Policy

Via CityRealty

August 7, 2018

De Blasio signs bill forcing Airbnb to disclose names and addresses of hosts

Update 8/7/18: Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday signed into law a bill that cracks down on the number of illegal Airbnb listings in New York City. Taking effect in February 2019, the new law requires the company to disclose the names and addresses of its hosts. The information will be turned over to the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement. The New York City Council passed a bill on Wednesday that requires Airbnb and other home-sharing sites to provide the names and addresses of its hosts to the city. Under state law, it remains illegal in most buildings to rent out an apartment for less than 30 days unless the permanent tenant is there. Just hours before the council unanimously voted for this legislation, an Airbnb host from Brooklyn, Stanley Karol, sued the city in federal court for fining him $30,000 after speaking out against the bill. "I believe that the City has sought to silence me, by not only saddling me with massive fines, but also making me feel unsafe in my own home," Karol said.
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The L-train will not run between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 15 weekends

L train stop at Bedford; via Roshan Vyas on Flickr

August 7, 2018

The L-train will not run between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 15 weekends

By Devin Gannon

The MTA announced on Saturday that the L train will not run between Manhattan and Brooklyn over 15 weekends. Between this coming weekend and mid-April, the L will only operate between Broadway Junction and Carnasie-Rockaway Parkway during specific weekends. As Gothamist reported, this "pre-shutdown shutdown" will prepare for the 15-month shutdown of the L-train scheduled to begin sometime in April.
More L-shutdown nightmares

August 6, 2018

College students and children as young as 10 can now apply for IDNYC

By Dana Schulz

Since its inception nearly four years ago, IDNYC has seen more than 1.2 million New Yorkers enroll for the free card, making it the largest local identification program in the nation. And now, Mayor de Blasio has announced three updates that will even further expand the program's reach--the minimum age has been lowered from 14 to 10, students living in local college housing can now apply, and technological updates allow the application system to pull from existing city agency records to streamline the process.
All the details this way

The city is looking to bring Metro-North service to the South Bronx

Photo via Wikimedia

August 6, 2018

The city is looking to bring Metro-North service to the South Bronx

By Devin Gannon

It's no surprise the Bronx ranks as the fastest-growing county in New York. In the last year alone, plans announced for the South Bronx have included the city's first soccer stadium, a 1,300-unit residential project on the waterfront, a development with Hip-Hop museum and food hall and a $10M revitalization investment from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Furthering the area's development boom, a study officially launched last week to look at the expansion of Metro-North service East and South Bronx communities, including Hunts Point, Parkschester/Van Nest, Morris Park and Co-op City.
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Pilot program to legalize basement apartments developing in East New York

Via HPD

August 3, 2018

Pilot program to legalize basement apartments developing in East New York

By Devin Gannon

Mayor Bill de Blasio in June announced the city would help landlords create and renovate legal basement and cellar apartments in Brooklyn. This includes making the apartments up to code by ensuring proper safety requirements and windows, among other modifications. As a part of the pilot program, homeowners can apply for the basement pilot program through a city-approved, community-based organization. "This program will increase the stock of affordable housing in East New York, provide additional income to homeowners, and ensure tenant safety," de Blasio said. The deadline for the basement conversion program is August 15 (h/t City Limits).
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80 Centre Street; image: Wikimedia Commons.

August 3, 2018

Lower Manhattan’s Marriage Bureau building may become new jail tower as Rikers replacement

By Michelle Cohen

Last year, Mayor de Blasio announced his support of closing the jail on Rikers Island after protests from activists and public officials over the conditions at the aging complex. In the ensuing months, the focus turned to possible replacements for housing the jail's 5,000-plus inmates over the next decade. Now, the New York Daily News reports, the city is considering 80 Centre Street for a towering detention center as part of the plan.
The building now houses the city's Marriage Bureau

July 31, 2018

LPC landmarks Philip Johnson’s AT&T Building at 550 Madison

By Michelle Cohen

This morning the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the AT&T building at 550 Madison Avenue as an individual landmark. Designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1984, the world’s first postmodern skyscraper originally served as the AT&T headquarters. A decade later, Sony moved in and it became known as the Sony Tower. Recently, a growing roster of preservationists and architects have been urging the LPC to landmark the building after plans surfaced showing significant changes to its architecture.
So what happens now?

