SelectedWorks - Michael E Lewyn

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Selected Works of Michael E Lewyn

Associate Professor

I have been teaching at numerous law schools since 2000, and have written extensively on issues relating to urban and suburban development. To book me as a speaker (or to contact me for any other reason) please contact me at mlewyn@tourolaw.edu

(NOTE: I would like to thank Beth Gazes, my research assistant, for helping me compile my old blog posts in a manageable form).

Works
About

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About Michael E Lewyn

I have been teaching at numerous law schools since 2000, and have written extensively on issues relating to urban and suburban development. To book me as a speaker (or to contact me for any other reason) please contact me at mlewyn@tourolaw.edu

(NOTE: I would like to thank Beth Gazes, my research assistant, for helping me compile my old blog posts in a manageable form).

Present	Associate Professor, Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
Institution Organization Position Type Position Title Time Period to Options Current Position Affiliate my profile with this Institution

Urban, Community and Regional Planning, Law, and Urban Studies and Planning

Articles (83)

Recent Case Law, Disparate Impact, and Restrictive Zoning (Michael Lewyn) Touro Law Review (2022)

The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) prohibits housing discrimination, including the refusal to sell or rent housing based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin,and any policy or conduct that “otherwise make[s] unavailable ...

Does Democracy Justify Zoning? (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2022)

One common argument for restrictive zoning is that zoning is more democratic than allowing landowners to build what they please. This article critiques that claim, suggesting that free markets are equally democratic because they allow ...

Intentional Discrimination and Haredi Jews (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2022)

Discusses case law on discrimination against haredi Jews, focusing on cases arising under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

Land Costs And New Housing (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2022)

Restrictive zoning limits housing supply, which (according to the law of supply and demand) increases housing costs. But some commentators argue that more permissive zoning would actually increase housing costs by increasing land costs. This ...

Which Transportation Technologies Do We Want? (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2022)

A review of Todd Litman's book, New Mobilities- Smart Planning for Emerging Transportation Technologies

Bringing Judaism Downtown: A Smart Growth Policy for Orthodox Jews (Michael Lewyn) University of Baltimore Law Review (2021)

Until the late 20th century, the most rigorously traditional Jews, haredi Jews (often referred to as “ultra-Orthodox”) tended to congregate in New York City. But as New York became more expensive and haredi population grew ...

Downtown Condos for the Rich: Not All Bad (Michael Lewyn) New Mexico Law Review (2021)

Some new condominiums in urban neighborhoods are too expensive for anyone but the very wealthy. Buyers of these high-cost units include not only wealthy city residents, but also nonresidents who wish to use housing as ...

Pedestrians Under Attack (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2021)

A review of Right Of Way by Angie Schmitt

The Limits of Equity (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2021)

"Equity" is a common buzzword in urban planning circles. However, nearly any land use decision can be justified as more equitable than the alternatives.

Will Zoning Fix Itself? (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2021)

Typically, zoning artificially limits housing supply, thus increasing housing costs. One possible defense of this system is that zoning can fix itself- that is, that when rents and housing costs become unusually high, politicians will ...

YIMBY and COVID-19 (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2021)

Discusses whether the COVID-19 pandemic strengthens the case for the pro-housing YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) movement.

Socialists and Housing (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2020)

My review of Capital City by Samuel Stein

Subways and COVID-19: A Literature Review (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2020)

Discusses a variety of articles and blog posts which address the impact (or lack thereof) of the New York subway system upon the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Law of The Eruv (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2020)

Describes case law governing municipal regulation of the eruv (an artificial enclosure designed to allow observant Jews to carry on the Jewish Sabbath). The article focuses on First Amendment case law, and concludes that a ...

A Euclid Dissent (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2019)

In Euclid v. Ambler Realty, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of zoning, including zoning that excluded apartment houses and retail businesses. Although the decision was not unanimous, the Euclid minority did not write a ...

Are Wide Streets Negligent? (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2019)

American commercial streets are typically designed to encourage rapid automobile traffic, thus making streets unsafe for pedestrians. In the 2016 case of Turturro v. City of New York, the New York Court of Appeals upheld ...

Do You Believe in Ghost Apartments? (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2019)

According to the popular press, expensive cities are being overrun by "ghost apartments"- condominiums owned by wealthy foreigners, but used as investments rather than being rented out to local residents. This article points out that ...

In Defense of the American Community Survey (Michael Lewyn) Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal (2019)

This article critiques the constitutional and policy challenges to the American Community Survey (ACS), an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Some commentators argue that because the ACS goes far beyond ascertaining the ...

Make New York Affordable Again (Michael Lewyn) Muncipal Lawyer (2019)

Suggests a package of zoning reforms to hold down New York City housing costs, and responds to counterarguments.

The Rise of Market Urbanism (Michael Lewyn) Probate & Property (2018)

Compares market urbanism to new urbanism and to defenders of suburban sprawl. Like new urbanists, market urbanists find urban life to be socially valuable, and emphasize that sprawl is not always in line with consumer ...

Bicycle-Friendly Policies (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2018)

A review of Copenhagenize by Mikael Colville-Andersen

Explaining Market Urbanism (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2018)

Compares Market Urbanism to New Urbanism and Landscape Urbanism

Super Problems in Superstar Cities (Michael Lewyn and Beth Gazes) Real Estate Law Journal (2018)

Review of Richard Florida's The New Urban Crisis

Attacking Smart Growth (Michael Lewyn) Touro Law Review (2017)

Review of The Human City, by Joel Kotkin

Does the Threat of Gentrification Justify Restrictive Zoning? (Michael Lewyn) Real Estate Law Journal (2017)

Historically, progressives have opposed restrictive zoning, arguing that by restricting the housing supply to high-end housing, zoning reduces the supply of housing available to lower-income Americans. But recently, some progressives have suggested that new market-rate ...