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.
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.
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.
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…)
Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
The agreement will result in more frequent maintenance services and repairs, benefitting nearly 400,000 NYCHA residents. On April 9, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Teamsters Local 237 President Greg Floyd announced that the City has reached an agreement for a tentative contract with the union for fair wages and work schedules for maintenance workers. The agreement secures fair wages for approximately 1,000 NYCHA maintenance workers and approximately 350 maintenance workers at various other City agencies. The agreement is retroactive and covers a period from December 17, 2017 through January 1, 2022. It is part of the de Blasio administration’s promise to restore a productive relationship with the City’s workforce.
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