By Ili Pecullan
Weighing in on land use decisions is one of the key responsibilities of a borough president in New York City, and several land use themes came up in a recent debate among the three Democrats running this year to become the next Manhattan Borough President.
The debate among Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Keith Powers, and Calvin Sun was hosted June 3 at New York Law School by its Center for New York City and … <Read More>
On May 12, 2025, the Department of Buildings celebrated the return of the annual No-Penalty Inspection Program. Now in its 20th year, the summer program offers free safety inspections for homeowners, small business owners, and small landlords citywide. The visual inspections help owners address concerns about safety and conditions on their properties and guidance on how to begin fixing issues.
On April 21, 2025, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander’s Office released a new report that reveals substantial racial inequities in how the Department of Buildings enforces rules for owners of one- and two-family homes.
An audit of the top ten community districts for penalties showed that homeowners in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods incurred significant fines for building code violations. These penalties were often for unpermitted alterations and default judgments and usually stemmed from … <Read More>
On March 31, 2025, New York City Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue and other critical stakeholders announced the City has amended a rule to increase penalties for unlawful dumping on Parks properties. An amendment to Section 1-07 of NYC Parks rules, effective March 31, raises the prior $1,000 penalty for a first-time illegal dumping offense to $5,000. There is also a $10,000 fine for each subsequent illegal dumping violation occurring within twelve months of the initial … <Read More>
By Mark Chiusano
For part two of Cityland’s candidate questionnaire on public space, we asked how the top Democratic mayoral hopefuls would reform the way New York City makes many land use decisions. [Read part one: Outdoor Dining, Open Streets, & Trash Containerization: Where Democratic Mayoral Candidates Stand on Public Space Issues]
By Mark Chiusano
With the 2025 New York City mayoral race in full swing, CityLand sent a brief, initial list of questions to major contenders for the Democratic nomination to get an idea of where the candidates stand on several key public space issues that have been the source of policy shifts and public debate over the last several years: outdoor dining, Open Streets, and trash containerization. The next mayor’s stance on these — and … <Read More>