Join Rafael and Kirk as they unravel The Housing Problem and hunt for the solutions that will help build a stronger and more equitable New York City – starting with housing.
Season Five
S5 E6. SENATOR BRIAN KAVANAGH
Rafael and Kirk talk to NY State Senator Brian Kavanagh, Chair of the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction, and Community Development, about NY’s landmark 2019 tenant protection law, increasing funding for rental assistance vouchers, and insurance as a hidden driver of housing costs. Also, why are places like Atlanta, Charlotte, and Austin building so much housing while NY lags?
S5 E5. ADAM WEINSTEIN
Rafael and Kirk talk to Adam Weinstein, CEO of NYC’s largest non-profit housing developer, Phipps Houses, about why developer profits aren’t what’s standing in the way of creating more affordable homes. Also, a developer’s perspective on City of Yes, the recently passed ballot measures, the Mamdani administration, and social housing.
S5 E4. SAMANTHA MAGISTRO
Rafael and Kirk talk to Samantha Magistro of the family-owned property owner BronxPro Group about the math problem facing rent-stabilized and affordable housing and what policy changes it would take to make the math work.
S5 E3. HOMELESSNESS / DR. MITCHELL KATZ
Rafael and Kirk return to the subject of homelessness with a focus on unhoused New Yorkers living with mental illness. Dr. Mitchell Katz, president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, joins The Housing Problem to talk about housing as a critical foundation for addressing mental illness.
S5 E2. THP HOT TAKES: MAYOR-ELECT MAMDANI EDITION
Rafael and Kirk recap the 2025 NYC mayoral election, including Mayor-elect Mamdani’s first hires, what’s needed to make a rent-freeze feasible, what’s broken at City Hall that needs fixing, and what a successful first 100 days would look like.
S5 E1. ALEC SCHIERENBECK
Rafael and Kirk kick off season 5 with Alec Schierenbeck, executive director of the NYC Charter Revision Commission to give voters a primer on the major housing measures on the ballot this Election Day.
Season Four
S4 E11. DEBORAH VANAMERONGEN
Rafael and Kirk talk to Deborah VanAmerongen of Nixon Peabody about Mitchell Lama. What is it, how close did Timothee Chalamet come to getting it right, and is Mitchell Lama 2.0 the easy solution so many NY politicians think it is?
S4 E10. ANDREW KIMBALL
Rafael and Kirk talk to Andrew Kimball, President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, better known as EDC.
S4 E9. DOUG APPLE
Rafael and Kirk talk to Doug Apple, chair of the Rent Guidelines Board, about the contentious process of deciding what owners of NYC’s 1 million rent stabilized apartments can charge tenants. Plus, managing scarcity and the 2019 rent stabilization law.
S4 E8. NOAM BRAMSON
Rafael and Kirk talk to former New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson about what the Wall Street Journal called “the city that defied NIMBY.” They dive into how the New Rochelle model works and if it can be replicated.
