All articles by Aaron Ginsburg

NYC expands heat wave protections for 4th of July weekend

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July 1, 2026

NYC expands heat wave protections for 4th of July weekend

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As New York City enters a dangerous heat wave, officials are rolling out a series of measures to help New Yorkers stay cool. Temperatures over 100 degrees are expected to hit the five boroughs starting Thursday, prompting Mayor Zohran Mamdani to activate the city's emergency heat plan. The mayor announced additional measures, including opening more cooling centers, extending pool hours, intensifying outreach, and encouraging New Yorkers to check on their neighbors.
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New NYC housing voucher program to be created as part of city budget deal

Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

June 30, 2026

New NYC housing voucher program to be created as part of city budget deal

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New York City will create a new program for housing vouchers that will expand rental assistance under a handshake budget agreement announced on Tuesday. The mayor and the City Council announced a $125.8 billion budget deal, which invests $300 million over two years in a new voucher program that could reach about 30,000 more New Yorkers. The agreement also requires Mayor Zohran Mamdani to drop his appeal of a court ruling ordering the expansion of the voucher program known as CityFHEPS, ending a legal battle that began under former Mayor Eric Adams over ballooning costs.
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$5B plan unveiled to finish Brooklyn’s Pacific Park megadevelopment

Photo by CityLimitsJunction via WikiCommons

June 30, 2026

$5B plan unveiled to finish Brooklyn’s Pacific Park megadevelopment

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Brooklyn's long-stalled Pacific Park megadevelopment inched closer to the finish line this week as developers unveiled a $5 billion plan to complete the project. Empire State Development, Cirrus Workforce Housing, and LCOR released a plan on Monday for the second phase of the project, formerly called Atlantic Yards, calling for seven new towers with 5,600 housing units, including roughly 1,242 affordable homes for low- and moderate-income households. The plan marks the start of the final chapter of the delayed megaproject, which saw its future thrown into doubt after a foreclosure and a change in developers last October.
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How to celebrate America’s 250th birthday in NYC

Credit: Circle Line

June 30, 2026

How to celebrate America’s 250th birthday in NYC

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On July 4, America celebrates its 250th anniversary, a momentous occasion marked by patriotic celebrations across the country. New York City festivities will be especially memorable this year. The Macy's 4th of July fireworks show is set to be its biggest ever, with fireworks launching from three separate locations for the first time. The largest parade of tall ships ever assembled takes to the New York Harbor, with more than 40 tall ships from around the world and 30 naval vessels. Ahead, find some of the best 4th of July celebrations for America's semiquincentennial, from ship tours and exhibits exploring NYC's Revolutionary past and immigrant history to firework watch parties on rooftops and observation decks.
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1,500-unit Downtown Brooklyn complex to enter public review next month

Renderings courtesy of Alloy Development

June 29, 2026

1,500-unit Downtown Brooklyn complex to enter public review next month

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A proposed four-building development in Downtown Brooklyn with roughly 1,500 apartments is set to enter public review next month. The Department of City Planning (DCP) on Friday issued a 30-day certification notice for 240 Nassau Street, a mixed-use development near the Brooklyn Navy Yard with 1,500 homes, a new K–8 public school, a community center, a cultural center, retail space, and public open space. The development team, consisting of NYC Educational Construction Fund (ECF), Alloy Development, and GFB Development, is looking to rezone the site to allow for the 1.4 million-square-foot mixed-use development. The uniform land use review procedure (ULURP) will begin in July, with construction anticipated to start in 2027.
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Monitor Point rezoning moves forward with 660+ affordable apartments on Greenpoint waterfront

Credit: NYC Parks / Hannah Mrakovčić

June 26, 2026

Monitor Point rezoning moves forward with 660+ affordable apartments on Greenpoint waterfront

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More than 660 affordable homes are coming to the Greenpoint waterfront after a New York City Council committee on Thursday approved the major Monitor Point rezoning. First announced in 2021, the project will bring a new mixed-use complex to an MTA-owned waterfront site, with 50 percent of its 1,324 total units designated as permanently affordable following negotiations between the developer and the City Council. The rezoning also includes public green space as part of Bushwick Inlet Park, along with investments in transit and climate resiliency measures.
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Two-year rent freeze for NYC stabilized apartments approved by Rent Guidelines Board

