Sunnyside Yard Master Plan Released by City and Amtrak

The plan calls for 100 percent affordable housing with emphasis on lowest incomes, transportation, new parks and open space. On March 4, 2020, the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced Mayor Bill de Blasio’s and Amtrak’s Sunnyside Yard Master Plan. The Plan’s framework will focus on building new public transit and making all housing affordable, especially for New Yorkers earning less than $50,000 per year. Sunnyside Yard is bounded by Northern Boulevard to … <Read More>


City Offers Payment Plans and Deferral Programs for Property Tax Payments

Department of Finance looks to ease tax burden on homeowners through deferment programs and suspension of the annual tax lien sale. On March 24, 2020, the Department of Finance announced several measures intended to assist property owners with their tax payments amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. With unprecedented unemployment rates, many throughout the city will have difficulty paying their taxes come the close of the fiscal quarter and going forward. Each of the following programs is … <Read More>


New York City Adding and Converting Facilities to Alleviate Pressure on Hospital System

USNS Comfort and Billie Jean King Tennis Center to be utilized as Corona outbreak strains hospital system. On March 31. 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, Queens will be converted into a temporary hospital facility. The facility will hold up to 350 patients and will treat COVID non ICU patients beginning on April 7th, 2020. The conversion of this facility is intended to relieve … <Read More>


Mayor Announces Passage of New Energy Code

The new code aims to improve energy efficiency for new and existing buildings as part of its Green New Deal. On February 27, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the passage of a new law that will update the existing energy code citywide in the fight against global warming. Buildings are one of the city’s greatest emitters of carbon and older buildings tend to be less energy efficient. The city is taking an aggressive approach … <Read More>


Governor Andrew Cuomo Limits Activities to Essential Businesses, Small Businesses Feeling Impact

Governor Cuomo further encouraging New Yorkers to telecommute and stay home. On March 18, 2020,  the Empire State Development Corporation issued guidance for Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order Number 202.6, which requires that to the maximum extent possible, all businesses and not-for profit entities throughout the state utilize work from home and telecommuting procedures. This executive order comes as an update to Executive Order 202, which, on March 7, 2020, declared a state of … <Read More>


HPD Seeks Enhanced Enforcement Against City’s Worst Buildings

HPD picked 250 buildings with over 41,000 violations for enhanced enforcement. In 2019, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) launched the Anti-Harassment Unit (AHU) to keep tenants safe and to hold owners and landlords accountable for leaving homes in disrepair. On March 4, 2020, HPD announced that the AHU filed actions for nearly $400,000 against two building owners in court. Each building owner operates three buildings in Manhattan and the … <Read More>