Readers sound off on rent stabilization, Trump's ego and Puffy's charges
Staten Island: As a small property owner of rent-stabilized apartments in NYC, I appreciate your editorial 'Good politics in bad rent freeze' (May 2). The candidates running for mayor are out of touch with the real world. Having no rental increases or close to zero, as former Mayor Bill de Blasio implemented, is forcing their constituents to live in slums.
Average rent for free-market apartments in NYC is $3,397 per month. In 2024, it cost $2,296 for NYCHA to maintain an apartment, and NYCHA does not pay mortgage or real estate taxes. In NYC, the median income is $79,713 and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development states that occupants should not spend more than 30% of their salary on housing. This calculates to an affordable rent of $1,992 per month. Average rent for a rent-stabilized apartment is $1,477, way below the threshold set by the city. The Rent Guidelines Board stated that our expenses increased by 48.6% over the last 10 years. It approved a total of 11.75% increases. One of the candidates stated last year that we are double-dipping and the rental increases are historically high as 11% ('This NYS agency is allowing illegal rent hikes,' op-ed, July 10, 2024).
We are severely financially strapped. At 76, I am using my retirement money for the upkeep and will never be able to retire. Owners of rent-stabilized properties are the only group that politicians are attacking, wanting us to compensate for the welfare of tenants with income below the median. Why can't tenant advocates and politicians work with owners on trying to get them proper assistance and get back to the original intentions of rent stabilization: providing affordable housing, maintaining it and making a reasonable profit? Vincent Ragosta
Union, N.J.: This is neither an endorsement nor a defense of Bob Menendez. He went wrong, got caught and will pay the price. That's fine with me! This is an inquiry. What did Menendez do that President Trump hasn't done while in government? We know from 2016 to 2020 that he is an agent of a foreign government (Russia)! And please don't give me the 'he didn't take his presidential salary' nonsense. He took many, many more times that amount in return for favors to foreign governments, lobbyists and, more disturbingly, to himself and his family! His crimes are easily an equal match for Gold Bar Bob, so why aren't they sharing an equal punishment? Lou Alt
Brooklyn: To Voicer Tom Scott: Stephen Smith is from Queens. He has a New York accent just like Trump and many native New Yorkers. Unlike Trump, Smith is educated and has a command of the English language. Third-graders read and talk better than Trump. Why did he obtain a court order to have his school records sealed? Trump doesn't want the voting public to know how uneducated he is. Did you happen to watch Terry Moran's 100-day White House interview with Trump on ABC? It was alternately scary, cringeworthy and wet-your-pants. Moran asked Trump, 'What does the Declaration of Independence mean to you?' Typical Trump: He stumbled, gaffed and mumbled, answering, 'Unity… love… respect… means a lot… and special' (one of Trump's favorite low-IQ words). He couldn't even recite the preamble of this consequential document. Who hangs signs or wears T-shirts with messages they don't understand or comprehend? The president. Taplow Vincennes
Ormond Beach, Fla.: As a retired military person, I was very pleased to see that the Supreme Court just ruled that Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will be allowed to ban trans people from the military. The radical left has become more and more like the characters in a Charles Dickens novel, crammed to the seams with grotesques, eccentrics, amiable idiots and moral monstrosities. These freaks and insipid oddballs have become central to the progressive movement and most responsible for its demise. Indeed, they have become a ramshackle, disheveled party and have given a new meaning to spontaneous combustion. Charles Michael Sitero
Beechhurst: Trump's twisted tongue-in-cheek suggestion that the cardinal conclave in the Vatican should have contemplated electing him as the next Holy Father brings to mind Friedrich Nietzsche's famous wish about Cesare Borgia (a worldly, power-hungry Italian prince and illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI) ascending to the papacy. The White House's AI-generated image of Trump as the new pope, as well as its AI-generated image of him as a buffed-up, red-lightsaber-wielding 'Star Wars' hero, are tawdry homages to The Donald's solipsistic will to power. Not surprisingly, 45/47 vainly aspires to be chiseled in stone on Mount Rushmore — but he fittingly belongs on Mount Narcissus. James Hyland