Photos courtesy of NYS Tenant Bloc

June 26, 2026

Two-year rent freeze for NYC stabilized apartments approved by Rent Guidelines Board

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The Rent Guidelines Board on Thursday voted to approve a rent freeze for one- and two-year leases for New York City's one million stabilized apartments, the first time the panel has ever backed 0 percent increases on multiple-year leases. The new guidelines, which will apply to leases that begin on or after October 1, 2026, and September 30, 2027, fulfill a key campaign promise from Mayor Zohran Mamdani just six months into his first term.
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MTA and Amtrak at odds over Penn Station redesign

All images courtesy of PAU

June 25, 2026

MTA and Amtrak at odds over Penn Station redesign

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After being removed from the Penn Station reconstruction project by the federal government, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has rejected an offer from Amtrak to rejoin the effort. Andy Byford, senior adviser at Amtrak, sent a letter to MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber on Monday formally inviting the MTA to return as a “fully involved” partner after the agency was taken off the project last year and its original reconstruction plan was scrapped. Lieber declined to sign an agreement to join, questioning whether President Donald Trump and Amtrak would follow through on the development.
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Rent Guidelines Board member resigns hours before vote on possible rent freeze

Credit: Sebastian Jacobsen on Unsplash

June 25, 2026

Rent Guidelines Board member resigns hours before vote on possible rent freeze

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A member of the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) resigned just hours before the board was set to vote on a possible rent freeze for the roughly two million New Yorkers who live in rent-stabilized apartments. Christina Smyth, a landlord representative on the board who was appointed by former Mayor Eric Adams last year, submitted her resignation Thursday morning ahead of the board’s scheduled 7 p.m. vote, as first reported by Crain’s. Smyth said the RGB has stopped being a “fact-finding body” and instead “starts with an answer” and works backward to justify it, adding that most of the board’s nine members have been appointed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
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Morris Adjmi’s Soho tower could rise to 21 stories in exchange for Canal Street subway upgrades

All images courtesy of Morris Adjmi Architects

June 24, 2026

Morris Adjmi’s Soho tower could rise to 21 stories in exchange for Canal Street subway upgrades

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The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday reviewed a proposal to make a Morris Adjmi-designed Soho project larger in exchange for nearby subway station upgrades. United American Land released plans in 2023 to build a 13-story building with 100 apartments at 277 Canal Street, which the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission approved that year. The revised plan presented to the LPC on Tuesday calls for a 21-story building with 159 units, made possible if granted a floor area bonus from the city in exchange for accessibility upgrades to the Canal Street subway station. The commission sent the 277 Canal team back to the drawing board after some commissioners took issue with the building's increased height.
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‘Clutch’ orange bag of Knicks playoff run on view at the Guggenheim

Photo: Davia de Croix, Courtesy of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

June 24, 2026

‘Clutch’ orange bag of Knicks playoff run on view at the Guggenheim

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The lucky orange bag that followed the New York Knicks throughout their historic playoff run is now on view at the Guggenheim Museum. Designed and carried by Jordyn Woods, fiancée of Knicks star center Karl-Anthony Towns, the Tux Clutch Mini bag became a viral good luck charm during the team's 13-game playoff winning streak and its Game 5 Finals-clinching victory. Woods even carried the bag during last week's ticker-tape parade held by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The accessory is on display at the museum's Café Rebay for five days only, through June 28.
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Extell secures density bonus for 71-story mixed-use project at Wellington Hotel site

Rendering of proposed tower at 871 7th Avenue. Credit: NYC CPC

June 23, 2026

Extell secures density bonus for 71-story mixed-use project at Wellington Hotel site

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Extell Development last week secured a zoning bonus from the city required for the firm's proposed 1,130-foot-tall tower at the site of Midtown’s former Wellington Hotel. The City Planning Commission last week granted the project at 871 7th Avenue a nearly 120,000-square-foot density bonus; in exchange, Extell will upgrade the nearby 50th Street subway station to be fully accessible. The approval allows for the project to expand by 20 percent, transforming it from a 27-story hotel into a 71-story mixed-use tower with 130 residential units and 156 hotel rooms. As first reported by Crain's, the expansion utilizes the city’s Zoning for Accessibility (ZFA) program, which offers density bonuses to developers in exchange for transit improvements.
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Brooklyn Public Library releases limited-edition Jay-Z library cards

