Rendering of Proposed La Hermosa Building/Image Credit: Department of City Planning/CPC

Council makes modifications to include only MIH Option One and a partnership with JOENYC to fund repairs and renovations for existing affordable units in La Hermosa’s district. On December 3, 2019, the City Council Land Use Committee voted to approve a land use application that will facilitate the construction of a new 30-story mixed-use residential and community facility building. The new building will replace the existing three-story La Hermosa Church building at 5 West 110th Street in Harlem, Manhattan. The vote was immediately after the Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee vote, where Council Members voted to approve the application with modifications.

Public School 31 in 2014 before its demolition./Image Credit: Google Maps

The landmarked building featured many late Gothic details. On December 10, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to rescind the individual landmark designation of a vacant lot, located at 425 Grand Concourse, Bronx. The lot was formerly the location of Public School 31, which was demolished in 2015.

Council Member Inez Barron/Image Credit: John McCarten

The development will bring 503 permanent housing units, both affordable and supportive, to East New York. On December 10, 2019, the City Council approved a land use application for the development of four mixed-use buildings to replace a three-story homeless shelter at 515 Blake Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn. The buildings will be a combination of residential use, commercial use, and community facilities. The land use application, submitted by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, includes a rezoning to a residential district that allows taller and wider buildings to support the project’s size, a transfer of formerly City-owned land to HELP-USA, the project’s developer, a modification of bulk regulations, and a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing designation. The Council modified the project from providing temporary and permanent housing to providing only permanent housing.

Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver Image Credit: John McCarten

Other agencies still missing from Council’s hearing on Park’s capital process. On November 12, 2019, the City Council’s Committee on Parks, Committee on Contracts, and Subcommittee on Capital Budget held a joint oversight hearing titled “Improving the Efficiency of Parks Department Capital Projects.” The hearing was chaired respectively by Council Members Peter Koo, Ben Kallos and Vanessa L. Gibson. This hearing was held in order to create a dialogue about the state of the capital process. In Fiscal 2020, the Parks Department has 619 active capital projects and anticipates spending almost $2.7 billion. These numbers have steadily increased since Fiscal 2016.

NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull. Image Credit: Google Maps

Outposted Therapeutic Housing Units at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull will improve access to care for incarcerated individuals with complex medical, mental health, and substance use needs. On November 26, 2019, the Office of the Mayor announced plans to open Therapeutic Housing Units through NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services. The units will improve access to care for patients whose clinical conditions require access to specialty and subspecialty care.

Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image credit: CityLand

The conversion is another step in the City’s plan to address the homelessness crisis. On November 19, 2019, the Mayor’s Office announced its transition into the second phase of a plan to convert temporary homeless shelters into permanently affordable housing units. According to the Mayor’s Office, this plan will help not-for-profit housing developers acquire and rehabilitate an additional 14 residential “cluster site” buildings, currently being used to house homeless families, and convert them into over 200 permanent affordable housing units for the homeless.