All articles by Aaron Ginsburg

56 affordable apartments available at luxury Williamsburg rental, from $1,757/month

Renderings courtesy of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development

July 26, 2024

56 affordable apartments available at luxury Williamsburg rental, from $1,757/month

Applications are being accepted for 56 below-market-rate apartments at a new luxury rental in Williamsburg. The nine-story building at 597 Grand Street offers residents spacious units with modern amenities, like a fitness center and rooftop terrace. New Yorkers earning 80 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, priced from $1,757/month for studios to $3,963/month for two bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

Shakespeare in the Park returns to new Delacorte Theater next summer with star-studded cast

Renderings courtesy of the Public Theater

July 26, 2024

Shakespeare in the Park returns to new Delacorte Theater next summer with star-studded cast

By Aaron Ginsburg

Shakespeare in the Park's much-anticipated return to the revitalized Delacorte Theater will feature a star-studded cast. The Public Theater on Thursday announced the lineup for next year's free Shakespeare in the Park program, which will reopen with a production of the classic comedy "Twelfth Night" featuring stars including Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lupita Nyong'o, and Sandra Oh. Shakespeare in the Park is set to return to its home in Central Park in August 2025.
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Hochul is sued over congestion pricing pause

Photo Credit: Layla Melendez/Office of NYC Comptroller on Flickr

July 25, 2024

Hochul is sued over congestion pricing pause

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and a coalition of local advocacy groups and lawyers filed two lawsuits against Gov. Kathy Hochul, claiming she didn't have the legal authority to pause the tolling program last month, as reported by Gothamist. The program was originally scheduled to begin on June 30 but was delayed last minute by Hochul.
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New Student OMNY cards expand free rides to 24 hours a day

Photo courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

July 25, 2024

New Student OMNY cards expand free rides to 24 hours a day

By Aaron Ginsburg

Taking public transportation will soon be easier for New York City public school students. City officials on Tuesday announced Student OMNY cards will replace MetroCards, allowing for tap-and-go trips on the subway and bus. Plus, the new cards will be valid for four free rides per day, 24 hours a day, all year long. Previously, student MetroCards were limited to three free rides a day, from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and only on days when school was open.
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Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra to perform at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Image courtesy of Karpati & Zarewicz

July 24, 2024

Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra to perform at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

By Aaron Ginsburg

New Yorkers can celebrate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra is performing at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on Thursday, August 1, at 7 p.m., as part of the Beethoven Ninth Freedom Tour. This concert is the penultimate date of their tour, which has included stops at grand cathedrals and concert halls throughout Europe and the United States.
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Events & Things To Do

NYC announces pedestrian safety upgrades for Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue

New vehicle travel lane markings at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street. Image courtesy of the Department of Transportation

July 24, 2024

NYC announces pedestrian safety upgrades for Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City is kicking off a series of key upgrades to Atlantic Avenue to improve pedestrian safety. Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez on Tuesday announced the start of pedestrian safety improvements along the western section of Atlantic Avenue that runs between Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill, a corridor infamous for traffic-related incidents. The enhancements include expanded pedestrian space, new mid-block crossings, upgraded traffic signals, vehicle travel lane markings, and more.
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Trader Joe’s new Harlem location will open this week

Photo courtesy of Trader Joe’s

July 23, 2024

Trader Joe’s new Harlem location will open this week

By Aaron Ginsburg

Harlem's first-ever Trader Joe's opened on Thursday, July 25, the grocery store announced. The 17,800-square-foot location can be found at 123 West 125th Street, part of a mixed-use development with office space, retail, affordable housing, the headquarters of the National Urban League, and a new museum dedicated to the civil rights movement.
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New Developments

New bill would require NYC landlords to provide air conditioning during the summer

Photo courtesy of Joe Shlabotnik on Flickr

July 23, 2024

New bill would require NYC landlords to provide air conditioning during the summer

By Aaron Ginsburg

After multiple heat waves this summer, a Brooklyn elected official has proposed legislation mandating landlords provide air conditioning to tenants. Last week City Council Member Lincoln Restler introduced a bill to update the existing housing code and require landlords to provide tenants with air conditioning in the warmer months, just as they are required to provide adequate heat during the winter. If the legislation is enacted, property owners would have four years to comply with the rule or face up to $1,250 in fines per day for noncompliance.
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Policy

Former Chelsea prison to become 124 affordable and supportive apartments

Renderings courtesy of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office

July 22, 2024

Former Chelsea prison to become 124 affordable and supportive apartments

By Aaron Ginsburg

A former state prison in Chelsea will become 124 permanently affordable apartments. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday unveiled Liberty Landing, the proposal selected to redevelop Bayview Correctional Facility at 550 West 20th Street into a housing project with apartments for low-income New Yorkers and formerly incarcerated individuals. The women's prison closed in 2012 after damage from Hurricane Sandy and has sat vacant ever since.
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41-story tower on Greenpoint waterfront opens lottery for 115 apartments, from $1,782/month

