Portside

In California, policymakers have long warned that continued development in high-risk wildfire zones was magnifying fires. But real estate interests have lobbied hard against any development restrictions, helping exacerbate the LA fires.

In New York, the real estate industry and the politicians in its pocket both reign supreme. These tenants have a plan to change that forever.

The Bronx apartment fire that recently killed 17 people was a devastating tragedy. It is also the entirely predictable outcome of a housing market that forces tenants to grovel for basic repairs while landlords rule as something close to kings.

Federally subsidized housing complexes, many of them owned by for-profit investors, fail to enforce basic safety standards. Will the horrific fire this week become a wake-up call?

Is it true that only the elimination of eviction moratoria can help these landlords? Under analysis, most of their arguments in favor of resuming evictions fall apart.