Street safety, housing, and democracy advocate. Fmr Housing committee chair, Manh CB6. Opinions mine. He/him. (richmintz bsky social)

Rose Hill, Manhattan
Joined November 2007
Upper West Side Avengers-level cast of politicians at the 96th Street train station this morning in support of Gov. Kathy Hochul's re-election campaign. Hochul was joined by Jerry Nadler, Mark Levine, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Linda Rosenthal, Gale Brewer, Shaun Abreu, and Eli Northrup.
1
178
there are reasons why there are like 17 DSA electeds in New York out there doing stuff to improve material conditions for people and there are hardly any anywhere else, and those reasons are Socialist Majority Caucus
NEW: DSA's National Political Committee passed two resolutions tonight regarding Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman, setting up processes to potentially force DSA's Los Angeles chapter to rescind its endorsement of her campaign and/or expel her from DSA. Here are copies of the 2 resolutions that passed: Rescinding endorsement: docs.google.com/document/d/1… Expulsion: docs.google.com/document/d/1…
1
11
289
Jonathan there are Nazis in the White House
To describe Marc Chagall as anything other than a Jewish artist or to celebrate neighborhoods like Brighton Beach and Rego Park but not describe their Jewish character ​are just the latest examples of the Mayor's relentless, pathological campaign to erase Jews from the story. He does it so often that one has to assume that this is not ignorance or accidental, but a deliberate effort to normalize antisemitism and marginalize Jewish New Yorkers. It’s despicable.
9
45
406
11,263
Rich Mintz retweeted
I’m grateful and excited to be joining @NYC_DOT at this moment under the leadership of Commissioner Flynn and Mayor Mamdani!
16
1
2
113
2,629
People (incl my friends) are hammering on this guy, but look: I like parks in theory and think they’re worth funding but in practice I rarely go to them, and mostly experience Central Park as a big thing that’s in the way when I’m trying to get somewhere. People are different.
A huge divide between a lot of native NYers and transplants is how much they value public parks. I've lived here my entire life and I don't think i've stepped foot in Central Park once in my entire adult life.
16
1
33
5,163
Rich Mintz retweeted
When you’re winning a multi-day argument about the Cheesecake Factory
11
51
2,336
37,126
I grew up in a 3-story 1910 house on a pretty block in San Francisco, and: AMEN! Cramped and fussy, doors all askew, funny smells, fixing anything cost a fortune, freezing Sep-June, pain in the ass to carry stuff in and out, whatever you needed was always on some other floor
One of my hotter NYC takes is that brownstone living is wildly over-romanticized. They’re expensive, drafty money pits with narrow layouts, endless stairs, and none of the conveniences of a doorman building. They only become less practical as you age or have kids. I suspect what people actually want is to live on a beautiful, tree-lined street in a neighborhood they love. Brownstones just happen to be the predominant housing stock in those neighborhoods, and we’ve somehow conflated the appeal of the two. The best thing about living in a brownstone is everything outside the brownstone.
1
12
2,014
It is late October and people are voting every day, if you cannot give a full-throated endorsement to the Democratic nominee who could be the key vote in flipping the Senate, then stay the fuck off television
BASH: “You're still fully behind Abdul El-Sayed?” STEVENS: “Look, I'm on the Democratic ticket. I can't say that I agree with everything that's gone on… I'm looking to be on the team to support my next governor Jocelyn Benson, and frankly these great Democrats who are working their tails off, who are going to make Hakeem Jeffries the first black Speaker of the House.” BASH: “You didn't mention Abdul El-Sayed in that last answer.” STEVENS: “Well, look, I would just say, you had asked me if I'm still on the team, I'm on the team.”
