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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146 Wilson Street, Brooklyn. Image Credit: Google Maps

HPD performed an emergency excavation without giving owner time to comply. The Trustee of a family Trust hired three workers to excavate soil on the Trust’s Brooklyn property to fix an emergency condition at 146 Wilson Street, Brooklyn. The three workers were trapped when the excavation collapsed. The City Department of Buildings issued a full stop order to the Trustee for excavations without a permit. The Housing Preservation & Development Department then advised the Trustee that unless the Trust immediately obtained approval from the Buildings Department to do the work, HPD would correct the condition at the Trust’s expense. HPD gave the Trustee three days to request that Buildings approve. The Trust contacted Buildings the same day. HPD, however, commenced to correct the condition without waiting the three days. New York City subsequently billed the Trust for the remedial work in the amount of $338,592.56. (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…)

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams Image Credit: NYC City Council

Public Hearing hinges on interest rates and how property tax deferments affect the City budget. On June 18, 2020, the City Council officially introduced two bills that would defer July 1, 2020, property tax liabilities for COVID-19 impacted property owners. One bill addresses the tax liabilities of primary residences and the other addresses the tax liabilities of businesses affected by the pandemic. The bills were originally heard as preconsidered bills at the June 10, 2020, Committee on Finance public hearing.

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On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by a Police Officer while in custody of the Minneapolis Police Department. Floyd’s death has garnered a national response and has sparked groups of individuals all across the nation to gather in streets, parks and open spaces to protest systemic racism, police brutality and the injustices felt by the black community.  Floyd’s death and several other similar events have reinvigorated the discussion on law enforcement policy, criminal justice reform and the right to public assembly. (more…)