All articles by Aaron Ginsburg

NYC’s broker fee ban takes effect

Credit: Niklas Herrmann on Unsplash

June 11, 2025

NYC’s broker fee ban takes effect

By Aaron Ginsburg

Forced broker fees are officially banned in New York City. After a federal judge denied the Real Estate Board of New York's motion for an injunction, the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act took effect on Wednesday, meaning prospective tenants will no longer have to pay broker fees to real estate agents they did not hire. Passed by the City Council in November, the law shifts the payment of broker fees to the party who hired the real estate agent, transforming a longstanding system that forced renters to pay brokers a large upfront sum.
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Policy

Manhattan Park’s pool deck is bursting with color and patterns

All photos courtesy of Allyson Lubow Photography

June 10, 2025

Manhattan Park’s pool deck is bursting with color and patterns

By Aaron Ginsburg

Roosevelt Island luxury rental Manhattan Park unveiled the design for its 11th annual outdoor pool art installation this week. Titled "Waves of Joy," this year’s design comes from Parisian artist Meri Karapetyan, who spent 14 days and used 26 gallons of paint to transform the waterfront pool deck with vibrant hues inspired by water, leaves, and the summer sun. The mural is part of the community’s annual Pop-Up Pool Party, which debuts each summer to beautify the outdoor space ahead of pool season.
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Events & Things To Do

NYC to remove ‘floating jail’ in the Bronx, build new marine terminal

Image via WikiCommons

June 10, 2025

NYC to remove ‘floating jail’ in the Bronx, build new marine terminal

By Aaron Ginsburg

A decommissioned floating jail moored off the Bronx in the East River will soon be removed, clearing the way for a new marine cargo terminal. City officials announced the plan Monday outside the vessel in Hunts Point, known as the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, and said they will soon issue a request for proposals to remove the barge. The cleared space will house the new Hunts Point Marine Terminal, which will facilitate the transfer of freight from ships to final delivery.
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Policy

How to celebrate Juneteenth 2025 in NYC

June 10, 2025

How to celebrate Juneteenth 2025 in NYC

By Aaron Ginsburg

More than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freedom finally reached the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. Celebrated by Black Americans for over 100 years and only recently made a public holiday, Juneteenth commemorates that historic moment, seen as an occasion to honor resilience, uplift communities, and spotlight Black culture. This year, the festivities take on added significance as the holiday marks its 160th anniversary. Ahead, discover ways to celebrate Juneteenth in NYC, from free festivals in public parks to programming at some of the city's top museums.
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Events & Things To Do

52-story Downtown Brooklyn rental opens lottery for 178 apartments, from $1,793/month

Renderings courtesy of NQS Creative

June 9, 2025

52-story Downtown Brooklyn rental opens lottery for 178 apartments, from $1,793/month

By Aaron Ginsburg

A housing lottery launched this week for 178 mixed-income apartments in a new residential tower in Downtown Brooklyn. Rising 52 stories at 589 Fulton Street, The Brook is one of the tallest buildings in the borough, offering apartments with views in every direction. New Yorkers earning 80 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the affordable units, priced from $1,793/month studios to $4,250/month two bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Flatbush Avenue overhaul includes center-running bus lanes and pedestrian islands

A rendering of the Flatbush Avenue bus lane proposal at Flatbush Avenue and Fourth Avenue. Images courtesy of NYC DOT

June 9, 2025

Flatbush Avenue overhaul includes center-running bus lanes and pedestrian islands

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City has proposed new center-running bus lanes along parts of Flatbush Avenue to improve safety and speed up service on one of the city’s most dangerous corridors. Unveiled Friday by the Department of Transportation (DOT), the project would convert two center car lanes into bus lanes from Livingston Street to Grand Army Plaza, better serving the nearly 70,000 daily bus riders who currently face average speeds of under 4 miles per hour—about the same speed as walking. The plan also includes pedestrian islands with covered public seating, shorter crossing times, and updated curb regulations to support local businesses.
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Christie’s opens free exhibition of Maurice Sendak’s personal collection ahead of auction

All photos courtesy of Christie’s

June 6, 2025

Christie’s opens free exhibition of Maurice Sendak’s personal collection ahead of auction

