City Officials Support New Rent Subsidy Program

City Council Members and Citywide Officials formally endorse Home Stability Support legislation. On November 22, 2016, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James and thirty members of the City Council formally endorsed the promulgation of the Home Stability Support program. The announcement was made at an afternoon press conference and rally on the steps of City Hall. The event was co-hosted by the Public Advocate and Council Member Grodenchick, and included speeches by Council Members … <Read More>


Council Passes Contentious Pfizer Sites Rezoning in Williamsburg

A former Pfizer factory site in South Williamsburg will be developed into a mixed-use building and public plaza. On October 31, 2017, the City Council passed the Pfizer Sites Rezoning land use actions by a vote of 38-6. The zoning map and text amendments will convert the former Pfizer factory site, currently used for parking, into a mixed-use building and plaza. The project area, totaling 182,366 square feet, is bounded by Walton Street to the <Read More>


City Council Holds Oversight Hearing on 421-a Program

HPD Commissioner Been, others testify on effectiveness of the program.  On January 29, 2015 the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings held an oversight hearing on the 421-a tax benefit program. The program, established in 1971 by the New York State Legislature, was designed to spur residential development of underused land by granting a property tax reduction to developers for a period of ten to twenty-five years, with an objective of increasing affordable housing … <Read More>


Astoria Cove Developers Testify Before City Council

Council Members questioned the developers on the project’s affordability and use of union labor. On October 20, 2014 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on the proposed Astoria Cove development project. The project, which would create a new mixed-use development of 1,700 apartments, commercial space, a school, a supermarket, and parks, was approved by the City Planning Commission over opposition by both Queens Community Board 1 and Queens Borough <Read More>