Bronx: Trump's ego has no limits. He now believes that our nation's motto, 'E Pluribus Unum,' refers to him. A press secretary explained that this Latin phrase means 'out of many, one.' Trump immediately took this as a perfect self-description. Out of the vast (and diverse) multitudes in this country, he is Number 1 — the Chosen One. In the process, he has turned the United States into a lugubrious union. Fred Smith
Bronx: To Voicer Diane Doberman: Leave it to a querulous, woke loser to whine about the statistical margin of victory in the last presidential election in response to a letter about a cancer-stricken child being used as a political pawn. To quote Mark Twain, 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.' It's no wonder you lost. Charles T. Compton
Brooklyn: Dear Rep. Nicole Malliotakis: If not you, who? There is nothing wrong with being liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican — as long as you are concerned with everyone, not just yourself and one segment among your nation, state, town or city. Trump is a real estate developer (the segment that is the biggest source of campaign contributions at the local level, as you clearly know). Elon Musk is interested in benefiting his own multiple interests. It's evident that both of them are running this country for narcissistic reasons. So, who are you concerned with, everyone or one segment and one person? The future of the nation or the future of wealthy people? I suggest that it's time for you to work to get the Musk-MAGA segment under control. If you and your colleagues don't work on doing this, who will? If you and they won't, then seriously consider leaving office. Ed Jaworski
Flushing: Humanitarian groups and European officials have condemned Israel for blocking food, fuel and medicine from entering Gaza. Israel has announced that the siege of Gaza will end the moment that Hamas wants it to end. That moment will occur when Hamas releases all the remaining hostages abducted on Oct. 7, 2023. Theodore Sheskin
Brooklyn: To Voicer Richard Sherman: By way of rebuttal, you should study the words of David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, who said, 'Politically speaking, we are the aggressors, and the Arabs are just defending their homeland.' I find it rather bizarre that you would quote Zuheir Mohsen, someone who Zionists went out of their way to assassinate in 1979. Significantly, you should also study the words of Jewish luminary Sigmund Freud, who, in the 1920s, indicated that the formation of Israel would be a terrible idea. That prophecy has proven to be spot-on prescient. So, Richard, study up! Nick Smith
West Palm Beach, Fla.: According to Sean 'Puffy' Combs' charges — racketeering, insane freak-offs, sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and any other dark sexual, immoral sin — there is no real, tangible evidence. For example, the charge of racketeering would suggest or depict a man full of pride and deception about who he had become — a monster. The truth is that through observance over the years, Combs was an ordinary man who became extraordinary. He finished high school and went to college, then pursued his passion and dream, which was to be rich. That idea is not evil. Combs pursued his endeavor through legal means, such as music, media, alcohol, fashion and technology. Being a Black man in today's society, he should be applauded. Although some of these ventures are less conventional, they are still legitimate. Felicia Jefferson
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
9 minutes ago
Musk could lose billions of dollars depending on how spat with Trump unfolds
NEW YORK -- The world's richest man could lose billions in his fight with world's most powerful politician. The feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump could mean Tesla's plans for self-driving cars hit a roadblock, SpaceX flies fewer missions for NASA, Starlink gets fewer overseas satellite contracts and the social media platform X loses advertisers. Maybe, that is. It all depends on Trump's appetite for revenge and how the dispute unfolds. Joked Telemetry Insight auto analyst Sam Abuelsamid, 'Since Trump has no history of retaliating against perceived adversaries, he'll probably just let this pass.' Turning serious, he sees trouble ahead for Musk. 