Image credit: New York City Council.

The three bills provide transparency and protections for people seeking rental assistance. On October 29, 2020, the City Council voted to approve three rental assistance bills that would address income discrimination and provide more transparency in the rental assistance application process.

The Fountains. Image Credit: NYC HPD

Project will result in 1,163 affordable homes. On October 20, 2020 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the completion of the initial phase of the Fountains of Brooklyn project that is being constructed on the site of the State’s former Brooklyn Developmental Center in East New York, which closed in 2015. This project is a 6.7-acre mixed-use complex that will ultimately offer 1,163 affordable homes. The first two completed buildings of the project will include 332 affordable apartments and supportive services for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities so these individuals can live independently.

Houses on the west side of the proposed East 25th Street Historic District. Image Credit: LPC

Residents led the efforts to preserve the block from future development. On November 17, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the East 25th Street Historic District in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn. The East 25th Street Historic District consists of 56 row houses on both sides of East 25th Street between Clarendon Road and Avenue D in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The historic district consists of the houses between 314 – 378 East 25th Street. The historic district is the first in East Flatbush. 

Pugsley Creek. Image Credit: NYC DDC

The project is designed to improve the health of New York Harbor. On October 27, 2020, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Design and Construction announced that a $106 million project to clean up Pugsley Creek in the South Bronx had been completed. This project reduced sewer overflows into the Creek by 98 percent and was completed 14 months ahead of schedule.

Kenseth Armstead and Deborah Marton (pictured above) are the two new members of the NYC Public Design Commission. Image Credit: NYC Public Design Commission

Kenseth Armstead and Deborah Marton join the eleven member board. On November 5, 2020 Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed two new members, Deborah Matron and Kenseth Armstead, to the Public Design Commission. Both were approved by an overwhelming majority of the City Council.

The project is expected to cost $366 million and will take four years to complete. On October 29, 2020, on the 8th Anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Colonel Matthew W. Luzzatto announced the Atlantic Shorefront Project. This project will protect communities and strengthen the shoreline along six miles of the Rockaway Peninsula. The Atlantic Shorefront component is the first of two U.S. Army Corp of Engineers major coastal infrastructure projects to strengthen the Rockaway Peninsula.