By Aaron Ginsburg

Christie’s is presenting a free exhibition and special auction featuring the personal collection of beloved children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. On view at 20 Rockefeller Plaza through June 10, the exhibition includes Sendak’s drawings, works by other children’s book artists, first printings of books by William Blake, Disney memorabilia, and more. The auction will be held in person and online on June 10, what would have been Sendak’s 97th birthday, and will feature art, rare books, and artifacts that inspired him, with proceeds supporting the Sendak Fellowship to nurture the next generation of children’s book artists.
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Events & Things To Do

City unveils new public art on medians, sidewalks, and streets across NYC

“Aunties” by Fitgi Saint-Louis. Courtesy of NYC DOT

June 6, 2025

City unveils new public art on medians, sidewalks, and streets across NYC

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City has commissioned five vibrant pieces of art, one in each borough, to enliven public spaces. On Wednesday, Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced plans for temporary, site-specific pieces through the agency’s Community Commissions initiative. The projects range from sculptures to asphalt murals, including "Public Access" on Staten Island, "Aunties" in Manhattan, "Limes" in Brooklyn, "Weaving the Future: A Vessel of Water, Roots, and Community" in the Bronx, and "About a Living Culture" in Queens.
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Hop on and off vintage NYC subway trains in Brooklyn this weekend

Credit: NY Transit Museum

June 6, 2025

Hop on and off vintage NYC subway trains in Brooklyn this weekend

By Aaron Ginsburg

The New York Transit Museum’s beloved Parade of Trains returns this weekend, giving New Yorkers a rare chance to ride the rails in vintage style. Rolling out on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8, the event features three iconic trains from the museum’s collection, offering a glimpse into what it was like to ride the New York City subway more than a century ago. The vintage trains will run from Brighton Beach’s B and Q platforms and the Manhattan-bound B and Q platform at Kings Highway, operating from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Admission is free with subway fare.
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Adams proposes 15 mph speed limit for e-bikes

Credit: Elvert Barnes on Flickr

June 5, 2025

Adams proposes 15 mph speed limit for e-bikes

By Aaron Ginsburg

Mayor Eric Adams wants electric bike riders to slow down. The mayor is proposing a 15 miles per hour speed limit for e-bikes, which currently can travel between 20 and 25 miles per hour. Adams announced the new rule on Thursday to renew pressure on the City Council to act on legislation he introduced last year that would create a Department of Sustainable Delivery to regulate delivery apps. The Council has yet to introduce the bill.
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Popular Articles

New public space and skateboarding section open as part of revitalized Brooklyn Banks

Photos courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

June 5, 2025

New public space and skateboarding section open as part of revitalized Brooklyn Banks

By Aaron Ginsburg

Two more acres of public open space have opened beneath the Brooklyn Bridge in Chinatown, as part of the revitalization of skateboarding mecca Brooklyn Banks. Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced the expansion of "The Arches," along with an additional $50 million in funding to further enhance the park with new amenities, including public seating, plantings, lighting, and other upgrades. The new section includes a refurbished "Big Banks," which has been closed to skateboarders since 2010. The city began revitalizing and gradually reopening it as a public space in May 2023.
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143 apartments available at FiDi office tower-turned-luxury rental, from $912/month

Credit: Streetsense

June 4, 2025

143 apartments available at FiDi office tower-turned-luxury rental, from $912/month

By Aaron Ginsburg

A housing lottery opened this week for 143 mixed-income apartments at the former Financial District headquarters of Goldman Sachs. Redesigned by CetraRuddy and developed by Metro Loft and Silverstein Properties, 55 Broad Street is an office-to-rental conversion with 571 apartments and 25,000 square feet of amenities, including a rooftop pool. New Yorkers earning 40, 80, and 100 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, priced from $912/month studios to $3,522/month three bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Fifth Avenue Blooms celebrates the corridor’s 200th anniversary with a custom rose variety and floral displays

Images courtesy of the Fifth Avenue Association

June 4, 2025

Fifth Avenue Blooms celebrates the corridor’s 200th anniversary with a custom rose variety and floral displays

By Aaron Ginsburg

Fifth Avenue will soon bloom with thousands of vibrant roses, including a unique new variety created to celebrate the iconic retail corridor’s 200th anniversary. On June 11, the Fifth Avenue Association will kick off Fifth Avenue Blooms, a month-long floral makeover of the avenue between 51st and 58th Streets, running through July 6. The display will feature 16 planters with 400 rose plants, totaling roughly 2,500 to 4,000 individual stems, including the one-of-a-kind variety created specifically for the avenue’s birthday, all beautifying the streetscape and providing a perfect backdrop for photos.
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Events & Things To Do

