Policy

May 21, 2024

NYCHA to reopen Section 8 voucher waitlist for first time in 15 years

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) will accept applications for its Section 8 housing voucher program for the first time in 15 years. The Housing Choice Voucher (HVC) program allows families to pay no more than 40 percent of their monthly income for rent, with NYCHA covering the remaining amount. Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced the reopening of the waitlist, which has been closed since 2009, allowing low-income households to apply for rental subsidies on the private market. Eligible households may apply to the program starting Monday, June 3 at 12 a.m. through Sunday, June 9 at 11:59 p.m.
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May 15, 2024

MTA rolls out 60 electric buses for Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island

Dozens of new all-electric buses will soon hit the road in Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday introduced a fleet of 60 electric buses that will operate on routes in neighborhoods most vulnerable to poor air quality, according to a press release. The buses are part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's goal of operating a 100 percent zero-emission bus fleet by 2040.
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May 14, 2024

NYC to redevelop 122-acre stretch of Brooklyn coastline

New York City is transforming a 122-acre stretch of Brooklyn's coastline into a dynamic, mixed-use community and modern maritime port. Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced an agreement that gives the city full control of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, enabling its redevelopment into a vibrant community hub with housing, retail, green space, and a modern port. The development zone, primarily controlled by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, spans over a mile from the southern edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park down to Red Hook, as Bloomberg reported. The deal is the city's largest real estate transaction in terms of size in 20 years.
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May 13, 2024

Central Park installs new pizza box recycling bins

Central Park has a solution to a very New York problem. As first reported by NY1, the Central Park Conservancy introduced a clever recycling bin designed specifically to fit pizza boxes to address the pileup from picnics and parties. Located in the busy East Pinetum section of the park, near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the bin can store up to 50 pizza boxes. Conservancy staff will check the bin up to three times a day.
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May 10, 2024

NYC looks to install 500 secure bike parking facilities

The city is looking to build hundreds of free, secure bike parking locations across the five boroughs to prevent theft and encourage more New Yorkers to bike. The Department of Transportation on Thursday issued a request for proposals seeking operators for a network of 500 secure biking parking facilities to be built starting next year. The new storage spaces would accommodate the continued growth in bike ridership across the city, which is seeing more than 600,000 trips daily.
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May 7, 2024

NYC breaks ground on $200M project to rebuild and elevate The Battery

New York City officials this week broke ground on an ambitious project to defend Lower Manhattan from climate change. Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced the start of work on the city-funded Battery Coastal Resilience Project, a $200 million plan to rebuild and raise the wharf promenade in The Battery, part of a larger effort to protect Lower Manhattan from sea level rise and storm surge. Slated for completion in 2026, the project will protect 100,000 residents, 300,000 jobs, and 12,000 businesses in the area, according to the city.
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May 3, 2024

NYC looks to activate outdoor pool space during the off-season

New York City is looking for creative ways to repurpose outdoor pool space during the fall and winter. The city's Parks Department on Thursday issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI), seeking innovative ways to reimagine six outdoor pool decks for recreation, services, programming, and concessions during the off-season, from October through March.
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May 2, 2024

NYC to expand car-free access in Manhattan ahead of congestion pricing

New York City is stepping up its effort to improve car-free access to Midtown and Lower Manhattan to prepare for the start of congestion pricing, scheduled in just a few weeks. The city's Department of Transportation (DOT) on Thursday released a report detailing 37 new projects and 47 existing projects that enhance car-free access to and around Manhattan's Central Business District (CBD) as the city's congestion pricing program goes into effect on June 30.
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May 2, 2024

MTA launches pilot program allowing Fair Fares discount on OMNY cards

After a long delay, transit riders who are part of New York City's half-priced fare program will soon be able to tap-and-go. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday officially launched a Fair Fares pilot program on OMNY, allowing commuters who are part of the city's half-priced fare program to use the contactless payment system. The 90-day pilot program starts with 50 Fair Fares riders and will allow the MTA to collect feedback and finalize a rollout for all qualifying customers later.
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May 1, 2024

Rent Guidelines Board backs rent hikes on NYC’s stabilized apartments for third year in a row

In a preliminary vote on Tuesday, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) backed rent hikes for New York City's roughly one million rent-stabilized apartments for the third year in a row. The nine-member board, appointed by the mayor, approved with a vote of 5-2 a motion to increase rents between 2 percent and 4.5 percent on one-year leases and between 4 percent and 6.5 percent on two-year leases. The two members of the board representing tenants abstained from voting and walked out of the meeting in protest. A final vote on the rent adjustment takes place in June.
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April 30, 2024

Battery Park City Authority seeks proposals for new restaurant in redesigned Wagner Park

The Battery Park City Authority has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a new restaurant in Wagner Park, a 3.5-acre green space currently being rebuilt and redesigned as part of a major resiliency project. The new restaurant would take up one wing of the newly constructed Wagner Park Pavilion and offer high-quality, healthy food and drink options year-round, according to the RFP. The authority wants the new eatery to open at the same time as the park's reopening, scheduled for spring 2025.
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April 29, 2024

MTA to offer 10% discount on LIRR and Metro-North trips in NYC

To promote public transit use when congestion pricing begins, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to offer a 10 percent discount on monthly tickets for Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trips that start and end within the five boroughs. The board is expected to approve a pilot program on Tuesday that would cut fares by up to $22 per month depending on the zone, as laid out by the MTA. The program, which would start July 1 and run for one year, is designed to incentivize drivers to switch to public transit as New York City's congestion pricing program kicks off on June 30.
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April 26, 2024