Rendering courtesy of NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development

July 22, 2024

41-story tower on Greenpoint waterfront opens lottery for 115 apartments, from $1,782/month

By Aaron Ginsburg

A lottery opened this week for 115 middle-income apartments in a 41-story luxury rental on the Greenpoint waterfront. Developed by Park Tower Group and Rockefeller Group, the company's first project in Brooklyn, The Dupont will offer 381 apartments, a vast majority of which will have incredible East River and Manhattan skyline views. New Yorkers earning 80 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, priced from $1,782/month for studios to $4,001/month for two-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

Barbara Walters’ Upper East Side apartment sells for $15M

By Aaron Ginsburg

Barbara Walters' longtime Upper East Side apartment has sold for $14,999,900, public records show. The home at 944 Fifth Avenue hit the market last April for $19.75 million. The beloved journalist lived in the five-bedroom, five-bath pre-war apartment for 30 years until her death in 2022.
see the late journalist's stunning home

NYC night markets: 10 food festivals to check out

Chinatown Night Market. Photo credit: Francis Wu

July 11, 2024

NYC night markets: 10 food festivals to check out

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City night markets provide the best way to explore cuisines of the world, without getting on a plane. Taking place across the city, these vibrant open-air festivals offer an affordable and fun night out, while also supporting local vendors and small businesses. Adding to the nightlife feel, the markets are often accompanied by live music, performances, and art from local artists. We've rounded up our favorite night markets to check out this summer, from the well-established Queens Night Market to new events at Lincoln Center and Union Square.
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Roberta’s Pizza opens next to Penn Station

Photo courtesy of Vornado

July 9, 2024

Roberta’s Pizza opens next to Penn Station

By Aaron Ginsburg

Roberta's Pizza has opened its first standalone location in Manhattan. The renowned restaurant, which opened in Bushwick in 2008 and quickly became a foodie favorite for its wood-fired Neapolitan-style pies, can be found between 33rd Street and 7th Avenue, next to Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, within Vornado's mixed-use Penn District campus. The two-story restaurant combines a ground-floor to-go slice shop, a full-service restaurant, and a roof deck with a Tiki bar, the latter of which will open later this month.
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Food & Dining

NYC rolls out official trash bin, expands containerization to most residential buildings

Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

July 9, 2024

NYC rolls out official trash bin, expands containerization to most residential buildings

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City's next step in its "trash revolution" is here: Wheelie bins. Mayor Eric Adams on Monday rolled out the city's first-ever official trash bin, which has wheels and a rat-proof lid, and announced a new containerization mandate for certain buildings. Starting November 12, the city's Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will require buildings with one to nine residential units to put trash in a bin. When the new trash rule goes into effect, the city will have containerized 70 percent of the city's 14 billion pounds of annual trash since 2022, reducing the mounds of trash bags piled on the sidewalks and streets.
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Policy

July 9, 2024

Lottery opens for 17 co-ops on the Upper West Side, available for purchase from $174K

By Aaron Ginsburg

A housing lottery has opened for 17 apartments on the Upper West Side. Located at 165 West 80th Street, about two blocks from Central Park and the American Museum of Natural History, the five-story walk-up has 10 studios and seven one-bedroom apartments available to New Yorkers earning 120 percent of the area median income, or between $73,319 for a single person and $167,760 for a family of three. The homes are priced at $173,801 for a studio and $184,990 for a one-bedroom.
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Affordable Housing

Papaya King reopens at new Upper East Side location

Papaya King’s original Upper East Side location. Photo via WikiCommons

July 8, 2024

Papaya King reopens at new Upper East Side location

By Aaron Ginsburg

Papaya King is officially serving its beloved hot dogs and tropical drinks to New Yorkers once again. This past weekend the iconic Upper East Side establishment reopened across the street from its original location at 179 East 86th Street to a new storefront at 206B East 86th Street, according to the local news website Upper East Site. The restaurant closed its original store in April 2023 after Extell purchased and demolished the property with plans to build a new 17-story condo tower.
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Food & Dining

Citi Bike increasing e-bike prices this week

Photo courtesy of Elvert Barnes on Flickr

July 8, 2024

Citi Bike increasing e-bike prices this week

By Aaron Ginsburg

Citi Bike is hiking its prices for the second time this year. The bike-sharing service, operated by Lyft, is raising its prices for e-bikes starting Wednesday, July 10, with fees increasing from 20 cents to 24 cents per minute for those with Citi Bike and Lyft memberships and from 30 cents to 36 cents per minute for non-members. The ride-share company cited "higher than anticipated battery swapping, insurance, and vehicle expenses" for the rate increases.
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A lower congestion pricing toll floated by New York lawmakers

Photo courtesy of strolicfurlan on Flickr

July 3, 2024

A lower congestion pricing toll floated by New York lawmakers

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York lawmakers are floating a lower congestion pricing toll as a way to convince Gov. Kathy Hochul to resume the program, which she halted "indefinitely" last month. The $15 base fee was established based on the 2019 law that required the program to raise enough to support $15 billion in debt. As first reported by the New York Times, some state senators are seeking an adjusted fee low enough for Hochul to endorse but high enough to fund the MTA adequately.
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IKEA is coming to Fifth Avenue in Midtown

IKEA’s Red Hook location. Photo courtesy of Eden, Janine, and Jim on Flickr.

