Mayor Appoints Jimmy Oddo as DOB Commissioner; Molly Wasow Park as DSS Commissioner

On April 27, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced his appointments for Commissioners for the Department of Buildings and Department of Social Services. Jimmy Oddo will be the new commissioner of the Department of Buildings, and Molly Wasow Park will be the new commissioner for the Department of Social Services, after serving as Acting Commissioner since March 2023. 

Jimmy Oddo – Department of Buildings Commissioner

Jimmy Oddo received a bachelor’s degree in history from Fordham University <Read More>


Council Passes Bill Requiring More Rigorous Customer Service Training for Shelter Personnel

On April 16, 2023, NYC adopted Local Law 49 of 2003. The new law was originally introduced as Int. 431 in 2002 by Council Member Rafael Salamanca. Local Law 49 will require the Department of Homeless Services to provide biannual customer service training to employees working in the city’s homeless shelters. The law was enacted just months after a Venezuelan asylum seeker in a shelter was struck in the face by a DHS officer in … <Read More>



Council Passes Bill for More Data on Families With Children in Shelters

On February 2, 2023, the New York City Council approved Local Law 26, which would more closely monitor the status of the City’s most vulnerable families—those who live in shelters. The new law was originally introduced in 2022 by Council Member Kevin C. Riley as Introduction 421. Local Law 26 now requires the NYC Department of Homeless Services to report more regularly on the status of families with children living in shelters.


Officials Break Ground on New Affordable, Supportive, and Transitional Housing in East New York

On December 14, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul announced the start of construction of Logan Fountain, a new mixed-use development in East New York that will bring affordable, supportive transitional housing and retail space to the site of a defunct gas station. The new development will be located at 265 Logan Street. 


HPD Announces “Just Home” Project For Critically Ill Recently Released Rikers Detainees

With approximately 70 studios, the development will house patients with medical needs like congestive heart failure and end-stage renal disease after they leave jail. On August 19, 2022, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and NYC Health + Hospitals announced “Just Home,” a housing project in Morris Park, Bronx geared towards formerly incarcerated New Yorkers.