Images courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library

June 23, 2026

Brooklyn Public Library releases limited-edition Jay-Z library cards

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The Brooklyn Public Library is releasing a limited-edition Jay-Z library card in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Brooklyn-born rapper’s debut album. Starting Thursday, the JAŸ-Z 30 Limited Edition Library Card will be available at BPL branches systemwide on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last. Created in collaboration with Roc Nation, the card celebrates the 30th anniversary of “Reasonable Doubt” and comes ahead of the rapper’s three highly anticipated performances at Yankee Stadium next month.
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New York Historical opens $175M democracy wing designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects

The Tisch Gallery. All photos © Bridgit Beyer

June 22, 2026

New York Historical opens $175M democracy wing designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects

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The newest wing at New York’s oldest museum officially opened this week following a 71,000-square-foot expansion. Completed just in time for the nation's 250th birthday, the $175 million Tang Wing for American Democracy at The New York Historical, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA), marks the first expansion of the landmarked campus in nearly a century. The new wing adds space for exhibitions, programming, and democracy education, including the first dedicated home for the American LGBTQ+ Museum, the institution's Patricia D. Klingenstein Library collection, a courtyard, and a rooftop garden with Central Park views.
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New McGuinness Boulevard mural highlights safety upgrades

Credit: Ben Wolf

June 22, 2026

New McGuinness Boulevard mural highlights safety upgrades

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A new temporary public art installation on McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint seeks to draw attention to the safety improvements being implemented as part of the corridor's redesign. Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn last week announced the completion of artist Kevin Cincotta's mural at Father Studzinski Square, which transforms 1,600 square feet of asphalt and 80 linear feet of concrete bike barriers into a public artwork. The boulevard is currently undergoing a major redesign that includes parking-protected bike lanes along the notoriously dangerous corridor between Meeker Avenue and the Pulaski Bridge.
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63-block dedicated bus lane proposed for 6th Avenue

Photo of 6th Avenue and 56th Street. Photo by Tdorante10 via Wikimedia Commons

June 19, 2026

63-block dedicated bus lane proposed for 6th Avenue

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The city wants to add 63 blocks of offset bus lanes along Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the city's Department of Transportation (DOT) on Friday unveiled a proposal for a dedicated bus lane that runs from Watts Street in Soho to 58th Street in Midtown, along with a wider bike lane from 36th Street to 59th Street. As first reported by amNY, the city presented the plan to Manhattan Community Board 4 this week and will release a final proposal incorporating feedback before installation.
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City to stream World Cup matches on 200 LinkNYC kiosks

Photo by Elvert Barnes on Flickr; map courtesy of NYC Mayor’s Office

June 19, 2026

City to stream World Cup matches on 200 LinkNYC kiosks

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New York City will stream five key FIFA World Cup matches on LinkNYC kiosks across the city. Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday announced that 200 kiosks will show five marquee matches, including the World Cup Final on July 19, as part of a partnership with Telemundo. The Spanish-language broadcasts will be shown for free on World Cup-branded kiosks; the city released this map highlighting the locations of each kiosk streaming the matches.
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NYC Council to hold hearing on Ryder’s Law after fatal Central Park horse-drawn carriage accident

Credit: Bee on Unsplash

June 19, 2026

NYC Council to hold hearing on Ryder’s Law after fatal Central Park horse-drawn carriage accident

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The City Council will hold a hearing next month on Ryder’s Law, a bill that would phase out horse-drawn carriage rides, after a teenager was thrown from a carriage in Central Park and died this week. Speaker Julie Menin on Wednesday announced a July hearing on the legislation, which would phase out the city's horse-drawn carriage industry. A Council subcommittee nixed a previous version of the law in November despite support from former Mayor Eric Adams. In addition to the death of the 18-year-old tourist on Wednesday, there have been seven additional horse-related incidents over the last 13 months, including last week when a carriage horse had a medical emergency and died, according to the New York Times.
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1,000-unit affordable and supportive housing project breaks ground in East Flatbush

Aerial rendering of Sparrow Square. Credit: Phillip Van Nostrand

June 18, 2026

1,000-unit affordable and supportive housing project breaks ground in East Flatbush