Macy’s 4th of July fireworks back to the Brooklyn Bridge and East River this year

Fireworks at the Brooklyn Bridge in 2014, view from Pier 17. Photo by Jason Zhang on Wikimedia

June 4, 2025

Macy’s 4th of July fireworks back to the Brooklyn Bridge and East River this year

By Aaron Ginsburg

After lighting up the Hudson River last year for the first time in over a decade, Macy's 4th of July Fireworks will return to the East River. Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced the 49th annual show will launch from four barges surrounding the Brooklyn Bridge, near the South Street Seaport, lighting up the night sky with a spectacular display of thousands of fireworks. Prime viewing spots will be in parts of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, with the city expected to launch a lottery for free public viewing tickets in the coming weeks.
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Events & Things To Do

Andy Cohen’s colorful West Village penthouse finds a buyer

Photos courtesy of Eytan Stern Weber, Evan Joseph Images

June 3, 2025

Andy Cohen’s colorful West Village penthouse finds a buyer

By Aaron Ginsburg

Andy Cohen’s vibrant West Village penthouse found a buyer, and it's an Emmy Award-winning playwright. As first reported by the New York Post, actor and writer Danny Strong, known for his writing on "Empire" and "Dopesick" and roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Mad Men," bought the apartment at 2 Horatio Street with his partner Caitlin Mehner. The home, which is a combination of four units, first hit the market in September for $14 million and was relisted for $12 million earlier this year. The final sales price has not been made public yet.
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Brooklyn Heights’ iconic Hotel Bossert sells for $100M, to become apartments

Streetview of 98 Montague Street, Map data © 2019 Google

June 3, 2025

Brooklyn Heights’ iconic Hotel Bossert sells for $100M, to become apartments

By Aaron Ginsburg

A historic Brooklyn Heights hotel once dubbed the "Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn" has sold for $100 million, with plans to convert the storied property into residences. The iconic Hotel Bossert, located at 98 Montague Street, was acquired by real estate investment and development firm SomeraRoad, according to city records registered Wednesday and first reported by Crain's. In a statement to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the firm said it "plans to honor the property’s rich history and to restore and reopen the building as residences."
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Real Estate Trends

Artist Isolina Minjeong’s Downtown Brooklyn ground murals feel like ‘quiet blessings’

Images courtesy of DBP

June 3, 2025

Artist Isolina Minjeong’s Downtown Brooklyn ground murals feel like ‘quiet blessings’

By Aaron Ginsburg

Downtown Brooklyn just got brighter and safer, thanks to a colorful new public art installation. In the ground murals titled "Fear No Frontier," New York City-based artist Isolina Minjeong channels her Korean and Peruvian heritage with a bold design depicting powerful creatures, like tigers and dragons, a tribute to the resilience of New Yorkers. The vibrant piece measures roughly 10,700 square feet across the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Shared Streets and the area surrounding the Jay Street busway. Ahead, learn more about the murals and hear from Minjeong, who said she wanted the artwork to feel like "quiet blessings."
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Architecture And Design

The Rubin’s Tibetan shrine room finds new home at the Brooklyn Museum

Photos by Dave De Armas, courtesy of the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art

June 2, 2025

The Rubin’s Tibetan shrine room finds new home at the Brooklyn Museum

By Aaron Ginsburg

After closing its Chelsea home last fall, where it had operated for 20 years, the Rubin Museum is relocating one of its most beloved installations to the Brooklyn Museum. Opening on June 11 in a custom-designed space within the museum’s Arts of Asia galleries, the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room features over 100 artworks and ritual objects from the Rubin's collection, presented as they would be in a private household shrine. The installation will be on view for six years, with rotating objects highlighting different Tibetan traditions.
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Events & Things To Do

West Harlem becomes first neighborhood in North America to fully containerize trash

Northwest corner of West 152nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. Photo Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

June 2, 2025

West Harlem becomes first neighborhood in North America to fully containerize trash

