Zohran Mamdani wants to take more buildings from bad landlords. How would that work?

Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay

Weather: ⛅ Partly cloudy, highs in the lower 30s.

It's Tuesday in New York City, where housing officials earlier this year used a rare maneuver to take over a 49-unit Bronx apartment building from a negligent owner, turn it over to a nonprofit and provide city funding for a renovation.

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, in his quest to add safe and affordable housing, wants to do more of that.

Here's what stands in his way.

And here's what else is happening:

• Nearly every subway turnstile in New York City will soon get metal shark-like fins and plastic paddles designed to make it harder to skip the fare, the MTA announced yesterday.
• The MTA said most Penn Station-bound Long Island Rail Road trains were being diverted to alternate terminals during Tuesday morning's rush hour due to a broken rail in an East River tunnel.
• Police said they're investigating the death of a 51-year-old Brooklyn man as a homicide after city medical examiners determined he was killed.
• Several City Council members are calling for more rigorous training for city shelter staff for dealing with ICE visits.
• The New York State Gaming Commission made it official yesterday: Bally’s Bronx at Ferry Point, Hard Rock Metropolitan Park near Citi Field, and Resorts World New York City near JFK Airport are getting full casino licenses.
• Gov. Kathy Hochul, facing pressure from tech industry lobbyists, wants New York state lawmakers to scale back a bill that could restrict the release of AI models, according to three people familiar with negotiations.
• New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill yesterday nominated Jennifer Davenport, a former federal prosecutor who currently works as a lawyer for the utility company PSEG, to be the state's next attorney general.

• An update on Mamdani's free bus plan: It could die, it could become a watered-down free bus pilot or it could expand into a statewide free bus program. Albany will have to debate!
• Vendors in the Turnstyle Underground Market at the Columbus Circle subway station are struggling to get commuters to stop and shop instead of hustling to the train. 
• The mayor of New York City could get a pay raise — bringing the job's salary to $300,500 a year — under a bill in the City Council.
• That's almost enough to be able to "afford" having a kid.
• According to the New York Post, Bill de Blasio is getting iced out by Mamdani and didn't get his CNN contract renewed — but he may not care because he just flew to Mexico with his new girlfriend.
• It's tonight: The NBA Cup (?) Final between the Knicks and the Spurs.
• The darts got dark.
• The mayor of a small town in southern Italy was in New York City recently to try to get us to adopt the Mediterranean diet. 
• Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is trying to get us to eat more saturated fat.