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Work on a major affordable and supportive housing project with roughly 1,000 new homes officially broke ground in East Flatbush this week. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced the start of work on the first phase of Sparrow Square, a redevelopment of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center Campus, as part of the Vital Brooklyn initiative to build 4,000 affordable homes in Central Brooklyn. Designed by Adjaye Associates with Hill West Architects as architect of record, the first phase includes two 10-story buildings with 261 affordable apartments, including 117 supportive homes for formerly homeless New Yorkers.
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Knicks-themed Penn Station subway entrance will stay orange and blue through next season

Images courtesy of Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

June 18, 2026

Knicks-themed Penn Station subway entrance will stay orange and blue through next season

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A subway entrance at 34th Street and 8th Avenue that was transformed during the New York Knicks' playoff run will stay painted orange and blue through at least next season. Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA this week announced the spirited entrance will be preserved through the 2026-2027 season in celebration of the team's first NBA championship in five decades. Transformed by the MTA earlier this month, the Knicks-themed station, which included turning the lamp globes into basketballs, became a viral sensation and a destination for fans and those attending games at Madison Square Garden.
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NYC launches program to preserve 39K supportive housing units

Credit: Matthew Moloney on Unsplash

June 17, 2026

NYC launches program to preserve 39K supportive housing units

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New York City has launched a program aimed at preserving existing supportive housing units for the most vulnerable New Yorkers. The Supportive Preservation Program (SPP), launched on Wednesday by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), will provide tax exemptions, below-market loans, and other financial assistance to ensure the long-term stability of supportive housing projects. The program is a key part of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “Block by Block” housing plan, which seeks to preserve the city’s roughly 39,000 supportive homes.
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Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade returns on Saturday

All photos by Eliza Rinn, unless noted otherwise

June 16, 2026

Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade returns on Saturday

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The Mermaid Parade returns to the Coney Island boardwalk this Saturday for its 44th year, bringing its annual sea-themed celebration back to Brooklyn’s shoreline. Hosted by Coney Island USA, the event is the nation's biggest art parade, drawing around 5,000 participants in handmade sea-themed costumes and floats. This year's parade takes place on Saturday, June 20, at 1 p.m., rain or shine.
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Protected bike lane coming to Adams Street near Brooklyn Bridge to curb illegal parking

Illegal parking in the existing painted bike lane. All images courtesy of NYC DOT

June 16, 2026

Protected bike lane coming to Adams Street near Brooklyn Bridge to curb illegal parking

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A planned protected bike lane linking Downtown Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Bridge aims to close a gap in the borough's cycling network while curbing a hotspot for illegal parking. Detailed by the city's Department of Transportation (DOT) earlier this month in a presentation to Brooklyn Community Board 2, the project would install a two-way protected bike lane along Adams Street and Boerum Place, extending existing protections that currently end at Adams and Johnson Streets and creating a continuous connection to the Brooklyn Bridge. The redesign would also deter illegal parking in the existing painted bike lane, where cyclists are regularly forced into traffic to get around vehicles.
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A public artwork you can play with comes to Union Square

Photos by Jane Kratochvil, courtesy of Union Square Partnership

June 15, 2026

A public artwork you can play with comes to Union Square

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A new interactive public sculpture designed by Fashion Institute of Technology students opened at University Plaza in Union Square last week. Created in collaboration with the Union Square Partnership (USP), "Bead Maze" reimagines a doctor’s waiting-room toy as a large-scale artwork featuring interactive plywood beads connected by bent steel pipes and a color palette inspired by the vibrancy of the Union Square Greenmarket. The project, located between 13th and 14th Streets, was brought to life by design collective Scale Rule, which works pro bono to help realize student concepts through design, fabrication, and installation.
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NYC unveils the first look at the future of sidewalk sheds

Photos courtesy of Gabrielle Beaumont

June 15, 2026

NYC unveils the first look at the future of sidewalk sheds

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Two of six prototype sidewalk sheds that forgo the traditional unsightly design have been installed outside the Department of Buildings headquarters in Lower Manhattan. Designed by Arup, the sheds provide additional space to improve circulation and increase light for visibility, while enhancing the streetscape with a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. The structures, on view in front of 280 Broadway for 30 days, are a first look at new shed designs, required by a law passed by the City Council last year.
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