July 30, 2018

Cap on ride-hailing services in NYC is a civil rights issue, racial justice groups say

By Devin Gannon

Photo via Wikimedia As New York City prepares to become the first major city in the country to cap the number of vehicles driving for services like Uber, racial justice organizations are rallying against the legislation, calling it a civil rights issue. Groups like the National Urban League and the N.A.A.C.P say the City Council's plan to place a freeze on the amount of for-hire vehicle licenses for one year hurts minority New Yorkers who have trouble hailing taxis on the street. "Some yellow cabs won't even go uptown or to parts of Brooklyn," Rev. Al Sharpton told the New York Times. "If you are downtown they won't stop."
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Affordable housing 101: The history and future of Mitchell-Lama

Waterside Plaza, a former Mitchell-Lama Housing Program-funded rental project. Photo via Flickr cc.

July 27, 2018

Affordable housing 101: The history and future of Mitchell-Lama

By Cait Etherington

A high percentage of working New Yorkers do not qualify for low-income rentals yet still struggle to pay the city’s exceptionally high rents on the private market. While this may seem like a new problem, in fact, it is something legislators and housing advocates have been attempting to resolve for over 70 years. Indeed, this […]

July 26, 2018

880+ affordable homes, new performing arts center and public space upgrades coming to Brownsville

By Devin Gannon

A proposal to revitalize Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood was announced one year ago, with a plan to bring a seven-building housing development to the area unveiled last month. And on Thursday, city officials released more details about the massive project, with new renderings and updates on its progress. As part of the Brownsville Plan, the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development will bring a new arts center and school run by a group from the Brooklyn Music School and a media lab run by BRIC, new retail and commercial space, and a rooftop greenhouse with locally sourced produce. Plus, two proposals were selected as the NYCx Co-Lab Challenge winners, a competition that sought to find ways to enhance the area's "nighttime experience."
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MTA set to hike fares next year, despite poor service and fewer riders

By Devin Gannon

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials announced Wednesday it will stick with its plan to increase fares and tolls that net four percent in 2019 and 2021 as the agency faces budget deficits in the coming years, the Daily News reported. The MTA said it expects to lose roughly $376 million over the next four years, or $90 million per year, due to a drop in ridership. Between 2016 and 2017, there was a loss of 69 million rides on the city's subway and buses. The fare hike would be the sixth since 2009 when the state legislature approved a plan that included increasing fares every other year.
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July 25, 2018

New map from NYC Planning displays all zoning and land use applications dating back to 1970

By Devin Gannon

The Department of City Planning launched a new data tool on Tuesday that displays the status of all zoning and land use applications dating back to 1970. The Zoning Application Portal, or ZAP, provides the public an easy way to search through 28,000 projects and pending applications, 500 of which are currently in public review. "This online tool is the ultimate in planning and zoning transparency," Marisa Lago, director of DCP, said. "It’s fast, it’s easy, it’s intuitive. We hope that New Yorkers – residents, advocacy groups, property and business owners – take full advantage, and get more involved in planning for our city’s future."
Explore the Zap Map

Policy

Cuomo called out for ‘extravagance’ in adding $30M worth of blue and gold tiles to East River tunnels

Image courtesy of The Schreder Group.

July 24, 2018

Cuomo called out for ‘extravagance’ in adding $30M worth of blue and gold tiles to East River tunnels

By Michelle Cohen

Gov. Andrew Cuomo reportedly ordered the MTA to spend an extra $20-30 million to add blue and gold stripes–the state's color scheme–to the white tiles that line two of the city's tunnels beneath the East River. According to the New York Post, the already cash-strapped agency was ordered to add the blue and gold details to the white tiles being used to reline the Brooklyn-Battery and Queens Midtown tunnels in Superstorm Sandy repairs, even though the funds are sorely needed for station and other infrastructure repairs. According to a construction exec, “The white tile had already been ordered, but he insisted that [the walls] be in the state colors."
What does the MTA say?

