Manhattan Institute

Last night we held our 2026 George L. Kelling Lecture, featuring Jerry Ratcliffe, professor of practice in the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, in conversation with Rafael Mangual, Manhattan Institute’s Nick Ohnell Fellow and a contributing editor of City Journal. Drawing on evidence from alternative-response programs across the country, Professor Ratcliffe examined the challenges of implementing a civilian-only response model, what similar efforts have taught us, and what those lessons could mean for New York City. Thank you to those who joined us for this special evening.

18 years and $15 billion later, and not a single piece of track has been laid for Californias bullet train. They are, however, demanding money to use dogs to sniff for lizard scat, dig small burrows for mammals by hand, and count bumblebees one by one. Christopher F. Rufo & Kenneth Schrupp's latest report featured on Fox News Media:

For more than half a century, employers have faced “disparate impact” liability for hiring practices that produce demographic disparities, even when there is no evidence of intentional discrimination. The threat of liability discourages merit-based hiring and pressures employers to consider race in their decisions.   In a new report, senior fellow Robert VerBruggen examines two developments that could reshape the doctrine. A recent Trump administration legal opinion sharply limits federal enforcement of disparate-impact rules, focusing instead on intentional discrimination. Meanwhile, the growing use of AI in hiring presents a new challenge: algorithms can discriminate through proxies for race or sex, even without being programmed to do so.   VerBruggen proposes a narrower legal standard that targets genuine discrimination rather than statistical disparities. He calls for transparent, auditable hiring algorithms and protections for employers that proactively test their systems—preserving meritocratic hiring while guarding against algorithmic bias.

Mamdani could soon put an end to next-day Amazon deliveries in New York, through legislation that seeks to upend the business model of last-mile deliveries. Ending the use of third-party contractors—that companies like Amazon and FedEx use because they better understand the local environment and adapt faster—would significantly raise costs for both consumers and workers. The alleged rationale that this will “improve safety” is based on faulty evidence; what’s certain is that the bill will make it easier for unions to recruit new members under a single employer. But the more likely outcome is that companies will instead choose to invest or move last-mile facilities to neighboring counties—increasing commute times for workers, congestion, and prices.

Manhattan Institute advances creative, evidence-based policy ideas for better policing, public safety, and criminal justice.

The inmates run the asylum at the American Psychological Association. APA Division 39's flagship conference featured workshops on "Fragments of a Queer Anarchist Psychoanalysis," "'White' Analysis," and "family abolition." One session, "Feel the F— Fantasy (Redux): Drag, Desire, and Queer Theory at WERK in Psychoanalysis," concluded with a drag performance. A substantial part of organized psychology has ceased behaving like scientific and professional bodies and has become a vehicle for left-wing political activism, Colin Wright & Andrew Hartz write in The Wall Street Journal.

New York City’s promise that people of ordinary means can build a life here has long defined its character and fueled its economy. Today, that promise is under strain. In a new Manhattan Institute issue brief, John Ketcham and Sean Speer outline 50 practical policy ideas to help New York City deliver on its promise of opportunity. From making housing more affordable to expanding economic opportunity and improving city services, the report offers a roadmap for a better everyday life for New Yorkers.

"We're basically teaching kids to report every single slight and escalate the problem, and then we're making schools address that...it's totally backwards." Carolyn Gorman on how anti-bullying laws have gone too far:

Communism kills kindness. "During Stalin's forced collectivization campaigns, Lev Kopelev describes being horrified at hearing the screams of children. And then upon feeling compassion he immediately reprimands himself because you shouldn't be feeling this way, you shouldn't be feeling compassion, you shouldn't be feeling sympathy, because all of this is in service of the communist ideology... ...we're seeing, I think, some echoes of this today where if you are a member of the wrong class or category then you shouldn't feel sympathy. You actually should be celebrated for being cruel to that person." Rob Henderson on The Ben Shapiro Show:

DOGE worked. Most importantly, the civil service is 12% smaller than it was in Jan 2025. MI's Judge Glock breaks down his latest in City Journal: