Policy

NYC to install seating at nearly 9K bus stops over the next decade

Credit: NYC Department of Transportation on Flickr

October 31, 2025

NYC to install seating at nearly 9K bus stops over the next decade

More New Yorkers will soon have a place to sit while waiting for the bus, as the city expands seating at nearly 9,000 bus stops. On Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced a $40 million investment to install benches at roughly 8,750 bus stops across the city that currently lack seating. Starting in November, the city will add benches at about 875 stops per year for the next decade, offering seating at a vastly larger number of bus stops citywide.
Find out more

NYC Council approves Jamaica rezoning, paving the way for 12,000 new homes

All images courtesy of DCP

October 31, 2025

NYC Council approves Jamaica rezoning, paving the way for 12,000 new homes

By Aaron Ginsburg

Nearly 12,000 new homes are coming to Jamaica, Queens, following the City Council’s approval of the neighborhood’s transformative rezoning on Wednesday. The Jamaica Neighborhood Plan updates zoning rules across 230 blocks of the transit-rich area, paving the way for thousands of new homes—roughly 4,000 of which would be permanently affordable. The plan, which includes the largest mapping of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) in the city, will also add two million square feet of commercial space, create more than 7,000 jobs, and deliver $400 million in infrastructure upgrades.
Discover more

Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment approved by City Council

All images courtesy of NYCEDC, unless noted otherwise

October 30, 2025

Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment approved by City Council

By Aaron Ginsburg

The City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a plan to transform the Bronx’s long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory into a mixed-use community hub with roughly 500 affordable homes. Led by the city’s Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the El Centro Kingsbridge project will convert the historic armory into a vibrant facility featuring an event venue, recreation center, sports fields, and a public plaza, with a new affordable housing building next door. The approval marks a major milestone for the long-stalled site, following two failed redevelopment attempts that collapsed amid community opposition.
Learn more

City Council committees approve Long Island City neighborhood rezoning

Photo © Ondel Hylton

October 30, 2025

City Council committees approve Long Island City neighborhood rezoning

By Aaron Ginsburg

The proposed rezoning of Long Island City — which could deliver the most homes created by a neighborhood rezoning in 25 years — took another step toward reality this week. On Wednesday, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and Committee on Land Use approved the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, expected to bring nearly 15,000 new homes, including 4,350 permanently affordable units, to a 54-block stretch of the Queens neighborhood. The vote followed Council Member Julie Won’s last-minute deal securing nearly $2 billion in city commitments, according to QNS.
Find out more

New York sues Trump administration to resume SNAP payments

Credit: Eden, Janine and Jim on Flickr

October 29, 2025

New York sues Trump administration to resume SNAP payments

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the Trump administration to block its plan to halt SNAP payments during the federal government shutdown. On Tuesday, James announced plans to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its intentions to cease SNAP benefits starting Saturday, arguing that the move violates federal law. James says the USDA is legally obligated to continue distributing assistance as long as it has funding, and that billions in contingency funds approved by Congress are available to sustain payments during the lapse.
Learn more

Policy

500-unit high-rise coming to Surf Avenue as first phase of Coney Island West plan

All renderings by IMC Architecture unless otherwise noted

October 29, 2025

500-unit high-rise coming to Surf Avenue as first phase of Coney Island West plan

By Devin Gannon

The city this week revealed details for the first housing project under the Coney Island West development plan. Rybak Development will build a $350 million 28-story mixed-use tower with over 500 apartments on a city-owned parking lot on Surf Avenue, between West 21st and West 22nd Streets. The development of "Parcel A" kicks off Mayor Eric Adams' vision for this section of the neighborhood, west of the amusement district, which includes 1,500 new homes, new retail, and upgrades to the boardwalk and streetscape.
details here

Majority of affordable housing in NYC built in just 10 of 51 NYC Council districts, new report finds

Credit: Nelson Ndongala on Unsplash

October 29, 2025

Majority of affordable housing in NYC built in just 10 of 51 NYC Council districts, new report finds