July 2, 2024

IKEA is coming to Fifth Avenue in Midtown

By Aaron Ginsburg

IKEA is returning to Manhattan. The home goods store will open a new store in Midtown within 570 Fifth Avenue, an office tower developed by Extell Development. Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group which owns most IKEA stores worldwide, plans to open an 80,000-square-foot store across two cellar levels with a corner entrance on Fifth Avenue. The Swedish company opened a store on the Upper East Side in 2019 but closed about two years later.
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Real Estate Trends

Silverstein takes control over Brooklyn Tower in $672M deal

Photo by Evan Joseph

July 2, 2024

Silverstein takes control over Brooklyn Tower in $672M deal

By Aaron Ginsburg

The real estate drama surrounding the Brooklyn Tower may be over. As first reported by Pincus Co, Silverstein Properties has taken over the tower's rental, retail, and unsold condo units from JDS Development in a $672 million deal. Silverstein had provided a $240 million loan for the tower, which JDS defaulted on in 2019, leading to a foreclosure auction scheduled for June 1. The auction was delayed and eventually avoided after Michael Stern of JDS transferred a preferred equity piece in the tower to Silverstein in order to restructure his debt, according to The Real Deal.
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Real Estate Trends

Bronx Metro-North station rezoning plan approved by City Planning Commission

View looking north along East Tremont Avenue near Leland Avenue. Images courtesy of DCP.

July 2, 2024

Bronx Metro-North station rezoning plan approved by City Planning Commission

By Aaron Ginsburg

A plan to bring thousands of new homes and jobs around new Metro-North stations in the East Bronx is moving forward. The City Planning Commission last week voted to approve the Bronx Metro-North Station Area Plan, a rezoning effort targeting the areas around four new Metro-North stations to create roughly 7,500 new homes, 10,000 jobs, improvements to public space, and neighborhood amenities. The plan heads next to the City Council for a final vote sometime this summer.
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Lower East Side rental opens lottery for 196 affordable apartments, from $454/month

Rendering courtesy of NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development

July 1, 2024

Lower East Side rental opens lottery for 196 affordable apartments, from $454/month

By Aaron Ginsburg

A housing lottery launched this week for 196 affordable apartments in a new rental building on the Lower East Side. Located at 165 Broome Street, the 15-story building offers tenants new residences in one of New York City's trendiest neighborhoods. New Yorkers earning 30, 50, 70, and 80 percent of the area median income, or between $18,480 for a single person and $154,080 for a household of seven, can apply for the units, which range from $454/month studios to $2,949/month for a three bedroom.
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Affordable Housing

200,000 more New Yorkers now eligible for half-priced MetroCards

Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit on Flickr

July 1, 2024

200,000 more New Yorkers now eligible for half-priced MetroCards

By Aaron Ginsburg

Nearly 200,000 additional New Yorkers will be eligible for the city's half-priced transit fare program. Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council on Friday agreed to a $112.4 billion budget deal for fiscal year 2025, which adds $10.7 million in baseline funds for the Fair Fares program and increases the program's eligibility from 120 percent to 145 percent of the federal poverty level. The deal marks the biggest expansion of the Fair Fares program since it launched in 2019, with the entire eligible population now over one million New Yorkers.
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Most NYC affordable housing built in low-income communities of color: report

Photo via Wikimedia.

June 28, 2024

Most NYC affordable housing built in low-income communities of color: report

By Aaron Ginsburg

In New York City, a disproportionate amount of new affordable housing is being built in low-income neighborhoods, according to a new report. The New York Housing Conference released on Thursday its third annual NYC Housing Tracker, revealing the city's inequitable distribution of housing production across City Council districts. Last year, Council District 17 in the South Bronx produced 1,266 units of affordable housing, more than any other district and as many as the bottom 28 districts combined. According to the report, more affordable housing is being built in lower-income, majority Black and Latinx neighborhoods.
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NYC public library funding restored, Sunday service to resume

Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Branch. Photo via WikiCommons

June 28, 2024

NYC public library funding restored, Sunday service to resume

By Aaron Ginsburg

Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council reached a tentative deal to restore $58 million in proposed cuts to New York City public libraries just days before the budget is due. The mayor and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Thursday announced in a joint statement that $58.3 million in funding will be reinstated for the city's three public library systems in the fiscal year 2025 budget, due June 30, as well as a separate $53 million for the city's cultural institutions. The funding agreement allows libraries to resume Sunday service, which ended at all branches last fall following announced budget cuts.
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Policy

All articles by Aaron Ginsburg

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