DEP Proposes New Water Rates for 2022

This Administration has retained over $1 billion in the water system to keep rates affordable while ensuring funding for drinking water and wastewater projects. On May 10, 2021, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection proposed a 2.76 percent increase to the water rate in 2022 to the City’s Water Board. Funding has helped to create critical programs while keeping rates low for property owners and businesses. New York City water rates are approximately … <Read More>


Landmarks Calendars Kimlau War Memorial for Landmark Designation

The arch features traditional Chinese architectural styles. On May 4, 2021, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the Kimlau War Memorial in Chinatown, Manhattan for designation. The Kimlau War Memorial, a granite ceremonial gateway arch with two benches, is located in Kimlau Square Park at the intersection of Chatham Square, Oliver Street and East Broadway.


Jamie Torres-Springer Appointed New Commissioner of Design and Construction

Torres-Springer, the former First Deputy Commissioner of the department, will be succeeding Senior Advisor for Recovery and outgoing Commissioner Lorraine Grillo. On March 23, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Jamie Torres-Springer as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Design and Construction. Torres-Springer will be succeeding Lorraine Grillo. Former Commissioner Grillo left the position earlier in March to serve as the City’s Senior Advisor for Recovery.


City Finances 30,000 Affordable Homes in 2020

The newly financed homes keep New York City on track to meet its goal to provide 300,000 affordable homes by 2026. On February 9, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the City financed the construction and preservation of 29,521 affordable homes in 2020. Fifty-seven percent of the affordable homes financed in 2020 will serve families of three that earn less than $52,000 per year. The city has financed over 177,000 homes through the Housing … <Read More>


Reducing Racial Bias Embedded in Land Use Codes

Even though the Supreme Court struck down race-based land use controls over a hundred years ago in Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917) it has long been known that zoning continues to create or increase racial and economic segregation. Today communities across the U.S. are reexamining their zoning regulations to create more equal, equitable, inclusive, and resilient communities by removing requirements, limitations, or prohibitions that disproportionately and negatively impact individuals based on race … <Read More>


City Council Holds Hearing to Address Deed Fraud Crisis

Proposed legislation would include requirements to provide information about how to respond to suspected deed fraud. On October 13, 2020, the City Council Committee of Housing and Buildings and the Committee on Finance held an oversight hearing examining the City’s deed theft and deed fraud crisis, and discussed two bills and a resolution aimed at combatting deed theft: Int 1913, Int 1919, and Res 1427.