Podcast Summary: "Mamdani's Extreme Ideas"

Podcast: City Journal Audio
Host: Rafael Mangual
Guests: Judge Glock, Adam Lahote
Date: December 11, 2025

Overview

This episode of City Journal Audio dives into two controversial policy proposals associated with incoming political leader Zoram Mamdani: (1) halting homeless encampment clearances and (2) giving nonprofits the first right of refusal in housing purchases. Host Rafael Mangual, with guests Judge Glock and Adam Lahote, unpacks the implications, constituent reactions, and deep-rooted ideologies behind these policies—contrasting progressive solutions with public opinion, economic logic, and lived reality.

Key Discussion Points

1. Ending Homeless Encampment Sweeps

Who Wants Encampments?
Host Rafael Mangual opens by expressing frustration and confusion over Mamdani’s support for ending encampment clearances, a policy seemingly at odds with broad public sentiment.

• Judge Glock:
  • Notes that few ordinary citizens support keeping encampments.
  • Recalls Austin’s policy reversal: city council voted to end criminal penalties, but citizens voted overwhelmingly to reinstate them.
  • Advocates are a “minuscule... wild-eyed” group compared to the public.
  • [01:44] "You talk to your average citizen and they are frothing at the mouth about these things... it’s the most rational thing in the world to ban street camping, street sleeping."

New York's Unique Position: Right to Shelter

• Adam Lahote:
  • Points out NY is unique with its "right to shelter" law; the city must provide somewhere to stay.
  • Contrasts with Western cities—there, lack of shelter is a legal obstacle to enforcement.
  • Encampments escalate from a nuisance to danger and make whole areas “uninhabitable.”
  • [03:48] "New York does have a right to shelter...if you don’t have a place to stay, the state and the city will provide a place for you."

Why Refuse Shelter?

• Judge Glock:
  • Asserts those on the street often prefer it to shelters because of shelter rules, especially about drug/alcohol use.
  • The lack of enforcement incentivizes more staying out, fueling overdoses, crime, and public space degradation.
  • Privatizes public space, despite "anti-privatization" rhetoric.
  • [07:12] "You’re saying, hey, basically anyone who sets up a pup tent can now effectively occupy [public] land indefinitely."

Externalities and Public Costs

• Adam Lahote:
  • Asserts that treating parks/subways as shelters is expensive and deters broader city use.
  • Example of Rafael having to use Uber after encountering unbearable conditions underground.
  • [08:13] "I said, I can't breathe this in for 14 minutes...so I just took an Uber. The city obviously loses out on that."

Misconceptions about Causes of Homelessness

• Rafael Mangual:
  • Homelessness isn’t a “lack of a house” problem but rooted in severe addiction and mental health.
  • Housing alone can’t solve addiction/mental illness; many refuse to stay in provided housing or treatment.
  • Shares personal story of a relative given free housing who chose the streets.
  • [10:46] "She probably slept in that apartment one week a month in total...she was just too sick to know there was anything wrong with her."

Distinguishing the Populations

• Judge Glock:
  • Most “homeless” people (e.g., families) are in shelters, not on streets; those on the streets are overwhelmingly suffering from addiction/severe mental illness.
  • Cites San Francisco: 11% of street homeless last lived in subsidized housing before returning to the streets.
  • [12:34] "The people out on the street...is overwhelmingly people with drugs and alcohol problems and mental health problems."

Safety & The Progressive Argument

• Living outdoors is far more dangerous (overdoses, crime) than being in shelters—despite progressive claims.

Metrics for Success & Public Priorities

• Progressive critics say encampment sweeps fail since few end up in "permanent housing."
• Adam Lahote: Argues the real metric should be streets’ safety and functionality—public order, not placement in permanent housing.
  • [15:14] "The metric should be, like, safe streets matter...the city stops functioning otherwise."

"Violent Shelters" Argument Debunked

• Rafael Mangual:
  • If violence in shelters is a problem, it’s due to the challenging population, not the model—so allowing street living is worse.
  • Not allowing encampments isn’t “inhumane,” nor is leaving people to “rot on the streets” compassionate.
• Judge Glock:
  • LA data: nearly 2,000 street deaths per year—“a charnel house”—but proposals say wait until there's enough permanent housing, even if that takes decades.
  • [17:42] "This is a charnel house...wait until when?...how many deaths are going to happen in the interim?"

Hard Problems, Easy ‘Solutions’

• Adam Lahote:
  • The progressive tendency is to reduce complex issues to “simple” problems (“no shelter? Give housing!”), permitting an “easy” moral high ground.
• Rafael Mangual:
  • Reality: There is no simple, compassionate answer for homelessness/addiction/mental illness.

2. Nonprofit “First Right of Refusal” on Housing

What Is the Proposal?

• The Community Opportunity Purchase Act: gives certain nonprofits first right to buy residential property for sale, and ability to match and override private bids.

Property Rights and Delays

• Rafael Mangual:

  • Sees this as a direct infringement on basic property rights.
  • Owners lose autonomy to choose buyers (e.g., selling to friends/family).
  • Delays and complications inevitably ensue.

• Adam Lahote:

  • Explains DC’s long-running similar law: created “months of delay,” made urgent property sales nearly impossible, and frequently forced concessions from owners.
  • [24:03] "You’re going to be adding several months of delay to every single transaction that falls under this law."

Is the Delay Itself the Goal?