By Aaron Ginsburg

Residents of West Harlem can expect cleaner sidewalks and fewer rats as it officially becomes the first neighborhood in New York City (and North America) to containerize 100 percent of its trash. On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Commissioner Javier Lojan announced the first day of full service of the European-style on-street trash containers, dubbed Empire Bins, in Manhattan Community Board 9, which includes Morningside Heights, Manhattanville, and Hamilton Heights. As part of the pilot program, all residential buildings in the district are required to put trash in containers; buildings with 31 or more units will be required to use the Empire Bins.
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Policy

NYC starts expansion of Harlem River Greenway in the Bronx

Credit: NYC DOT on Flickr

May 30, 2025

NYC starts expansion of Harlem River Greenway in the Bronx

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City has kicked off the expansion of the Harlem River Greenway in the Bronx. City officials announced Wednesday that more than four lane miles of on-street protected bike lanes will be installed along the corridor in 2025. The project aims to create a seven-mile greenway from Van Cortlandt Park to Randall’s Island Park, better connecting Bronx residents to their waterfront with new open space and bike routes.
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East River Park section reopens with new passive lawn, picnic areas, and courts

All photos courtesy of DDC

May 30, 2025

East River Park section reopens with new passive lawn, picnic areas, and courts

By Aaron Ginsburg

City officials on Thursday celebrated the opening of new public spaces in East River Park, just in time for summer. Closed since 2021 as part of the project to protect the Lower East Side from rising sea levels, the south end of the park's new amenities include picnic and barbecue areas, six tennis courts, two basketball courts, a passive lawn, a nature exploration area, and a multi-use area. These areas are currently only accessible via the new Delancey Street pedestrian bridge.
plan your park visit

Construction begins on new $10B Port Authority Bus Terminal

Gov. Kathy Hochul, Gov. Phil Murphy, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey broke ground on the Dyer Avenue deckovers. Photo courtesy of PANYNJ on Flickr

May 29, 2025

Construction begins on new $10B Port Authority Bus Terminal

By Aaron Ginsburg

Construction began on the first phase of the new $10 billion Port Authority Bus Terminal on Thursday, marking an important milestone for the long-awaited project. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Gov. Phil Murphy joined the Port Authority in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Dyer Avenue deck-overs, which will be used for staging buses during construction and will eventually become a public green space when the new terminal opens. The first phase deck-overs, along with new ramps and a bus storage facility, are expected to be completed by 2028, with the full terminal opening in 2032.
details here

4, 5, and G subway lines to get expanded cell service

Credit: Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

May 29, 2025

4, 5, and G subway lines to get expanded cell service

By Aaron Ginsburg

More subway riders will soon no longer have to wait until their train reaches the next station to get cell service. During the MTA’s monthly committee meetings on Wednesday, CEO and Chair Janno Lieber announced that 5G coverage will be added to the 4 and 5 train tunnels between Bowling Green in Manhattan and Borough Hall. Expanded service is also planned for the G line between Court Square and Hoyt-Schermerhorn. Both projects are expected to be completed within one to two years, according to Lieber.
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4,600 new homes coming to Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights after NYC Council approves Atlantic Ave rezoning

Rendering of Atlantic Avenue’s improved, and safer streets, courtesy of DCP

May 29, 2025

4,600 new homes coming to Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights after NYC Council approves Atlantic Ave rezoning

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thousands of new homes will be built along a largely industrial stretch of Atlantic Avenue in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. The New York City Council on Wednesday voted to approve the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, which rezones 21 blocks to allow for 4,600 apartments, including 1,900 permanently affordable units, more affordable housing than has been constructed in the area over the last decade. The plan also comes with $235 million in community investments, park renovations, and infrastructure upgrades.
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Brooklyn Public Library to release special New York Liberty library cards

Credit: New York Liberty

May 29, 2025

Brooklyn Public Library to release special New York Liberty library cards

By Aaron Ginsburg

Reigning WNBA champions the New York Liberty are teaming up with the Brooklyn Public Library for a new special edition library card. Starting on Monday, June 2, all BPL branches will begin issuing 100,000 limited-edition cards featuring the 2024 champs and the team’s beloved mascot, Ellie the Elephant. The partnership will continue through the summer as the Liberty and BPL team up through Brooklyn Basketball to support the library’s summer reading program.
how to get yours

Events & Things To Do

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