Cadman Plaza Park, Brooklyn, almost completely empty on a sunny spring day. Image Credit: CityLand

Team sports are prohibited and recreation centers are currently closed to the public, but parks remain open. City and State governments continue the fight to control the spread of the coronavirus, instituting policies to encourage and enable as many people to stay at home as possible. Understanding the challenges of asking citizens to spend as much time as possible indoors as the weather continues to improve, the City aimed to keep City parks open as an outlet for physical exercise. (read more…)

Aerial View of Rikers Island Photo Credit: US Geological Survey

The City wastes little time in efforts to shutter Rikers Island and get construction across the boroughs started. Since the latter half of November, the City announced three major developments in the Borough-Based Jails plan. Each announcement is discussed in further detail below. To read more about Borough-Based Jails, read Cityland’s prior coverage here.

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Rendering of proposed flood resiliency infrastructure./Image Credit: DDC, Parks, DOT, DEP, and Mayor’s Office of Resiliency/CPC

Despite the project’s phased construction schedule, concerns with the project still exist among elected officials and community members. On November 4, 2019, the City Council Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Dispositions approved two land use applications for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, the City’s flood protection plan for Lower Manhattan. The Project will include a system of floodgates and walls along the project area, sewage improvements, and will elevate East River Park eight feet above the flood plain to protect the Park and have it serve as a flood barrier for nearby neighborhoods. The first application is for access onto private property adjacent to the proposed flood protection infrastructure for the City to conduct inspections, maintenance, and repair of the infrastructure. The second application is for a zoning text amendment to allow higher wall heights for the proposed floodwalls and gates at Stuyvesant Cove Park.

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Speaker Corey Johnson Image Credit: CityLand

After modifications and a lengthy Stated Meeting, Borough Based Jails passed despite significant opposition. On October 17, 2019, the City Council voted to approve the City’s Borough Based Jails System application with modifications. The approved plan includes four jail facilities located at 124-125 White Street in Manhattan, 745 East 141st Street in the Bronx, 126-02 82nd Avenue in Queens and at 275 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and closure of the Rikers Island detention facility.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie visit a residence in the Bronx where tree roots have damaged the sidewalk. Image Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

The City will stop issuing violations to homeowners for damage caused by street trees. On September 10, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the City will stop issuing violations to homeowners for damage caused by city street trees. Over the next three years, the Department of Transportation and Parks Department plans to boost sidewalk repairs under the Trees and Sidewalks program to address approximately 5,500 priority sites throughout the City. (read more…)

Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image Credit: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office.

The federal government proposed a rule that would bar mixed-immigration status families from accessing rental subsidies. On July 9, 2019, the de Blasio Administration announced that it submitted formal comments to the federal government in opposition to a proposed rule that would result in eviction of thousands of New Yorkers from federally-assisted housing based on the tenants’ immigration status. (read more…)