July 23, 2018

One year and $300M in repairs later, on-time subway rates are still awful

By Devin Gannon

Photo via rhythmicdiaspora on Flickr Despite spending over $300 million on system repairs over the last year, the New York City subway is showing little improvement, with its on-time rate just around 65 percent during the weekday, the New York Times reported. Last summer, after a train derailed at 125th street and left 30 people injured, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. And while the MTA and its chair, Joseph Lhota, unveiled an $800 million action plan to fix the subway, and new NYC Transit Chief Andy Byford later laid out an aggressive plan to modernize the system, the subway's "summer of hell" seems far from over.
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July 20, 2018

NYC added 32,000 affordable homes this year, setting a new construction record

By Devin Gannon

Via Pixabay New York City financed more than 32,000 affordable homes in the last fiscal year, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday. This breaks the record set by former Mayor Ed Koch in 1989 and sets a record for most new construction with 9,140 affordable homes. But with the additional units come additional costs: The city's investment in the housing plan grew from $1 billion in fiscal year 2017 to $1.6 billion this year.
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62 New York City neighborhoods lack an accessible subway station

Via City Comptroller’s office

July 18, 2018

62 New York City neighborhoods lack an accessible subway station

By Devin Gannon

More than half of the 122 neighborhoods served by New York City's subway system do not have a single accessible station, a new report by City Comptroller Scott Stringer found. And out of the 62 neighborhoods dubbed "ADA transit deserts," 55 are in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. In his report, "Service Denied," Stringer details the gaps in accessibility for seniors and mobility-impaired New Yorkers and calls on the state legislature to create a new funding source dedicated to upgrades compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.
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Rendering of 200 Amsterdam Avenue via SJP Properties/ Elkus Manfredi

July 18, 2018

City says 668-foot UWS supertall complies with zoning rules despite community protests

By Michelle Cohen

The city's Board of Standards and Appeals found Tuesday that a 668-foot-tall tower proposed for a zoning lot at 200 Amsterdam Avenue does, in fact, comply with zoning rules, The Real Deal reports. The decision gives developers SJP and Mitsui Fudosan the green light to proceed with development of a condominium tower on the site at 69th Street despite a growing body of community groups opposed to the project. The Committee for Environmentally Sound Development had challenged the Department of Buildings' approval of the project on the grounds that developers assembled an illegal zoning lot in the form of a 39-sided polygon 10 times larger than the actual building's planned footprint with the intent of building a larger tower.
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City announces $100M plan to modernize freight distribution infrastructure

Aggregate barge on Newtown Creek. Photo Credit: Mitch Waxman via NYCEDC

July 17, 2018

City announces $100M plan to modernize freight distribution infrastructure

By Michelle Cohen

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) announced on Monday the launch of a plan for investing in updated transportation options for New York City businesses and dividing distribution among the five boroughs. Freight NYC is a $100 million plan to overhaul the city’s aging freight distribution systems through strategic investments to modernize maritime and rail assets and create new distribution facilities. The plan hopes to create 5,000 jobs as well as a more sustainable and resilient supply chain network.
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Donald Trump is a big baby and full of hot air. Image courtesy of Michael Reeve via Flickr.

July 17, 2018

‘Baby Trump’ blimp is coming to NJ

By Michelle Cohen

If you followed the protests that accompanied President Donald Trump's visit to London and Scotland last week, you may have noticed a giant, inflatable, diaper-clad version of the POTUS floating above. Now, thanks to a New Jersey activist and a successful GoFundMe page, the irascible dirigible will be gracing our shores next month, Gothamist reports. The big blimp is headed across the pond and is expected to rise near Trump's Bedminster, NJ golf club in August.
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Policy

Cuomo to investigate allegations of tenant harassment by Kushner Cos. at Williamsburg condo

Rendering via Morris Adjmi Architects

July 16, 2018

Cuomo to investigate allegations of tenant harassment by Kushner Cos. at Williamsburg condo

By Devin Gannon

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday launched an investigation into allegations of tenant harassment by Kushner Companies at the Austin Nichols House in Williamsburg. The announcement comes on the same day a group of 19 current and former residents of the building are set to file a $10 million lawsuit against the company for creating unlivable conditions from construction noise and dust and pushing them out to make room for condo buyers. The company, run by the family of Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner, purchased the 338-unit property at 184 Kent Avenue in 2015, and has since sold or emptied 75 percent of the rent-stabilized apartments, the Associated Press reported.
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Policy

