City and State officials and community stakeholders break ground on the Metropolitan Hospital Flood Wall Resiliency project. Image Credit: NYCEDC.

On May 25, 2022, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), NYC Health + Hospitals, New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray, and community members commemorated the groundbreaking of a new flood protection system project at NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan in East Harlem. 

Filomio Truck Sales. Image Credit: Google Maps.

Trucking company fenced in and used City land that had been mapped as a City street. On July 27, 1967, the City condemned a parcel of land owned by the Filomio family and located at 3870 Boston Road in the Bronx. The City condemned the parcel, referred to as Damage Parcel 43, in order to complete a road expansion project. The family did not object to the taking and was compensated by the City. The Filomio family continued using the remaining property not condemned until February 1968, when the family transferred ownership of the property to the family business, Filomio Truck Sales.

Coney Island, along with the City’s other public beaches, opens for Memorial Day weekend. Image Credit: NYC Parks/ Malcolm Pinckney

Starting Saturday, May 28, 2022, City beaches will be open for swimming for the summer. From May 28th to September 11, 2022, swimming is permitted when lifeguards are on duty from 10 AM to 6 PM, and prohibited when lifeguards are off duty. 

Rendering for 4519 White Plains Road. Image Credit: Office of Governor Kathy Hochul.

The new building will be across the street from another affordable housing development recently approved by the City Planning Commission. On May 25, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the beginning of construction for a new affordable and supportive housing development in the Wakefield section of the Bronx. The Plains will be located at 4519 White Plains Road between East 239th and East 240th Street. The development team consists of the Doe Fund and Robert Sanborn Development.

Rendering of Bridge Rockaway. Image Credit: HPD.

On May 17, 2022, City and State officials joined the development team of non-profit The Bridge, Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, and Mega Development for the ground breaking of Bridge Rockaway, a new mixed-use affordable housing development in Brownsville, Brooklyn. 

Image credit: New York City Council.

The bills aim to prevent the circumstances that took 17 lives from occurring again in the future. On May 19, 2022, the City Council voted to approve a package of five bills to improve fire safety and prevention measures in residences as part of the City’s response to the tragic Twin Parks high-rise fire which killed 17 people in the Bronx this past January. The fire was a result of a space heater, and the resulting smoke spread up a stairwell after the self-closing door failed to contain the smoke within the unit. All seventeen deaths were from smoke inhalation. After the fire, the Committee on Twin Parks Citywide Taskforce on Fire Prevention was formed by the City Council as a response to the tragedy, and Council Members worked to propose various legislation to improve fire safety.