Governor Cuomo addressing the COVID-19 Crisis Image Credit:
Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

The State has taken several actions to protect residential and commercial tenants. On September 28, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the statewide moratorium on COVID-19 related residential evictions will be extended through January 1, 2021. The moratorium has been in effect since March 20th and has been extended multiple times.

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

This plan includes free bikes and Citi Bike memberships and building one and a half miles of protected bike lanes around 50 New York City high schools in the next year. On September 3, 2020, New York City Comptroller Scott Singer proposed a bike-to-school plan as a sustainable, safe, and healthy transportation option for the city’s young people returning to school this fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Council Member Carlos Menchaca speaks in opposition to the Industry City application at the Subcommittee hearing on September 15, 2020. Image Credit: NY City Council

Many elected officials questioned whether the developers could follow through on promises of job creation. On September 22, 2020, the developers of the proposed Industry City Rezoning pulled their application after receiving opposition from many elected officials and community members. Industry City is a 5.3 million square foot mixed-use complex with commercial, manufacturing, and community uses in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The complex is located in an area bounded by 32nd Street to the north, 41st Street to the south, Third Avenue to the east, and the Brooklyn Waterfront to the west. The application called for four land use actions to allow for the addition of several buildings, lifted restrictions on the types of retail and other uses allowed. For CityLand’s prior coverage of the Industry City project, click here.

The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School are pleased to announce

“Ethics and Innovation in New York State: Navigating Conflicts When Government is A Partner”

Click to open PDF.

CityLand tracks these applications through the review process to a final decision. The majority of these decisions are available on the Center for New York City Law’s CityAdmin database (found at http://www.cityadmin.org/).

Some of the new renovations at the Spuyten Duyvil Playground. Image Credit: NYC Parks/Daniel Avila

The upgrades include native plants and accessible water sprays. On August 31, 2020, NYC Parks Bronx Borough Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, New York City Council Member Andrew Cohen, New York State Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, and Bronx Community Board 8 Parks Chair Rosemary Ginty unveiled a $1.2 million upgrade to Spuyten Duyvil Playground in the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood of the Bronx.