'For someone that rants so much about government pork, all of Elon's businesses are extremely dependent on government largesse, which makes him vulnerable.' Trump and the federal government also stand to lose from a long-running dispute, but not as much as Musk. The dispute comes just a week before a planned test of Tesla's driverless taxis in Austin, Texas, a major event for the company because sales of its EVs are lagging in many markets, and Musk needs a win. Trump can mess things up for Tesla by encouraging federal safety regulators to step in at any sign of trouble for the robotaxis. Even before the war of words broke out on Thursday, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration requested data on how Musk's driverless, autonomous taxis will perform in low-visibility conditions. That request follows an investigation last year into 2.4 million Teslas equipped with full self-driving software after several accidents, including one that killed a pedestrian. A spokesman for NHTSA said the probe was ongoing and that the agency "will take any necessary actions to protect road safety.' The Department of Justice has also probed the safety of Tesla cars, but the status of that investigation is unclear. The DOJ did not respond immediately to requests for comment. The promise of a self-driving future led by Tesla inspired shareholders to boost the stock by 50% in the weeks after Musk confirmed the Austin rollout. But on Thursday, the stock plunged more than 14% amid the Trump-Musk standoff. On Friday, it recovered a bit, bouncing back nearly 4%. 'Tesla's recent rise was almost entirely driven by robotaxi enthusiasm," said Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein. 'Elon's feud with Trump could be a negative.' One often-overlooked but important part of Tesla's business that could take a hit is its sales of carbon credits. As Musk and Trump were slugging it out Thursday, Republican senators inserted new language into Trump's budget bill that would eliminate fines for gas-powered cars that fall short of fuel economy standards. Tesla has a thriving side business selling 'regulatory credits' to other automakers to make up for their shortfalls. Musk has downplayed the importance of the credits business, but the changes would hurt Tesla as it reels from boycotts of its cars tied to Musk's time working for Trump. Credit sales jumped by a third to $595 million in the first three months of the year even as total revenue slumped. Musk's foray into right-wing politics cost Tesla sales among the environmentally minded consumers who embraced electric cars and led to boycotts of Tesla showrooms. If Musk has indeed ended his close association with Trump, those buyers could come back, but that's far from certain. Meanwhile, one analyst speculated earlier this year that Trump voters in so-called red counties could buy Teslas 'in a meaningful way.' But he's now less hopeful. 'There are more questions than answers following Thursday developments,' TD Cowen's Itay Michaeli wrote in his latest report, 'and it's still too early to determine any lasting impacts.' Michaeli's stock target for Tesla earlier this year was $388. He has since lowered it to $330. Tesla was trading Friday at $300. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. Trump said Thursday that he could cut government contracts to Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, a massive threat to a company that has received billions of federal dollars. The privately held company that is reportedly worth $350 billion provides launches, sends astronauts into space for NASA and has a contract to send a team from the space agency to the moon next year. But if Musk has a lot to lose, so does the U.S. SpaceX is the only U.S. company capable of transporting crews to and from the space station, using its four-person Dragon capsules. The other alternative is politically dicey: depending wholly on Russia's Soyuz capsules. Musk knew all this when he shot back at Trump that SpaceX would begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft. But it is unclear how serious his threat was. Several hours later — in a reply to another X user — he said he wouldn't do it. A subsidiary of SpaceX, the satellite internet company Starlink, appears to also have benefited from Musk's once-close relationship with the president. Musk announced that Saudi Arabia had approved Starlink for some services during a trip with Trump in the Middle East last month. The company has also won a string of other recent deals in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and elsewhere as Trump has threatened tariffs. It's not clear how much politics played a role, and how much is pure business. On Friday, The Associated Press confirmed that India had approved a key license to Starlink. At least 40% of India's more than 1.4 billion people have no access to the internet. Big advertisers that fled X after Musk welcomed all manner of conspiracy theories to the social media platform have started to trickle back in recent months, possibly out of fear of a conservative backlash. Musk has called their decision to leave an 'illegal boycott' and sued them, and the Trump administration recently weighed in with a Federal Trade Commission probe into possible coordination among them. Now advertisers may have to worry about a different danger. If Trump sours on X, "there's a risk that it could again become politically radioactive for major brands,' said Sarah Kreps, a political scientist at Cornell University. She added, though, that an 'exodus isn't obvious, and it would depend heavily on how the conflict escalates, how long it lasts and how it ends.'
