Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image credit: CityLand

$466 million moved back into the 2021 Fiscal Year’s capital budget. On October 22, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the acceleration of capital funding within the City’s affordable housing plan by shifting $466 million to the current fiscal year’s capital budget to address urgent affordable housing needs. In March, the City moved $466 million from the Department of Housing Preservation and Developments Fiscal Year 2021 budget to the Fiscal Years 2022 through 2024. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to support the ongoing recovery efforts, the Department moved these funds back to Fiscal Year 2021. After this shift, the City would have invested $1.4 billion in affordable housing this year. This funding acceleration keeps the Housing New York project on track to create and preserve 300,000 affordable homes by 2026. (more…)

A dedicated bus lane. Image Credit: NYC DOT

The changes affect four bus lines connecting ten major subway lines in the Bronx and Manhattan. On October 9, 2020, Mayor de Blasio announced major bus and bike improvements in the Bronx furthering the Better Buses Restart plan and keeping the City on track with de Blasio’s recovery agenda. (more…)

Part of Pier 26. Image Credit: Hudson River Park Trust/YouTube

Pier 26 was a $37.7 million project and is the first pier to be opened in over a decade. On September 30, 2020, the Hudson River Park Trust opened Pier 26, an ecological-themed pier located in Tribeca between Hubert Street and North Moore Street and west of the West Side Highway. The Pier is an open outdoor space for New Yorkers as the city recovers from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In 2013, the pier’s infrastructure was completed along with the City Vineyard restaurant and wine bar and the Downtown Boathouse, which has provided free kayaking for half a million New Yorkers. (more…)

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. (more…)

Governor Andrew Cuomo discusses restaurant reopening requirements on September 9, 2020. Image Credit: Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo/Twitter

Restaurants will be allowed to reopen at 25 percent capacity. On September 9, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that restaurants may resume indoor dining on September 30th as long as they meet specific requirements. Indoor dining has been shut down since last spring at the start of the pandemic, and restaurants have been limited to take out and outdoor dining.  (more…)