Image Credit: Mayor’s Office.
On January 9, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced a set of recommendations from the Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force for changes to state laws and city zoning requirements to make it easier for the conversion of underused office space to housing. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed how many companies operate, transitioning to work-from-home or hybrid structures that require less office space, while the city experiences an ongoing affordable housing crisis. (more…)
A Parks employee holds a small bag of mulch at a previous Mulchfest. Image Credit: Parks Dept.
On January 17, 2023, the Department of Parks and Recreation announced the results of the most recent Mulchfest, where the agency collected live Christmas trees that were recycled into mulch to be used for mulching plant beds and community gardens across the city. According to the agency, 58,309 trees were collected for this year’s Mulchfest. (more…)
Mayor Adams holds a copy of “Get Stuff Built,” the administration’s proposal for streamlining parts of the land use process and Buildings requirement. Image Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office.
On December 8, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams unveiled New York City’s latest land use roadmap, Get Stuff Built, a complement to his City of Yes zoning proposals announced earlier this year. Get Stuff Built represents a collaborative effort among more than two dozen agencies serving on the Building and Land use Approval Streamlining Taskforce (BLAST), which held 18 working group sessions and four roundtable discussions with more than 50 external stakeholders. Designed to address housing affordability, support small businesses, and facilitate capital projects, Get Stuff Built lays out 111 initiatives to streamline development in the City in three categories identified for reform: environmental review, land use processes, and building permitting. (more…)
On December 30, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced the appointment of Shampa Chanda as the new Chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) and Salvatore Scibetta as the new Vice Chair. The Board of Standards and Appeals hears individual applications for exceptions and changes to zoning regulations that may overly restrict specific properties where a broader change to the zoning text and map is unnecessary. (more…)
Image Credit: NYCHA.
On January 6, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams, Governor Kathy Hochul and interim New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt announced the start of planning for work to replace 335 elevators at 20 NYCHA developments citywide. (more…)
