Eric Adams

May 28, 2024

Nearly a million NYC households could lose affordable high-speed internet

Nearly one million New York City households could lose access to affordable high-speed internet unless funding for a vital federal program is restored. As reported by Gothamist, a new report from the Center for an Urban Future details the impact the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will have on the New Yorkers enrolled in the initiative. The program, which launched in 2021 and ran out of funding last month, paid a monthly credit to internet providers on behalf of customers who earn at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level or enrolled in public assistance programs. According to CUF, NYC neighborhoods with the lowest income levels saw the highest enrollment in the program.
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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 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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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 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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March 29, 2024

City revives ‘She Built NYC,’ launches open call for artists to design four statues of women

New York City is reviving a campaign to honor influential women integral to the city's history with monuments. Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced the city will resume the She Built NYC initiative, which includes building new statues of Dr. Helen Rodriguez TrĂ­as in the Bronx, Elizabeth Jennings Graham in Manhattan, Billie Holiday in Queens, and Katherine Walker on Staten Island. The four projects were announced in 2019 but were delayed due to the pandemic and never reached the first phase of planning.
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March 28, 2024

NYC to test gun detectors in the subway system

New York City will test weapon-detecting scanners in the subway system to make commuters feel safer after a string of violent incidents. Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday unveiled a portable scanner designed to detect guns carried by riders. The pilot program can begin following a 90-day waiting period during which the public can share their thoughts on the technology. The mayor also said the city will hire more clinicians to connect people with severe mental illness in the transit system to treatment and care.
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March 28, 2024

NYC proposes new high-density zoning districts if state lifts floor-to-area ratio cap

Mayor Eric Adams is calling on the state to lift a policy restricting the density of residential towers to allow for bigger apartment buildings and more affordable housing in New York City. Enacted in 1961, the existing floor-to-area ratio, or FAR, cap allows buildings up to 12 times the size of their lot. On Thursday, the Adams administration called on state lawmakers to eliminate the cap and proposed two new zoning districts in NYC that would permit buildings to be constructed up to 15 and 18 times their lot size, while also including affordable housing.
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March 19, 2024

NYC launches first-ever tenant protection cabinet

New York City now has a government agency dedicated to protecting tenants. Mayor Eric Adams last week launched the city’s first-ever Tenant Protection Cabinet (TPC), a new multi-agency team that will create policies and long-term strategies to ensure safer, more equitable housing conditions for all New Yorkers. Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and NYC Executive Director of Housing Leila Bozorg will co-chair the cabinet.
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March 8, 2024

Midtown South rezoning plan could create 4,000 new homes

The city released new details for its plan to create thousands of new homes in a predominantly commercial area of Midtown. The Department of City Planning on Friday released the Midtown South draft zoning plan, which details a 42-block rezoning to allow for high-density, mixed-use districts with 4,000 new homes, up to 1,110 of which would be income-restricted. The zoning changes would permit new housing in areas previously designated solely for commercial and manufacturing uses.
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March 7, 2024

NYC opens applications for new outdoor dining program, unveils modular sheds

Say hello to the future of outdoor dining in New York City. Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday launched the application process for restaurants to take part in Dining Out NYC, the city’s permanent outdoor dining program, and unveiled prototypes of the allowable roadway dining sheds. Designed by WXY architecture + urban design and fabricated by SITU, the customizable prototypes are made of materials from a standard kit, which makes it easier for restaurants to abide by the program’s new guidelines.
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March 6, 2024

Hochul deploys National Guard and state police to check bags, patrol NYC subway

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday said she would deploy roughly 1,000 National Guard and New York State Police members to patrol the New York City subway system and help officers check bags for weapons. The additional personnel, which includes 750 National Guard members and 250 members of the state police and MTA police department, are meant to make riders feel safe following several recent high-profile assaults in the transit system.
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March 4, 2024

First public e-bike charging station opens in the East Village

New York City's first public, outdoor e-bike battery charging station opened last week as part of a six-month pilot program to test safer technologies for delivery workers and provide an alternative to charging bikes inside. The first of five to open in the coming weeks, the new station is located at Cooper Square in the East Village. The infrastructure includes a battery-swapping cabinet to swap out dead batteries for fully charged ones and a secure charging rack where workers can lock up their bikes and charge them while parked. The city said 100 delivery workers will initially participate in the pilot program and provide feedback on the charging hubs.
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February 29, 2024

Hochul wants to make it easier to shut down New York’s illegal smoke shops

In response to the thousands of illegal smoke shops operating in the state, with an estimated 8,000 in New York City alone, Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to make it easier to close illicit cannabis stores. On Wednesday, the governor proposed streamlining the state's Office of Cannabis Management's (OCM) ability to obtain court orders to padlock stores and permit the orders to be executed by local authorities. According to Hochul, the unregulated stores not only undermine the legal marijuana market but also pose health risks to customers.
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February 21, 2024