New Yorkers paid over $507M for security deposits in 2016, report says

Photo via Creative Commons

July 16, 2018

New Yorkers paid over $507M for security deposits in 2016, report says

By Devin Gannon

In addition to having some of the highest rents in the country, New York City requires renters to provide a substantial chunk of money up front to cover an apartment's security deposit. According to a new report by City Comptroller Scott Stringer, New Yorkers forked over more than $507 million for security deposits over the course of 2016. Stringer is calling for an overhaul of the city's security deposit system, which he says has created a financial barrier that has intensified the city's affordable housing crisis. "For too long, the deck has been stacked against New York’s working-class renters but we’re taking a step forward to reimagine how the housing system works in our City," Stringer said in a press release.
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Preservationists, LGBT groups push Landmarks to designate Walt Whitman’s Clinton Hill home

Photo of Whitman via Wikimedia; Photo of 99 Ryerson Street via NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project

July 16, 2018

Preservationists, LGBT groups push Landmarks to designate Walt Whitman’s Clinton Hill home

By Devin Gannon

A coalition of preservationists, LGBT groups and literary experts is asking the Landmarks Preservation Commission to reassess their decision last year to not landmark Walt Whitman's Brooklyn home, the last residence of the 19th-century poet remaining in New York. Located at 99 Ryerson Street in Clinton Hill, the home was where Whitman and his family lived between May 1, 1855 and May 1, 1856. While living at the home, Whitman wrote "Leaves of Grass," a collection of poems considered to be one of the most significant American works ever. The home is also one of the earliest extant buildings in NYC associated with a member of the LGBT community.
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LPC sends Morris Adjmi’s proposal for East Village gas explosion site back to the drawing board

Rendering by Morris Adjmi Architects

July 10, 2018

LPC sends Morris Adjmi’s proposal for East Village gas explosion site back to the drawing board

By Michelle Cohen

Almost three years after an explosion caused by an illegal tap into a gas main at the corner of Second Avenue and East Seventh Street destroyed three buildings at 119-123 Second Avenue and killed two people, new renderings have been revealed of Morris Adjmi Architects' proposed seven-story, 21-unit condo that would replace the circa-1886 tenements that once stood there. As it's within the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District, it needs approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. After reviewing the plans this afternoon and deciding that the proposal is "close, but not quite there," they've sent Adjmi and Yaniv Shaky Cohen’s Nexus Building Development Group back to the drawing board over concerns regarding the windows, storefront, and coloring. Neighbors and those affected by the tragedy are also calling for a commemorative plaque to be incorporated into the design.
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July 9, 2018

Army Corps proposes constructing hurricane barriers across the NY Harbor to stop flooding

By Devin Gannon

Via US Army Corps In response to intensifying hurricanes that have hit the New York and New Jersey coastal region in recent years, the U.S. Army Corps is proposing a handful of measures to reduce the risk of storm damage. The proposals include constructing barriers, either in-water or land-based, and floodwalls that would stretch over 2,000 square miles across New York Habor to protect the area's waterfront neighborhoods. The barriers, already being used in cities like Stamford, Conn. and London, would have gates that remain open to let ships pass, but close when a hurricane is advancing (h/t WNYC). After completing a study that looked at nine high-risk areas, including 25 counties in NY and NJ, on the Atlantic Coast, the Corps this month will present the proposals at public information sessions across the two states.
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How the city’s new credit history guidelines affect affordable housing applicants

Image via Flickr CC

July 9, 2018

How the city’s new credit history guidelines affect affordable housing applicants

By Cait Etherington

If you’ve ever applied for affordable housing in New York City, you already know that the process can feel more like an IRS audit than a typical housing application. While owners and management companies are empowered to ask for a lot of paperwork, to qualify for an affordable housing unit, you’ll need to do more than provide recent pay stubs, tax returns, and bank statements. You'll need to share several years of financial, housing, and employment information, and if the developer doesn’t think you’ve provided enough evidence to quality, they can always ask for more evidence as the selection process unfolds. Fortunately, as of July 1st, the process of applying for affordable housing and the baseline credit criteria needed to qualify just got a bit easier for applicants.
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