Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image Credit: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office.

The first street to be co-named and painted will be near City Hall. On June 9, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the City will begin to co-name and paint selected streets in all five boroughs in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Black Lives Matter movement, which began in 2013, works to address the issue of state and vigilante violence against Black individuals and works to bring equity to Black communities. Recently, the Black Lives Matter movement has been part of the protests against systemic racism and police misconduct that have occurred in response to the death of George Floyd. Mayor de Blasio announced the street co-naming and painting initiative to commemorate the efforts of Black Lives Matter activists.

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Citi Bikes at a Citi Bike Docking Station./Image Credit: CityLand

The expansion will allow more essential workers to use Citi Bikes during the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 30, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, and Lyft announced that Citi and Mastercard had committed $1 million to expand the Citi Bike Critical Workforce Membership Program. The program was created by Citi Bike, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and the Department of Transportation to provide essential healthcare and transit workers a free one month Citi Bike membership. Under the expansion, the program would extend the one-month membership and will allow more categories of essential workers to apply for the program. 

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Aerial View of Rikers Island Photo Credit: US Geological Survey

The City wastes little time in efforts to shutter Rikers Island and get construction across the boroughs started. Since the latter half of November, the City announced three major developments in the Borough-Based Jails plan. Each announcement is discussed in further detail below. To read more about Borough-Based Jails, read Cityland’s prior coverage here.

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Image Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

The project will include the expansion of the Lower Manhattan shoreline and four capital projects devoted to the resiliency of Lower Manhattan neighborhoods. On March 14, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) Project. The project is one of the City’s responses to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy was a turning point for the City to tackle infrastructure resiliency. Hurricane Sandy resulted in $19 billion of devastation for the City and particularly impacted Lower Manhattan. The storm resulted in power outages and flooding in homes, businesses, and tunnels. Since Hurricane Sandy, the City has worked to assess Lower Manhattan’s climate change impacts and risks and analyze coastal protection options for the area’s 3.3-mile shoreline. (read more…)

HPD Commissioner Vicki Been answering questions at the 130th CityLaw Breakfast. Image credit: CityLaw

The former HPD Commissioner will continue to work on affordability and economic opportunities for the City. On April 4, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the appointment of former Department of Housing and Preservation Commissioner Vicki Been as the new Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development. She succeeded Alicia Glen, who served in the position for five years.

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