74
353
8
3,538
72,238
“Real” NYers: All these transplants* have destroyed the city. It was so much more civilized in the olden days before it was wrecked by all these outsider assholes. “The olden days”: See Fig. 1 * transplant (n.) Person who moved to NYC after January 1, 1986
2
474
Realizing as an 8th grader that I could just take John Rechy’s “City of Night” off an open shelf at my suburban LAPL branch and check it out without asking anybody’s permission is what launched my adult relationship with literature
you dont want your kid to read age inappropriate stuff but when i was 12 i read choke by chuck palahnuik which is about a guy that picks up girls at sex addicts meetings and that convinced me reading was cool and i never stopped reading since then so, sometimes its kind of a wash
4
361
How is Massachusetts real
4
321
left wing intellectuals on right wing intellectuals: wow look at all these fun weirdos, i am gonna make a special scrap book of their ideas...omg do i have a crush? right wing intellectuals on left wing intellectuals: look, these guys are all jews
19
685
177
6,304
Rich Mintz retweeted
I’ve commonly seen this exact pitch and it’s really odd to me! Are some people who are likely credit worthy underserved? Probably! Is that a large population? No. Banks are very good at determining this question
A conversation that has happened many times in banking, with various flavor texts, from fintech to public banking to microfinance. A: We think there is an opportunity to write loans to an underserved population. B: At usuriously high rates? A: No, at usual rates. Maybe lower.
1
1
5
377
Whenever I encounter someone under ~23 speaking English in an identifiable accent very different from mine (like Irish, although South Effrican or Philly or Detroit illustrates just as well), my unconscious reaction is always “oh they’re still making more of you?” Which is RIDIC
6
426
Proposal for the Golden Rule pt. 2: Remember everyone’s trying their best, man.
1
1
1
220
The one time in six decades I ever had to call 911 in a genuine emergency requiring immediate response the San Francisco Fire Department arrived in 90 seconds Civilization is worth every penny we pay for it
I complain plenty about Oakland city government. But at dinner 2yo swallowed something wrong and started choking. She was still breathing, but with difficulty. When she couldn't talk or make sounds above a whisper we called 911. You're not supposed to do the Heimlich if the airway is only partially obstructed, apparently, but this meant there was nothing to do at all except stand there and encourage her to cough. "Yell," we would suggest to her between coughs, and she'd make these concerning little whistley sounds. I think the first police officer was on our doorstep in like 3 minutes, and a fire truck and ambulance within 5. Of course the minute they arrived she coughed successfully and was completely fine. But if she hadn't been - and when this kind of thing happens it's impossible not to play out what happens if it hadn't been - help was minutes away. Sometimes it feels like I owe more to our civilization than I could ever possibly repay. I write blog posts, and raise kids, and if I ever need it a dozen strangers will be at my doorstep with unfathomably complicated emergency medicine. I am grateful to the cops and the firefighters and the paramedics and the city of Oakland. I will probably sentimentally vote for some of the bond issues I was on the fence about even though we already have the highest taxes in the Bay. She's fine. We sang happy birthday to her Mommy a couple minutes later, and she sang the loudest.
60
1,142
Rich Mintz retweeted
The worst governor in Kansas history just picked his successor. A vote for Ty Masterson is a vote to put Sam Brownback's agenda back in the governor's office.
BREAKING: Famously bad governor Sam Brownback, the guy behind the plan that gutted our schools and destroyed our state's finances, endorses Ty Masterson, the guy who co-wrote the same plan.
6
19
1
70
1,863
Rich Mintz retweeted
Hudson yards is spiritually Dubai
95
841
90
10,096
450,771
Rich Mintz retweeted
Imagine flying into LA from xyz country, then driving to Guatemala, an entirely different country that isn’t part of the U.S. under international law, and then picking strawberries with Guatemalans until the U.S. military which is illegally occupying Guatemala arrests you
Imagine flying into L.A. from xyz country, and then taking a bus up the interstate to one of the strawberry fields along the coast, and then picking strawberries to "show solidarity" with the Guatemalans picking strawberries, and then being told by the sheriff or cops you had to go back to your luxury hotel in Santa Monica because you don't have a work permit.
1
24
1
292
9,827
I have gotten a zillion outreaches* about the DSA elections from friends and acquaintances who want me to vote for them or someone else and the whole thing seems so confusing and intimidating that I’m just curled up in bed with a sack of Riesen ignoring them
4
2
25
928
Note: if yours was one of them, obviously I’m not talking about YOU, I mean all the other ones
7
157