Nicole Gelinas

Nicole Gelinas

Background

Nicole Gelinas is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, focusing on urban economics. Her book on New York City transportation history is due to be released in late 2024.

Latest Articles

Hochul, Adams offer Trump a bogus olive branch — seeking not peace, just cash

Top New York Democrats cozied up to president-elect Donald Trump to get his help with their big-budget needs — but a reddening Empire State voted for not dollars, but change.

NYC's migrant chaos exposed voters to Democrats' failures

When migrants swamped NYC in 2023, voters began to believe that Democrats are incapable of setting and executing responsible immigration policy.

Daniel Penny needs a subway-riding jury — but may not get it

Lawyers parse potential jurors by race, age and gender. But in the Daniel Penny trial, the real divide in the jury pool is transit: who takes the subway every day,...

NY ballot measure's flaws reflect Gov. Hochul's failures

Because they're so ideologically confused, state Democrats and Kathy Hochul must hide behind something that’s popular to pass all sorts of other things that aren’t even practicable.

Why public safety is the key to functioning NYC subways — crime hot spots for over 50 years

We’ve compressed a generation’s worth of killing into four years — and with nine murders on the subway this year, this danger is not abating.

Trump's secret fanbase: NY Dems distracting from their failures

Former President Donald Trump is gaining in swing-state polls — and you can bet one group is secretly pleased: New York’s elected officials. The city’s Democrats use big, bad Trump as a...

Mayor Adams puts taxpayers on the hook for $1.6 billion a year on migrants — maybe through 2029!

Mayor Eric Adams is trying to ensure that one big feature of his mayoralty stays in office, even if he doesn’t: billions of dollars in taxpayer money to put migrants...

Biden's forced end to port strike is a bad deal for us all

Biden strong-armed the ports into a bad deal that in the long run will push up prices — and harm organized labor.

Mayor Hochul to the rescue? Guv can help NYC amid Adams mess

Gotham needs a strong governor to fill the power vacuum Hizzoner’s scandals have created — and Hochul has powers she can wield to the city’s benefit.

MTA's $68.4B capital plan: pure fiction and 'a cry for help'

Unless and until Gov. Hochul becomes a firmer leader, the MTA's massive infrastructure plan will remain unfunded — a lot of ideas, and no way to pay for them.

Scandal, incompetence put Adams at risk of irrelevance

This administration doesn’t even appear to grasp the seriousness of its predicament as Eric Adams slides into irrelevance.

Adams' corruption laxity threatens his public safety agenda

Federal raids at the homes of the mayor's three top public-safety officials imperils Adams’ already-fragile claim to mayoral success.

MTA can defeat the bus-fare deadbeats — here's how

With just half of riders paying, the only thing that will change people’s minds is if they know a penalty will be swift, certain and actually collected.

Hochul's new plan: congestion pricing for thee, not for me

Higher “prices” in the form of this new tax aren’t for everyone, of course: Only the private sector must pay.

NY should follow UK's lead and jail unlawful protesters

In Britain, prosecutors and judges are applying the law so that the illegal actions of demonstrators of all political stripes have real consequences.

Don't romanticize Europe's unreliable high-speed rail

One reason high-speed rail “works” in Europe is that its customers will put up with inconvenience and uncertainty that Americans would never tolerate.

What's the real migrant crime rate in NYC? We have no idea

Last Monday, Venezuelan migrant Sandra Serrano was shot and killed outside the Randall’s Island migrant shelter, caught in the crossfire in what police think was a retaliatory shooting for a robbery.

Adams' e-bike boondoggle does nothing for public safety

City Hall is rewarding delivery apps' irresponsible corporate behavior by subsidizing it, spending taxpayer money to do what employers should do: give workers safe equipment.

NYPD's whack-a-mole: crime drops in subway, spikes outside

New York’s public-safety resources are stretched thin, something Eric Adams has never addressed with a long-term plan.

City needs a jailbreak to escape pricey plan to close Rikers

Mayor Adams should scrap de Blasio's flawed program to build “smaller, safer, fairer" borough jails — before it sucks up even more money needed to fix bridges, schools and parks.