Eric Adams

May 13, 2025

Queensboro Bridge to open separate paths for cyclists and pedestrians

The Queensboro Bridge will finally have separate paths for cyclists and pedestrians, starting this weekend. Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced that the bridge’s north outer roadway is now a dedicated bike lane and the south outer roadway, a pedestrian-only path. Originally announced in 2021, the project was expected to open in March, but was abruptly delayed by the mayor, who required a "full briefing" before the path could open, as Streetsblog reported.
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May 12, 2025

NYC’s largest mass timber housing development to bring 500 homes to Staten Island’s North Shore

A mixed-income housing development with more than 500 apartments planned for Staten Island’s North Shore is set to become New York City’s largest mass timber residential development. On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams announced the selection of Artimus and Phoenix Realty Group to build the new homes, 25 percent of which will be designated as affordable, on two vacant sites along the New Stapleton waterfront. The development will be built with mass timber to lower the project’s carbon footprint and accelerate construction.
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May 12, 2025

Adams allocates $52M to replace West Village rec center in proposed budget

Mayor Eric Adams is allocating $51.8 million to rebuild a beloved, but run-down, recreation center in the West Village. The 100-year-old Tony Dapolito Recreation Center has been closed since 2019 due to significant structural issues, including foundation damage. Under his proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, Adams includes funding for the Parks Department to demolish the existing building on Clarkson Street and construct a modern facility across the street as part of a new mixed-use development.
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May 5, 2025

NYC to install panic buttons at 500 bodegas

Hundreds of bodegas across New York City will soon be outfitted with emergency "panic buttons" designed to alert police during emergencies in real time. On Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams announced $1.6 million in funding for "SilentShields," discreet devices to be installed in bodegas located in "high-crime areas," connecting directly to the NYPD’s central command to cut down response times. The initiative comes just days after a man was fatally stabbed inside a Harlem bodega and follows years of advocacy by the United Bodegas of America (UBA), which has long called for the devices, according to Gothamist.
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April 8, 2025

Trump cancels $325M in disaster prevention funds for New York

Projects that would protect vulnerable New York City neighborhoods from flooding and intense storms are at risk after President Donald Trump's administration announced plans to cut federal funding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) canceled more than $325 million in grants to New York State that would go toward critical infrastructure and community resilience projects, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul. A majority of the projects impacted are designed to help New York City prepare for weather disasters like flooding and extreme rainfall.
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March 14, 2025

NYC’s population bounces back after pandemic exodus

Five years after the pandemic triggered an exodus from New York City, new census data shows the city's population is growing again. According to census data released this week, the city's population grew by 87,184 to 8.48 million people between July 2023 and July 2024, up from 8.39 million the previous year. All five boroughs gained residents, with Manhattan leading the way with a 1.7 percent increase in population.
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March 10, 2025

NYC launches task force to improve public safety around Washington Square Park

New York City is deploying a multi-agency initiative to tackle quality of life and public safety concerns in Greenwich Village, the West Village, and near Washington Square Park. Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. on Thursday launched the "Village Interagency Task Force" to address issues like open drug use and sales, retail theft, and other quality of life concerns from West 3rd to West 9th Street, between Washington Square Park and 6th Avenue, including the area around the West 4th Street Washington Square subway station.
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February 28, 2025

NYC launches project to make historical records of enslaved people more accessible

The historical records of thousands of enslaved New Yorkers will be more easily accessible to the public through a new city project. Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced a plan led by the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) to transcribe digitized historical records from 1660 to 1827, helping historians and New Yorkers locate records of enslaved people and potentially trace familial roots. The Adams administration is calling on volunteers to help transcribe the records and build the project's searchable database.
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February 27, 2025

Fair Fare riders can now tap-and-go on public transit with OMNY

New Yorkers enrolled in the city's half-priced transit fare program can now ditch their MetroCards and tap-and-go with ease. City officials on Wednesday announced that Fair Fares program participants can now order tap-and-go OMNY cards, offering half-off fare rates without the need to swipe. Enrollees will automatically be issued a discounted OMNY card, and those that are already in the program can request one through the city's website.
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February 25, 2025