NYC’s congestion pricing program to start June 30

New York City's congestion pricing program finally has an official start date. In an interview with ABC 7 on Friday, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber announced the first-in-the-nation program will go into effect on Sunday, June 30 at 12 a.m. The MTA has also opened an online application portal for those qualified to apply for the program's discounts and exemptions. The plan still faces legal challenges from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and several other opponents, which must be resolved before the program can go into effect.
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April 26, 2024

NYC to install ‘bee hotels’ in 7 public plazas to protect at-risk pollinators

"Bee hotels" are coming soon to a public plaza near you. The city's Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez on Thursday announced the Pollinator Port Project, which will install habitats for at-risk native bee populations at seven public plazas and open streets, giving them a place for nourishment and allowing researchers from Rutgers University to analyze their use of the "bee bunkers" and how they travel across the city.
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April 25, 2024

New maps show which NYC neighborhoods build the most housing

Amid a housing shortage, only a few New York City neighborhoods are building the majority of new housing. The Department of City Planning on Thursday released two new interactive map tools illustrating where new housing is being permitted and built across the five boroughs by looking at City Council districts, community districts, and neighborhood tabulation areas (NTAs). According to the housing database, development is concentrated in only a few areas: 10 of the city's 59 community districts saw as much new housing built as the other 49.
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April 25, 2024

Adams’ $112B budget restores some funding, but keeps cuts to NYC libraries

Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday released his $111.6 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2025, which rolls back previously planned cuts to cultural institutions, early childhood education, and the police, thanks to higher-than-projected tax revenue. However, funding has not been restored for New York City's public libraries, which currently face $58.3 million in cuts. Library officials say the lack of funds would force libraries to operate just five days a week, down from the current standard of six days.
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April 22, 2024

New York lawmakers finally pass housing package

After over two years of inaction, state lawmakers have agreed on a legislative package to address New York's housing crisis. Approved over the weekend, the $237 billion state budget includes several new policies aimed at addressing the statewide housing shortage, including a new tax incentive for developers and the lift of the floor-to-area ratio (FAR) cap. The deal also contains tenant protections, including a version of the "good cause" eviction proposal.
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April 19, 2024

Rent hikes between 2.5% and 7% recommended for NYC’s stabilized apartments

Rent for millions of New Yorkers living in rent-stabilized units will likely increase for the third year in a row. The Rent Guidelines Board on Thursday released an annual report recommending a 2.5 percent to 4 percent rent hike for one-year leases and a 4 percent to 7 percent rent hike for two-year leases in rent-stabilized buildings, based on the rising costs of building maintenance, which jumped roughly 4 percent from April 2023 to March 2024. A public meeting will be held on April 25, followed by a preliminary vote on the proposed rent increases on April 30.
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April 17, 2024

Landmarks approves rest hub for NYC delivery workers next to City Hall Park

New York City delivery workers will soon seek respite at a new "deliverista hub" in City Hall Park. The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) on Tuesday voted to approve designs for a new hub that will give workers a place to rest during bad weather, charge their phones and e-bikes, and learn about e-bike and battery safety. Central to many delivery routes, the new structure replaces a vacant newsstand on the western edge of the park.
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April 16, 2024

NYC reveals design for esplanade and new 107th Street pier in East Harlem

Plans to rehabilitate a 20-block section of bike and pedestrian paths and reconstruct a decrepit pier in East Harlem are moving forward. In a presentation to Manhattan Community Board 11 this month, the city unveiled its preliminary design to rebuild and rehabilitate the East River Esplanade between East 94th and East 107th Streets and East 117th and East 124th Streets, as well as construct a new pier at 107th Street, as Streetsblog first reported. Construction is expected to begin on the $294 million project in the later part of next year and wrap up in 2027.
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April 16, 2024

Hochul announces budget agreement, with ‘landmark’ housing deal

State lawmakers reached a "conceptual" agreement on the 2025 budget on Monday, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who hosted a celebratory press conference touting the deal. Since the bills have not been printed yet, details remain scarce. However, according to the governor, the $237 billion budget, now over two weeks late, includes "landmark" policies to address the dire housing crisis statewide, particularly in New York City. Hochul announced efforts to boost housing production, including a new tax break to succeed 421-a, and protect tenants, with the framework for "good cause" eviction included in the deal.
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April 12, 2024

NYC releases details for ‘City of Yes’ housing reform, with new affordability mandates

The city this week released updated text for its major housing reform proposal, with new mandates for deeper affordability levels. The Department of City Planning (DCP) on Thursday released the annotated draft zoning text of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, Mayor Eric Adams' plan to add housing in every neighborhood through various zoning changes. The text includes revising the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program to allow for the deep affordability choice to be a standalone option. Plus, under the proposal, developers who utilize the Universal Affordable Preference to make their buildings bigger must make all additional homes permanently affordable.
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April 12, 2024

Vessel at Hudson Yards to reopen this year

The climbable structure at the center of Hudson Yards will reopen later this year. Vessel, an interactive public artwork, first opened in 2019 along with the mega-development but closed in 2021 after several people died by suicide there. Three years later, the structure will reopen to the public but with new barriers in place, as CBS New York first reported.
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April 11, 2024

NYC unveils secure sidewalk locker program to prevent package theft

New York City is installing secure package lockers across the five boroughs to prevent theft and reduce delivery truck traffic. Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced "LockerNYC," a pilot program to install seven package lockers with 25 safe compartments and security cameras to combat theft. The lockers will be installed on sidewalks at select locations and available for free through a variety of delivery carriers. New Yorkers can sign up and manage orders here.
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April 10, 2024

NYC to redevelop Grand Concourse library with 100% affordable housing

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the New York Public Library announced plans to transform the Grand Concourse branch into a state-of-the-art library with affordable housing on top. This week the city kicked off the community engagement process for the project, which falls under Mayor Eric Adams' "24 in 24" plan to advance 24 affordable housing projects in 2024.
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