
Mayor Adams announces his administration’s climate resiliency team. Image Credit: Ed Reed/ Mayoral Photography Office.
The combination of agencies aims to reduce redundancy and enhance integrated work. On January 31, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced his administration’s climate leadership team and changes to the City’s executive agencies that handle environmental justice. Three appointments were announced: Rohit T. Aggarwala as the chief climate officer and Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP); Vincent Sapienza as the chief operations officer of DEP; and Kitty Charles-Guzman as the executive director of the new Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ). (more…)

Credit: CityLaw
New York State in 2021 must redraw the State’s senate, assembly and congressional districts. The process will be different from the process used to draw legislative and congressional district lines in the past. Previously, the State legislature redrew the districts for its own members and for the State’s congressional members. After years of efforts to reform a process seen as too self-interested, New York State voters in 2014 approved an amendment to the State constitution that created a new Redistricting Commission that will propose new district lines to the legislature. The legislature still gets the last word, but the commission process opens the redistricting process up, provides an outside entity to act as the initial proposer, and adds guidelines for map design for fairness. (more…)

Image Credit: 2019 Charter Revision Commission
One of the five ballot questions proposes changes to the City’s land use review process. On Election Day, November 5, 2019, voters will have a say in whether to amend the City Charter by voting on five proposed ballot measures, including one that alters ULURP requirements to allow for more community input. (more…)

Image credit: New York City Council.
The 2018 New York City Charter Revision Commission, appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, recommended three proposals, all of which were approved by the voters in the November 2018 general election. The proposals related to campaign finance, civic engagement and community boards, and were largely a result of the Charter Revision Commission’s process that emphasized accessibility for all, including those who historically have not had their voices fully considered as part of the Charter revision process. The aim of the Commission was to strengthen democracy and make City government more accessible to New Yorkers. (more…)

Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a 10-year affordable housing plan that set the tone for land use in 2014. Image credit: NYC.gov
Welcome to CityLand‘s third annual top ten stories of the year! We have selected a range of our most popular and prominent stories, guest commentaries and profiles concerning New York City land use in 2014. Our third year as an online publication was marked by a new Mayor, a new Council, and a massive push to address the City’s housing shortage. We at CityLand are excited to continue providing in-depth coverage of the latest land use projects, cases, and legislation in 2015 and look forward to seeing what the year will bring. Thank you for all of your support and have a happy new year!
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