NYC to close Roosevelt Hotel migrant shelter

A historic Manhattan hotel that became a symbol of New York City's migrant crisis when it opened as a shelter two years ago is closing its doors. Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday the closure of the Roosevelt Hotel, which has served as an intake and support center and temporary housing for more than 173,000 asylum seekers since May 2023. At its peak, the hotel at 45 East 45th Street processed roughly 4,000 migrants weekly; recently, that number has dropped to 350 per week, according to the city. The facility will close by the end of June.
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February 24, 2025

Adams sues Trump over $80M seized from NYC

New York City sued the Trump administration last week over the $80 million in federal funding the White House took back without consent. The city's Law Department said it was challenging the president's decision to revoke Federal Emergency Management Agency funding approved to reimburse the city for migrant housing expenses. The lawsuit seeks to recover the funds and prevent the federal government from improperly revoking or withholding future funding that the city is entitled to receive.
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February 20, 2025

Coney Island West plan calls for 1,500 new homes, boardwalk upgrades

The city is moving ahead with a plan to bring thousands of mixed-income homes, new retail, and boardwalk and street improvements to Coney Island. Mayor Eric Adams and the city's Economic Development Corporation on Thursday released their vision for "Coney Island West," a waterfront development area west of the Amusement District. On Thursday the city issued a request for proposals for the first city-owned parcel, kicking off the development of 1,500 new homes.
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February 13, 2025

Trump takes back $80M in funding intended for NYC migrant shelters

President Donald Trump took back $80 million in federal funding from New York City that was intended to cover some of the costs related to housing migrants. On Tuesday, City Comptroller Brad Lander's office noticed that $80 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding, awarded by the Biden administration and received last week, had gone missing from city bank accounts. Lander, who called the action "highway robbery," claims the revocation may be illegal, depending on the terms of the city's grant with FEMA.
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February 6, 2025

NYC to redevelop Long Island City site once proposed for Amazon’s HQ2

The city is looking to redevelop three sites in Long Island City that nearly became Amazon's second headquarters. As first reported by Crain's New York, the Adams administration will release a request for expressions of interest (RFEI) this spring to redevelop 44-36 Vernon Boulevard, a longtime Department of Education property. The city is prioritizing proposals that include commercial, industrial, and community-serving tenants for the six-story building. The 672,000-square-foot warehouse was once slated to be part of Amazon's "HQ2," a sprawling campus for the retail giant, but the company withdrew its plan in 2019 after strong opposition from residents, elected officials, and community groups.
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January 31, 2025

More New Yorkers will qualify for $100K down-payment assistance after program expansion

Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Adolfo Carrion Jr. on Thursday announced the expansion of the HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program, which gives first-time homebuyers up to $100,000 to put towards the down payment or closing costs on homes within the five boroughs. The additional $82 million will fund the program for the next five years, expand income eligibility, and introduce a new nonprofit partnership to streamline the process.
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January 29, 2025

City seeks proposals for Meatpacking District development with 600 apartments

A plan to replace a Manhattan meat market with hundreds of apartments, retail, and open space is moving ahead. Mayor Eric Adams and the city's Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) on Wednesday released a request for proposals for Gansevoort Square, a proposed mixed-use development with 600 apartments, half of which would be affordable, and retail on Little West 12th Street between Washington Street and 10th Avenue in the Meatpacking District. The project is part of the mayor's recently announced "Manhattan Plan," which aims to add 100,000 new homes in the borough over the next decade.
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January 29, 2025

New York officials challenge Trump’s federal funding freeze

New York officials are scrambling to respond to President Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze, a move that threatened essential services for millions of New Yorkers. The freeze, which was announced in a memo on Monday, would strip the city of billions in federal grants and loans, potentially putting funding for housing assistance, school lunch programs, and other vital resources at risk. Attorney General Letitia James joined attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia in suing the Trump administration to stop the directive. A federal judge temporarily blocked the order on Tuesday before it would have taken effect. Update 1/29/25: On Wednesday, the Trump Administration rescinded the memo "to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage."
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January 22, 2025

