Mayor Announces Long Island City Chosen to House New Amazon Headquarters

The project will bring tens of thousands of new jobs, billions in tax revenue, and investment in infrastructure, City says. On November 13, 2018, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that Amazon has selected Long Island City, Queens for one of its two new corporate headquarters. The City has been steadily increasing investment into Long Island City, with more than $2.4 billion of planned infrastructure investments and a recently announced $180 … <Read More>


New Book Highlights Yorkville’s Historic Developments and Immigrant Roots

The illustrative book displays the rich architecture and neighborhood’s character. On November 7, 2018, FRIENDS of the Upper Side Historic Districts, a not-for-profit membership organization, will release Shaped by Immigrants: A History of Yorkville. Shaped by Immigrants: A History of Yorkville chronicles the history of development in the Yorkville neighborhood in Manhattan through the 19th and early 20th centuries, which was home to Czechoslovakian, German, Hungarian, Irish, and other immigrant groups. Their settlement is … <Read More>


Seven Buildings South of Union Square Enter Designation Process

The buildings feature various architectural styles and were home to garment manufacturers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On September 25, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to add seven buildings to its calendar for consideration as individual landmarks. The buildings are located at 817 Broadway, 826 Broadway, 830 Broadway, 832 Broadway, 836 Broadway, 840 Broadway, and 841 Broadway. All of the buildings are south of Union Square in Manhattan. 


Needed: Large Venues for Large Protest/Rallies in New York City

Peaceful protests, protected by the First Amendment, are fundamental to our constitutional system and to democracy. Peaceful protest marches and rallies have been instrumental in bringing about significant change in racial, gender, LGBTQ and economic equality; reproductive rights; climate policy; capital punishment; housing; criminal justice, and voting rights. Yet in recent years appropriate venues have been unavailable for large peaceful protests, raising the question of whether City practices inappropriately limit the exercise of First Amendment … <Read More>


669 Affordable Units Preserved in New York City Neighborhoods

Preservation of Section 8 properties will prevent conversion to market-rate housing. On August 15, 2018, the Housing Preservation and Development, the Housing Development Corporation, and the LIHC Investment Group announced the preservation of 669 units of project-based Section 8 housing in high-cost City neighborhoods where similar buildings have been converted to market-rate housing.


New Development Proposed At Site Of Deadly Gas Explosion

Public speakers and commissioners sought to ensure that deaths in 2015 catastrophe suitably memorialized. Landmarks considered an application to build a new development on two lots at 119-121 Second Avenue at its July 10, 2018, meeting. The empty lots are the site of a 2015 explosion, caused by an illegal gas set-up, which killed two people, caused multiple injuries, and destroyed three buildings. The site lies in the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District<Read More>