By Aaron Ginsburg

Just 10 of New York City’s 51 Council districts have produced more than half of all new affordable housing since 2014, according to a new report. Released as a special update to the New York Housing Conference's NYC Housing Tracker Report, the analysis—titled "Why Charter Land Use Reforms Are Needed"—finds that 13 districts have built more than 4,000 affordable homes, while 10 have added fewer than 300, and four have produced under 100. The report comes as New Yorkers are currently voting on four housing-related ballot questions, which would change the city's land use review process and, according to critics, give the mayor more power and remove Council oversight.
Find out more

Metro-North Bronx expansion delayed by three years

Photo: Megan Armas / MTA on Flickr

October 28, 2025

Metro-North Bronx expansion delayed by three years

By Aaron Ginsburg

Metro-North's planned Bronx expansion, including four new stations and direct service to Penn Station, has been delayed by at least three years. According to the New York Times, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) this week said the project will likely not be completed until 2030, and blamed Amtrak for refusing to close its tracks to allow work to proceed on schedule. MTA officials proposed an alternative plan to open three of the four planned stations and deliver roughly half of the anticipated service by 2027, the year the agency originally slated the entire project for completion.
Find out more

Adams considers stacking Rent Guidelines Board to block Mamdani’s rent freeze pledge

Credit: NYS Tenant Bloc

October 27, 2025

Adams considers stacking Rent Guidelines Board to block Mamdani’s rent freeze pledge

By Aaron Ginsburg

Before leaving office, Mayor Eric Adams is considering stacking the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) with allies in an effort to block mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani’s rent freeze proposal. As first reported by the New York Post, the mayor could appoint at least six new members to the nine-person board, which determines rent changes for the city's one million rent-stabilized apartments. One of the contenders is reportedly Douglas Elliman real estate agent and reality TV star Eleonora Srugo, who has since told the New York Times she intends to decline the offer to focus on her television career.
Find out more

Hillside Avenue in Queens gets first bus lane upgrades in more than 50 years

Credit: NYC DOT

October 23, 2025

Hillside Avenue in Queens gets first bus lane upgrades in more than 50 years

By Aaron Ginsburg

More than 215,000 daily bus riders who travel on Hillside Avenue in Queens will now benefit from faster and safer commutes. On Thursday, Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced the completion of nearly eight miles of new and upgraded bus lanes along the corridor, one of the longest bus priority projects in the agency’s history. The project adds offset bus lanes from 139th Street to Springfield Boulevard, improving service for 22 routes that together carry more riders than the entire populations of Yonkers and Rochester.
Find out more

Noho block named after Jean-Michel Basquiat

By Aaron Ginsburg

A Noho block has been co-named for artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, officially recognizing the site of his former studio and home. The New York City Council and the estate of the late artist on Tuesday unveiled "Jean-Michel Basquiat Way" on the corner of Great Jones Street and Bowery. Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones Street, renting a second-floor space from Andy Warhol, from 1983 until his death in 1988 at age 27, according to ARTnews.
Learn more

Policy

Adams unveils plan to transform ‘The Hole’ with new drainage system, 5,000 homes

Credit: Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

October 22, 2025

Adams unveils plan to transform ‘The Hole’ with new drainage system, 5,000 homes

By Aaron Ginsburg

A long-neglected, low-lying area on the Brooklyn-Queens border known as “The Hole” may finally be getting attention from the city. On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams announced a $146 million investment in the area, also known as the Jewel Streets, to install a long-needed sewage system in the neighborhood, which regularly floods even after light rainfall. The plan also calls for a 17-acre city-owned site to become 1,400 housing units, a rezoning to unlock an additional 3,600 homes, and other flood-prevention infrastructure.
Learn more

October 22, 2025

NYC wants to redesign Chinatown’s chaotic Chatham Square

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City has a plan to redesign Chinatown's notoriously chaotic Chatham Square as a safer and more welcoming pedestrian space. The Department of Transportation (DOT) on Tuesday released new renderings of the proposal, which would significantly expand pedestrian areas, simplify the complex intersection, and improve safety for both pedestrians and drivers. The plan also introduces more trees and greenery, including upgrades to Kimlau Square, the park at the center of Chatham Square.
get the details

Developer’s plan for 30-story tower behind row of 19th-century homes in Downtown Brooklyn is stalled for now