Midtown South rezoning plan to build 10,000 new homes begins public review

The plan to transform Midtown South into dynamic mixed-use neighborhoods with thousands of new homes is moving forward. Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of City Planning (DCP) on Tuesday announced the start of the public review process for the Midtown South Mixed-Use (MSMX) plan, a proposal to rezone 42 blocks of the neighborhood to allow for roughly 9,700 new homes in areas where housing was largely prohibited under old zoning rules. The rezoning is part of the mayor's "Manhattan Plan" introduced in his State of the City address last week to add 100,000 new homes to the borough over the next decade.
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January 13, 2025

More NYC migrant shelters to close this year, including controversial Clinton Hill facility

Mayor Eric Adams last week announced the closure of more than a dozen emergency migrant shelters by June, including a facility in Brooklyn that housed roughly 3,500 people and led to protests by residents. The closures come as the number of asylum seekers in the city's care has decreased for 27 straight weeks and is currently at its lowest point in 18 months.
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January 10, 2025

‘QueensLink’ receives $400K grant to study reactivation of abandoned railway

A plan to reactivate a deserted railway as the first north-to-south subway line in Queens just got a financial boost from the federal government. The nonprofit group behind QueensLink, a proposal extending the M train from Rego Park to the Rockaways along the abandoned Rockaway Beach Branch with accompanying bike paths and trails, received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as part of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program. The funds would pay for a study measuring the impacts of the project, which the group hopes could bring more support for QueensLink; it is currently competing against a separate project to build a linear park on the same railway.
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January 9, 2025

Adams sets goal of 100K new homes in Manhattan over the next decade

To further address New York City's critical housing shortage, Mayor Eric Adams has set an ambitious target of adding 100,000 new homes to Manhattan over the next decade. During his 2025 State of the City address on Thursday, the mayor said he aims to review zoning across the borough to unlock potential housing sites for development, using the tools included in the recently passed "City of Yes for Housing Opportunity." Dubbed the "Manhattan Plan," the new initiative includes the Midtown South rezoning, which is expected to create 10,000 new homes.
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January 8, 2025

City and state select team to transform historic Kingsbridge Armory into community hub with 450 affordable homes

A historic and long-vacant Bronx armory will be transformed into a state-of-the-art community hub with affordable apartments. City and state officials announced Tuesday the development team that will redevelop the century-old Kingsbridge Armory as an event space, sports field, cultural center, and 450 new affordable homes. Developed by 8th Regiment Partners LLC, a joint venture between real estate firm Maddd Equities LLC and Joy Construction, the project, dubbed El Centro Kingsbridge, is scheduled for completion in 2032.
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January 7, 2025

NYC to add 200 more NYPD officers to subway

While crime in New York City dropped by three percent in 2024, city officials are adding 200 police officers to the subway system following a series of high-profile incidents. In a Monday press conference, Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced the move, aimed at making riders feel safe after a string of shocking crimes, including the death of a woman who was set on fire in Brooklyn last month. While the mayor argues that positive crime statistics have been overshadowed by high-profile incidents, he said the administration's priority is to now make New Yorkers feel safe.
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December 23, 2024

NYC welcomed 65 million tourists in 2024, second most in city history

New York City welcomed nearly 65 million visitors this year, the second-highest total in its history. Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Tourism + Conventions President and CEO Julie Coker on Friday announced a new end-of-year tourism forecast, revealing a 3.5 percent increase in visitors from 2023 and projecting a return to pre-pandemic levels in 2025. NYC remains the most-visited large city in the United States, with the forecast highlighting the city’s near-complete economic and tourism recovery following the pandemic.
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December 12, 2024

NYC has seized 73,000+ ‘ghost cars’ and illegal vehicles during Adams administration

New York City is cracking down on cars with illegal plates and other untraceable vehicles. Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced that a new task force made up of the city's police department (NYPD) and Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has removed over 7,500 "ghost cars"—vehicles with forged or altered license plates that evade traffic cameras and toll readers—and 27,000 unregistered motorized vehicles in just 12 weeks. Since the start of the Adams administration, more than 73,000 ghost cars and illegal motorized vehicles have been seized.
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