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS): A Bull Case Theory
We came across a bullish thesis on HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS) on Compouding Your Wealth's Substack. In this article, we will summarize the bulls' thesis on HUBS. HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS)'s share was trading at $578.25 as of 29th May. HUBS's forward P/E was 61.73 according to Yahoo Finance. A person using a laptop with a blue background showing the software platform's user inteface. HubSpot reported strong financial results for Q1 2025, with revenue reaching $714.1 million, a 15.7% increase year-over-year and 20.8% quarter-over-quarter growth, surpassing estimates by 2.3%. Subscription revenue, which makes up nearly 98% of total revenue, grew by the same rate, highlighting continued customer demand for its core offerings. While gross margin declined slightly by 0.7 percentage points to 83.9%, and operating margin dropped by 0.9 points to 14%, free cash flow margin improved modestly to 17.1%. Net margin was negative 3.1%, reflecting a 4-point decrease from the prior year, largely influenced by non-GAAP adjustments and timing of certain expenses. Earnings per share of $1.78 exceeded expectations by 1.7%. Key metrics such as deferred revenue and remaining performance obligations showed significant growth, up nearly 20% and 37% respectively, underscoring strong future revenue visibility. Billings rose by 19.6%, though average revenue per customer declined slightly by 3.6%, signaling some pressure on pricing or customer mix. Customer count increased by 19.1% to over 258,000. On the operational side, sales and marketing efficiency improved with S&M expense as a percentage of revenue falling by 1.6 points, while R&D and G&A expenses rose modestly as a share of revenue. The company highlighted its rapid product innovation with over 200 new features released, particularly embedding AI across its platform and expanding enterprise capabilities. AI-powered tools like Customer Agent have driven measurable improvements in sales and support efficiency. HubSpot raised its full-year revenue guidance to approximately $3.04 billion, projecting continued growth fueled by a combination of seat expansion and consumption-based AI monetization, while maintaining a cautious view on macroeconomic uncertainty. For a comprehensive analysis of another standout stock covered by the same author, we recommend reading our summary of this bullish thesis on Shopify Inc. (SHOP). HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS) is not on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 61 hedge fund portfolios held HUBS at the end of the first quarter which was 73 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of HUBS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock. Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Appeals court largely reinstates Trump's ban on AP's access to White House
A federal appeals court panel on Friday reinstated parts of President Donald Trump's ban of the Associated Press from several key areas where presidential press events are typically held, including the Oval Office, Air Force One and the president's home in Mar-A-Lago. The court left in place part of a lower-court order that required Trump to give AP access to events held in larger spaces, like the East Room. The ruling is a setback to the news organization's efforts to restore its access to the White House press pool, the small group of reporters and photographers who get access to a variety of White House spaces and other areas frequented by the president. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas, both Trump appointees, largely granted the government's request to lift an April ruling from a district judge who blocked the ban. The decision from Rao and Katsas allows most of the ban to go back into effect while litigation over its constitutionality continues. The AP sued after Trump banned the news organization for refusing to adopt his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America.' In a 27-page opinion, Rao wrote that 'these restricted presidential spaces are not First Amendment fora opened for private speech and discussion. The White House therefore retains discretion to determine, including on the basis of viewpoint, which journalists will be admitted.' Katsas signed onto Rao's opinion. The April injunction from district judge Trevor McFadden, another Trump appointee, 'impinges on the President's independence and control over his private workspaces,' Rao added. Judge Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, dissented from the ruling, saying that the Supreme Court has never held that journalists or news organizations can be excluded from a forum based on their viewpoint. 'The panel's stay of the preliminary injunction cannot be squared with longstanding First Amendment precedent, multiple generations of White House practice and tradition, or any sensible understanding of the role of a free press in our constitutional democracy,' Pillard wrote. 'Looking further ahead, if any merits panel were to accept those theories, the result would be a Press Pool — and perhaps an entire press corps — limited during Republican administrations to the likes of Fox News and limited to outlets such as MSNBC when a Democrat is elected.' The Trump administration has argued that Air Force One, the Oval Office and other spaces in the White House are akin to personal and private spaces where public access can be restricted.