The Duffield Street Houses at 182-188 Duffield Street. Photo by Epicgenius on Wikimedia

October 22, 2025

Developer’s plan for 30-story tower behind row of 19th-century homes in Downtown Brooklyn is stalled for now

By Aaron Ginsburg

A developer's plan to build a 30-story tower behind a row of landmarked homes in Downtown Brooklyn has been sent back to the drawing board. On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on Watermark Capital’s proposal for a glass and beige brick tower on a small lot behind the historic homes at 182-188 Duffield Street, four individual landmarks dating to the 1830s and 1840s. Commissioners and preservationists were skeptical of the proposal, which involves removing the rear facades of the four properties while combining the interiors to create a community space and a lobby for the 99-unit building behind them. The commission took no action on Tuesday and directed the developers to revise the design so it does not "overwhelm" the block's historic character.
Learn more

October 20, 2025

City halts 34th Street busway after threats from Trump

By Devin Gannon

New York City halted a plan to add a busway to Manhattan's 34th Street after the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding for other projects. Unveiled by the city's Department of Transportation in May, the project adds a dedicated bus lane for a 1.1-mile stretch of the busy corridor, from Third to Ninth Avenues, as a way to speed up notoriously slow bus service. Last week, Federal Highway Administration Administrator Sean McMaster said the agency had several concerns with the busway, including the absence of a plan "to accommodate truckers" and "maintain access for emergency vehicles."
details here

Judge orders $34M in counterterrorism funds for NYC subway be restored

Credit: Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul on Flickr

October 17, 2025

Judge orders $34M in counterterrorism funds for NYC subway be restored

By Aaron Ginsburg

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to release nearly $34 million in counterterrorism and transit security funding for New York City’s subway and regional rail systems that it had been withholding. In the ruling, the judge described the withholding of funds as “arbitrary, capricious and a blatant violation of the law,” issuing a permanent injunction that requires the government to release the money to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, according to the New York Times. Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul and State Attorney General Letitia James sued to restore the funding, which the MTA was slated to receive from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Learn more

Trump says Gateway project is ‘terminated,’ but DOT denies program is canceled

Credit: Gateway Development Commission

October 16, 2025

Trump says Gateway project is ‘terminated,’ but DOT denies program is canceled

By Aaron Ginsburg

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his administration on Thursday had "terminated" funding for Gateway, a project that includes two new tunnels under the Hudson River and is considered the most urgent infrastructure project in the country. During a White House press conference, Trump said his administration had used the federal shutdown to kill federally funded projects, particularly in Democratic states, including the $16 billion tunnel program. But, as Politico reported, the Transportation Department has no current plans to end the program, and construction continues.
Find out more

Interborough Express enters environmental review process

Credit: MTA

October 16, 2025

Interborough Express enters environmental review process

By Aaron Ginsburg

The environmental assessment for the transformative Interborough Express (IBX) has officially begun, bringing the long-anticipated transit connection between Brooklyn and Queens one step closer to reality. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the start of the review process under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), marking another major milestone for the project after it entered the preliminary engineering and design phase in August. The MTA will host two in-person public meetings to outline the project scope and review process on October 29 and November 6, followed by a virtual session on November 12.
Learn more

Brooklyn Mirage files for demolition following permit and financial issues

Credit: Chris Lavado

October 15, 2025

Brooklyn Mirage files for demolition following permit and financial issues

By Aaron Ginsburg

East Williamsburg's Brooklyn Mirage, the outdoor music venue that canceled its entire summer lineup amid permit issues and bankruptcy, may be closing permanently. As first reported by The Real Deal, the venue’s operator has filed full demolition permits for the roughly 32,000-square-foot venue, part of its larger Avant Gardner complex. The company filed for bankruptcy in August, citing “several months of financial distress," exacerbated by the Mirage’s failed reopening, scheduled for May following a major renovation and called off just hours before.
Learn more