Mayor Adams sued over failure to enact housing voucher laws

The New York City Council on Wednesday filed a motion to join a class-action lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams for failing to comply with new laws regarding housing vouchers that should have taken effect on January 9. The Legal Aid Society filed the suit last week on behalf of four plaintiffs who are unable to access housing vouchers they are entitled to under laws passed by the City Council last year, according to Gothamist.
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February 5, 2024

NYC reveals automated, side-loading garbage truck

A revolutionary garbage truck is hitting New York City streets, four years ahead of schedule. Mayor Eric Adams last week revealed a new automated side-loading garbage truck that will allow Department of Sanitation workers to easily collect trash from large containerized bins at high-density residential buildings. With the use of the new trucks and a data-driven containerization model, Manhattan Community Board 9 will be the first district to have 100 percent of its garbage containerized next year.
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January 30, 2024

NYC unveils plan to develop 570 affordable homes on Inwood parking lot

New York City is moving forward with an ambitious plan to advance two dozen affordable housing projects on public land this year. The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) on Monday began the public outreach process for the redevelopment of an unused city-owned parking lot in Inwood with roughly 570 affordable homes, public green space, and a STEM facility. The Inwood Waterfront project falls under Mayor Eric Adams' "24 in 24" plan, which pushes for 24 affordable housing developments on 24 publicly-owned sites to ultimately create or preserve more than 12,000 housing units.
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January 25, 2024

Four new skateparks opening in Brooklyn and the Bronx

New York City is working with legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk to develop four new skateparks in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Mayor Eric Adams during his State of the City address on Wednesday announced a partnership with The Skatepark Project, a nonprofit founded by Hawk, to bring four skateparks in communities lacking access to public recreation spaces. The project is being fast-tracked for completion in just three years. The plan involves renovating two existing skateparks, at Brower Park and Bronx Park, and constructing two new ones, at Mount Prospect Park and Soundview Park.
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January 25, 2024

Chinatown’s Kimlau Square to receive $56M revamp

Chinatown's chaotic Kimlau Square is set to receive a $55.8 million redesign, as first reported by amNewYork. During his State of the City address on Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams announced Kimlau Square will be renovated in three phases: an expansion of the square into a pedestrian plaza with shortened street crossings, the beautification of Park Row between the plaza and the Brooklyn Bridge, and the creation of an archway that welcomes people into the neighborhood. The project aims to straighten out the confusing six-way intersection that surrounds the plaza and increase the size of the space from 12,000 to 20,000 square feet.
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January 23, 2024

NYC to curb ‘community preference’ policy in affordable housing lotteries

New York City will restrict the preference it gives to residents applying for an affordable apartment within their community district according to a settlement reached on Monday. Under the current policy, 50 percent of affordable apartments are set aside for New Yorkers who live in the same neighborhood as the development, known as “community preference." After a lawsuit first filed in 2015 challenging the policy as discriminatory, a new order signed Monday caps the preference to 20 percent of units through 2029 and then to 15 percent after that.
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January 17, 2024

City launches initiative to ‘rainproof’ NYC

State and city agencies, nonprofits, and community leaders will join forces to develop ideas aimed at dealing with New York City's heavy rainfall problem. The Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice on Tuesday launched "Rainproof NYC," a collaborative initiative to come up with policies and programs addressing the high frequency of heavy rainfall due to climate change. The initiative will complement ongoing Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) projects that are underway across the state, including sewer upgrades, green infrastructure, cloudburst projects, and Bluebelts.
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January 5, 2024

Self-filtering floating pool pilot to be installed in NYC this summer

New York City will test the waters of a self-filtering floating pool this summer. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams on Friday committed $16 million to the nonprofit +POOL, which has worked for over a decade to build a swimming pool in the East River. The group plans to launch a pilot pool to demonstrate and test +POOL's unique filtration system this summer, with the hopes of opening to swimmers in 2025. The news comes as part of a larger proposal from the governor to expand access to swimming across the state.
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January 2, 2024

NYC bans street vendors from all city bridges

Starting Wednesday, vendors selling New York City-themed souvenirs and cheap eats will be banned from all 789 of the city's bridges. Mayor Eric Adams last week announced new rules prohibiting vending on pedestrian walkways and bike lanes of bridges, as well as their approaches, will go into effect on January 3. Proposed this fall by the mayor, the vending ban specifically targets the overcrowded Brooklyn Bridge, which has seen a surge in both illegal vendors and pedestrians in recent years, creating safety issues on the jam-packed crossing.
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December 20, 2023

East Midtown Greenway opens, with nearly 3 acres of public open space on the waterfront

New York City has taken a major step forward in its effort to expand the greenway network. The city's Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and NYC Parks on Tuesday officially opened the East Midtown Greenway and the second phase of the Andrew Haswell Green Park, delivering nearly three acres of public open space, a new pedestrian walkway, a pedestrian bridge, landscaping, and a separated bike lane stretching from East 53rd Street to East 60th Street along the East River. The $197.6 million investment fills a significant gap in the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway.
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