’s construction safety regulation is ass backwards, the DOB really needs to step back and reconsider the impediments they’ve placed to tower cranes newyorkyimby.com/2026/02/faca...
Façade Removal Underway For 383 Madison Avenue Overhaul in Midtown East, Manhattan - New York YIMBY
Work is underway on the renovation of 383 Madison Avenue by SOM, Foster + Partners, and Gensler for JPMorgan Chase in Midtown East, Manhattan.
newyorkyimby.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Good god, they are recladding a 47-story, 755-foot-tall skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan without a tower crane. This city’s construction safety regulation is ass backwards, the DOB really needs to step back and reconsider the impediments they’ve placed to tower cranes newyorkyimby.com/2026/02/faca...
They’re rounding up and imprisoning even legal workers:
February 9, 2026 at 1:52 PM
They’re rounding up and imprisoning even legal workers:
Reposted by Stephen Jacob Smith
75003 PÄRIS 1962 BAR TABAC PMU Rue Beaubourg près du métro Rambuteau Ne jamais oublier les taudis dans le centre de Paris à cette époque. Cette photo montre le « plateau Beaubourg » dont les masures insalubres furent abattues pour faire place à la construction du Centre Pompidou
February 9, 2026 at 11:31 AM
75003 PÄRIS 1962 BAR TABAC PMU Rue Beaubourg près du métro Rambuteau Ne jamais oublier les taudis dans le centre de Paris à cette époque. Cette photo montre le « plateau Beaubourg » dont les masures insalubres furent abattues pour faire place à la construction du Centre Pompidou
Reposted by Stephen Jacob Smith
Part e-bike and part van, this new class of pedal-powered vehicles is overhauling last-mile delivery—and the fabric of car-centric urban life.
“I do think we're asking a fundamental question of who is entitled to space in the city?"
insideevs.com/features/786...
“I do think we're asking a fundamental question of who is entitled to space in the city?"
insideevs.com/features/786...
How Pedal-Assist Mini-Trucks Are Transforming Cities
Part e-bike and part van, this new class of vehicles could be the next big thing in last-mile delivery.
insideevs.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Part e-bike and part van, this new class of pedal-powered vehicles is overhauling last-mile delivery—and the fabric of car-centric urban life.
“I do think we're asking a fundamental question of who is entitled to space in the city?"
insideevs.com/features/786...
“I do think we're asking a fundamental question of who is entitled to space in the city?"
insideevs.com/features/786...
“Originally from Glenmore, Co Kilkenny, Seamus Culleton is married to a US citizen and owns a plastering business in the Boston area.“
Kerryman who is married, living and working legally in the United States for >20 years has been incarcerated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) since September 2025.
Profoundly disturbing report by Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Profoundly disturbing report by Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘Absolute hell’: Irish man with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record
www.irishtimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:34 PM
“Originally from Glenmore, Co Kilkenny, Seamus Culleton is married to a US citizen and owns a plastering business in the Boston area.“
No choice but to stop all traffic to collect these tiny little bins one at a time, no more efficient way to do this!
February 8, 2026 at 1:44 PM
No choice but to stop all traffic to collect these tiny little bins one at a time, no more efficient way to do this!
Watching this guy with serious mental health issues jump around between moving G train cars as he’s hallucinating something or other. And before this I was on a 7 train where the MTA had a high school do an announcement about how deadly subway surfing is. And we’re stuck with Janno Lieber, who is…
February 8, 2026 at 3:04 AM
Watching this guy with serious mental health issues jump around between moving G train cars as he’s hallucinating something or other. And before this I was on a 7 train where the MTA had a high school do an announcement about how deadly subway surfing is. And we’re stuck with Janno Lieber, who is…
Reposted by Stephen Jacob Smith
This excellent story Dave Rand posted on Twitter is a perfect illustration of the kind of person Nithya Raman is:
February 7, 2026 at 7:52 PM
This excellent story Dave Rand posted on Twitter is a perfect illustration of the kind of person Nithya Raman is:
Reposted by Stephen Jacob Smith
Hubo una época, allá por los 80, en la que a mi tío le dio por pintar los ascensores del Eixample de Barcelona.
“Me encantaba pasear por la noche y asomarme a los portales. Era un espectáculo un tanto morboso".
José María G. Spínola (Puebla de la Calzada, Badajoz, 1944).
Feliz sábado. :)
“Me encantaba pasear por la noche y asomarme a los portales. Era un espectáculo un tanto morboso".
José María G. Spínola (Puebla de la Calzada, Badajoz, 1944).
Feliz sábado. :)
February 7, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Hubo una época, allá por los 80, en la que a mi tío le dio por pintar los ascensores del Eixample de Barcelona.
“Me encantaba pasear por la noche y asomarme a los portales. Era un espectáculo un tanto morboso".
José María G. Spínola (Puebla de la Calzada, Badajoz, 1944).
Feliz sábado. :)
“Me encantaba pasear por la noche y asomarme a los portales. Era un espectáculo un tanto morboso".
José María G. Spínola (Puebla de la Calzada, Badajoz, 1944).
Feliz sábado. :)
Reposted by Stephen Jacob Smith
"Nithya Raman, who has been compared to Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, presents a significant challenge to the incumbent, Mayor Karen Bass." NYT gets the scoop
Rising Progressive Star Shakes Up Race for Los Angeles Mayor
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:57 PM
"Nithya Raman, who has been compared to Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, presents a significant challenge to the incumbent, Mayor Karen Bass." NYT gets the scoop
The US government has been manufacturing .50-caliber ammunition for Mexican drug cartels www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u... (gift link)
Mexican Cartels Overwhelm Police With Ammunition Made for the U.S. Military
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:49 PM
The US government has been manufacturing .50-caliber ammunition for Mexican drug cartels www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u... (gift link)
The only way I could ever get down anywhere near 62°F in winter back when I lived in a building with steam radiators was by turning on the air conditioner
Reminder ahead of this weekend's frigid temperatures...
Landlords in NYC are legally required to provide:
* Heat-- At least 68 degrees during day (6am-10pm) and 62 degrees at night (10pm-6am)
* Hot water-- At least 120 degrees
(1/2)
Landlords in NYC are legally required to provide:
* Heat-- At least 68 degrees during day (6am-10pm) and 62 degrees at night (10pm-6am)
* Hot water-- At least 120 degrees
(1/2)
February 7, 2026 at 3:25 AM
The only way I could ever get down anywhere near 62°F in winter back when I lived in a building with steam radiators was by turning on the air conditioner