• Rafael probes whether the policy exists to pressure owners into selling to nonprofits out of convenience.
  • [25:22] "Do you think the delay is the point?...there is an opportunity cost."

Regulatory Taking

• The policy arguably amounts to a regulatory taking—devaluing property by restricting how/when it can be sold.

Why Favor Nonprofits?

• Judge Glock:
  • Skeptical nonprofits manage units better—evidence is otherwise (e.g., Skid Row Housing Trust bankruptcy, scandals).
  • Nonprofits are essentially “profit-making organizations for the employees that work there...no particular expertise in managing buildings.”
  • Cites Willie Brown’s “sacred cartel” label for nonprofit housing groups.
  • [28:56] "They run [housing] worse than regular for-profit housing developers... everyone at a nonprofit gets paid."

Historical Failure of Government/Nonprofit Management

• Public housing run by government ended in national disaster (rampant decay, demolitions).
  • Nonprofits just swapped government mismanagement for politically-connected inefficient nonprofits.

Unintended Consequences: Tenant Associations, Legal Action, Deterioration

• In places like DC or California, these laws foster legal disputes, encourage squatting, and reduce incentives for investment/unkeep.

• The system creates effective ownership rights for long-term tenants, often at the expense of maintenance and new construction.

  • [31:51] Judge Glock: "Their whole job is to drive people out of these buildings... it's expropriating, basically, the actual owners."

• Adam Lahote:

  • Notes these legal tactics siphon resources away from renovations and repairs.

Historical Parallel: “The Bronx is Burning”

• Judge Glock: when restrictions make investment and upkeep unprofitable, owners let buildings burn—as in 1970s Bronx.
• [34:39] "They let them burn to the ground, because they said, 'We're not going to get any return on that.'"

3. Is There Reason for Optimism?

• Judge Glock:

  • Even with misguided policies, the continued demand for housing in NYC will likely prevent 1970s-level collapse.

• Adam Lahote:

  • Upzonings like “Zoning for All” (FIYAs) show attempts to increase supply—and robust urban economics literature exists to inform policy.
  • Only way to reduce rents: Increase housing supply.

• Judge Glock:

  • Warns “YIMBY” (Yes In My Backyard) leftists: legalizing construction helps, but only if property owners can also profit; anti-profit policies stymie development.
  • [38:32] "It's great if you rezone, but if you actually make it impossible to earn money, nobody's going to build."

• Adam Lahote & Rafael Mangual:

  • Defend the value and necessity of a rental market—renting serves students, people in transition, and can allow families financial flexibility.

• Rafael Mangual:

  • Policy lessons: beware utopian, simplistic solutions to “wicked” social problems like homelessness and housing affordability.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Judge Glock:

  • [01:44] “It is minuscule... you talk to your average citizen and they are frothing at the mouth about these things.”
  • [12:34] "Everyone knows that the people out on the street are there because they simply cannot stay inside."
  • [17:42] "This is a charnel house... are you going to put up with [overdoses] until you've created enough permanent housing?"

• Adam Lahote:

  • [03:48] "New York does have a right to shelter... if you don't have a place to stay, the state and the city will provide a place for you."
  • [15:14] “Safe streets matter, because...the city stops functioning.”

• Rafael Mangual:

  • [10:46] "She probably slept in that apartment one week a month in total, if that. She was on the street constantly... why? She wasn't homeless, but she was just too sick to know that there was anything wrong with her."
  • [29:26] “I actually just trust the free market a lot more...there is something to be said for a profit motive actually motivating people to do a job better.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:35 - Introduction of grievances and policy proposals
• 01:44 - Who wants homeless encampments? Public sentiment vs. activist influence
• 03:48 - New York's shelter policy and contrast to Western cities
• 07:12 - Effects of tolerating encampments on public space and urban life
• 08:13 - Guest story: subway, quality of life, and city's economic loss
• 10:46 - Deep causes of homelessness; personal family example
• 12:34 - Distinction between general homeless population and street homeless
• 15:14 - Better metrics: focus on public order, not idealized housing outcomes
• 17:42 - The “violent shelters” argument and dangers of street living
• 21:59 - Introduction of Community Opportunity Purchase Act (“first right of refusal” legislation)
• 24:03 - How right-of-first-refusal laws slow down sales, create conflict (DC example)
• 28:56 - Nonprofit failures and the “sacred cartel” problem
• 29:48 - Public housing demise and rise of nonprofit management
• 31:51 - Unintended legal/tenant consequences and expropriation
• 34:39 - “The Bronx is burning”—economic collapse of rental market, arson as economics
• 36:25 - Causes for cautious optimism
• 38:32 - Need to allow for-profit incentives alongside upzoning
• 39:18 - Value of the rental market for personal mobility and financial management

Tone, Language, and Final Thoughts

The conversation is brisk, candid, and at times wryly humorous, especially in its exasperation with progressive urban policy “solutions.” The hosts and guests favor evidence-based realism over utopian idealism, repeatedly citing data, history, and personal anecdote to debunk what they see as naive or performatively “compassionate” approaches to homelessness and housing.

Memorable Closing

After a robust discussion, the hosts lighten up with plans for the holidays, sharing traditions and travel plans.

This episode provides a comprehensive, skeptical critique of radical progressive housing policy, with detailed arguments and case studies, while never losing touch with policy’s human and societal stakes.