Policy

Rendering courtesy of MGM Resorts

October 15, 2025

MGM abruptly drops Yonkers casino bid

By Aaron Ginsburg

After advancing as one of only four casino proposals to move forward, MGM Empire City in Yonkers has abruptly withdrawn its bid. On Tuesday, MGM Resorts announced it would pull its proposal, citing a “newly defined competitive landscape” that “challenges the returns” the company had anticipated from the project, as well as recent changes that would limit the casino license to 15 years instead of 30. The Yonkers proposal had been considered a leading contender for a license and was among the first to receive unanimous approval from its community advisory committee late last month.
details here

Policy

Hochul criticizes Trump for withholding $34M in counterterrorism funds

Credit: Governor Kathy Hochul on Flickr

October 10, 2025

Hochul criticizes Trump for withholding $34M in counterterrorism funds

By Aaron Ginsburg

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday criticized the Trump administration for withholding $34 million in transit security funding for New York City’s subway and regional rail systems. According to a press release, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had been slated to receive the funds through the federal Transit Security Grant Program, established after 9/11 to support critical counterterrorism and transit security operations. But the agency was notified last week that it would be the only one among 21 applicants nationwide to be denied funding.
Learn more

New legislation would make NYC outdoor dining year-round again

Credit: Eden, Janine and Jim on Flickr

October 10, 2025

New legislation would make NYC outdoor dining year-round again

By Aaron Ginsburg

New legislation aims to restore New York City’s outdoor dining program to its pandemic-era scale by eliminating seasonal restrictions. Council Member Lincoln Restler on Thursday introduced Intro. 1421 to restore year-round outdoor dining, which ended following new rules and restrictions approved by the Council last year. The legislation would also allow grocery stores to apply for sidewalk cafe licenses, eliminate seasonal limits on roadway cafes, and permit certain cafes to expand their frontage with approval. The proposal seeks to scale back aspects of Dining Out NYC, the city’s current outdoor dining program. According to Restler, the seasonal schedule and stricter rules have made it difficult for many businesses to participate.
details here

Housing code violations at NYCHA buildings are now public

East River Houses Credit: Eden, Janine and Jim on Flickr

October 9, 2025

Housing code violations at NYCHA buildings are now public

By Aaron Ginsburg

For the first time, New York City public housing residents can see housing code violations for their buildings online. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development began posting violations at NYCHA buildings on an online public portal this week and via NYC Open Data, following a June legal settlement. The records include more than 500 violations documented through court-ordered inspections since September 15. Housing advocates are hailing the portal for providing the same access to information long available to private tenants, just a week after a partial collapse at a Mott Haven NYCHA building.
Learn more

Policy

October 8, 2025

Midtown office tower to become 107 studio apartments, first major conversion under rezoning

By Devin Gannon

An underutilized Midtown office building is set to become over 100 studio apartments in its next life. Infinite Global Real Estate and Buttonwood Development, in partnership with 400 Capital Management, have acquired 29 West 35th Street, with plans to turn the 12-story tower into a rental building. The project marks the first major office-to-residential conversion in the neighborhood following the Midtown South rezoning, approved by the City Council this summer.
find out more

Works begins on Newark Airport’s new $3.5B AirTrain

Rendering courtesy of Tutor Perini/O&G

October 7, 2025

Works begins on Newark Airport’s new $3.5B AirTrain

By Aaron Ginsburg

Work has begun on revitalizing Newark Liberty Airport's aging AirTrain—one part of the larger plan to rebuild the international airport. On Tuesday, Port Authority Chair Kevin O’Toole announced the groundbreaking for the new AirTrain, kicking off a long-awaited refresh of the 1990s-era system that will speed up and improve travel to the airport via public transit. The $3.5 billion project is part of the EWR Vision Plan, a long-term effort to rebuild the airport, including a new Terminal B, upgrades to Terminal C, fixes to the airport’s complex roadway network, and replacement of the AirTrain.
Learn more

Policy

Pitch a Story

Interested in seeing the property in person?

Interested in seeing the property in person?

Distinctive Post Form

Get in Touch

Send us a Tip

Interesting in learning more about purchasing a new home?

Thinking about selling your home?

Sell a Home (Footer)

Before You Move On from this Page.

Your Daily Doseof NYC Life!

Before You Move On
from this Page.

Your Daily Dose
of NYC Life!