Michael Friedrich

I have a new piece out today in Phenomenal World, on the economics of a freeze in NYC regulated rents. www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/aft...

thinking we need to suspend Godwin’s Law for the foreseeable future

It turns out that data shows the negative impacts of luxury construction that low-income tenants constantly point out based on experience. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/r...

Read the full story here: bsky.app/profile/mfri...

Tool libraries lend out hope during disasters After Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, North Carolina, in 2024, the local tool library stepped in.

I went on @marketplace.org to talk about my @bloomberglp.bsky.social story on how community-led tool libraries, founded on the principles of mutual aid, are increasingly becoming a resource during climate disasters. www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...

It turns out that data shows the negative impacts of luxury construction that low-income tenants constantly point out based on experience. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/r...

By the way, for those of you not in MN: Homan’s strategy was to withdraw some agents, so it felt like we were in the denouement of the crisis, and then escalate hard against observers. They’re being incredibly aggressive with observers now. National media may not want to check out just yet

In this economy, every story is a housing story.

Fifteen Below Zero | Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein Driving to St. Paul from the airport you pass under Fort Snelling, an enormous limestone structure from the early nineteenth century. In November 1862,

I traveled home to Minnesota to report on the rolling fallout of Operation Metro Surge. Both the occupation and neighborhood responses was breathtaking in scale. History in the making.

www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...

Thanks to the @economichardship.bsky.social for support

Kirkwood NPU rejects 47-microunit complex for elderly unhoused Atlantans The chorus of “no” votes doesn't mean the plan to build long-term housing for unhoused people is finished.

Gentrification, without lots of long-term affordable housing in place to maintain diversity, is likely to lead to resegregated exclusion and NIMBYism. Example #3496

(Kirkwood is a mostly gentrified, formerly predominately-Black neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta.)

In this economy, every story is a housing story.

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

Honored to be quoted in new article: Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library
TL;DR: As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

As climate change spurs more frequent and damaging natural disasters, the Trump administration has retreated from providing relief. In this context, tool libraries have grown into more than just an asset for DIY home projects. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

When emergencies arise, coming together to lend and fix tools can represent a radical act: caring for each other where the state has fallen short.

I wrote for @bloomberglp.bsky.social about how community tool libraries are responding to climate disasters. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

As climate change spurs more frequent and damaging natural disasters, the Trump administration has retreated from providing relief. In this context, tool libraries have grown into more than just an asset for DIY home projects. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.

When emergencies arise, coming together to lend and fix tools can represent a radical act: caring for each other where the state has fallen short.

I wrote for @bloomberglp.bsky.social about how community tool libraries are responding to climate disasters. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

I was at bankruptcy court for three hours yesterday and listened to more of the hearing online after that. The lawyers for my current landlord and the presumptive buyer were SO mad about organized tenants so I personally think every rent-stabilized building should form a union :)

The Eviction Kings One of Israel’s biggest companies is taking over huge swaths of US real estate—and tenants are paying the price.

For @thenation.com and @typeinvestigations.org, I looked into American Landmark, a major landlord filing evictions far more than the national average.

I found they are owned by an Israeli company with ties to the IDF, including during the Gaza genocide. (1/10)

www.thenation.com/article/soci...

The Eviction Kings One of Israel’s biggest companies is taking over huge swaths of US real estate—and tenants are paying the price.

Today's must-read by @thomasbirm.bsky.social: a major corporate landlord is fueling homelessness across the U.S. *and* the mass displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank.

The Israeli company owns tens of thousands of apartments in the South, filing evictions at nine times the national average.

Will Jewish leaders atone for their sins next year? Falsifiable fearmongering and the Zohran Mamdani election. Maybe because they’re clergy so bad behavior takes on an fancier form, or because their worst conduct has played out in the shadow of the Hi...

Many Jewish institutional leaders have spent the past few months promising that New York Jews will be in danger if Zohran wins.

We’re about to see exactly how wrong they were.

Will they admit it?

empty-brain.ghost.io/will-jewish-...

In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape

Under Trump, the draconian future of homelessness policy is coming into focus: mass internment. Utah is building a 16-acre site to detain up to 1,300 homeless people inside locked "accountability centers." This is profoundly alarming.

Vital reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social and Jason DeParle:

Opinion | We’re seeing haves and have-nots with Minneapolis rents While the housing cost burden is easing overall, it’s not the case for lower-income renters, the authors write.

Published my first Op-Ed w/ Professor Ed Goetz on how the national narrative about Minneapolis misses how zoning and market rate housing are necessary but not sufficient to help lower-income renters 🧵 www.startribune.com/twin-cities-...

Nobody wants it as a story but I have multiple NYPD sources who voted for Mamdani, are eager for his win in November, and who say their colleagues quietly feel the same.

They like that he wants NYPD to focus on crime, not quality of life enforcement.

Rent Debtors Strike Against Abusive Corporate Landlord The Debt Collective is leading the charge against the real estate behemoth Equity Residential.

A group of tenants with rent debt are refusing to pay Equity Residential, one of the largest corporate landlords. The campaign’s goals are to win debt cancellation and spur regulatory action to hold corporate landlords accountable. Michael Friedrich reports:
prospect.org/infrastructu...

Rent Debtors Strike Against Abusive Corporate Landlord The Debt Collective is leading the charge against the real estate behemoth Equity Residential.

Rent Debtors Strike Against Abusive Corporate Landlord

The Debt Collective is leading the charge against the real estate behemoth Equity Residential prospect.org/infrastructu...

Real this lovely essay on Krasznahorkai by @luriethereal.bsky.social

Well it’s not long sentence, but I did get to write this essay for @newrepublic.com! I strongly encourage you to join us.

newrepublic.com/article/2015...