Mayor Pushes New Plan to Combat Homelessness

Mayor’s new homelessness plan includes broad reforms in current systems and the replacement of 360 shelter cluster sites with 90 new shelters citywide. On February 28, 2017, the Mayor’s Office released a 128-page report entitled “Turning the Tide on Homelessness.” The report outlines the steps the administration will take going forward to better combat the rising homeless crisis in New York City.


City Housing Commissioner Steps Down After Three Years of Progress

Vicki Been stepped down as Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to return to academia. On January 17, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that Commissioner Vicki Been would step down to return to teaching at New York University as the Boxer Family Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Furman Center. Prior to her appointment, Been served as the Director of NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, … <Read More>


Comptroller Report Finds City Accountable for Failure to Stop the Sale of the Rivington House

In contrast to the DOI Report, the Comptroller’s Report places personal accountability on City Officials rather than the indoctrinated procedure for deed-modifications. On August 1, 2016, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer issued a Report on the removal of deed restrictions from Rivington House. The Report is the product of a five-month-long investigation conducted by the Comptroller’s Office into the City’s actions in facilitating the sale of the Rivington House—a non-profit nursing home located … <Read More>


DOI Report Exposes City’s Failure to Preserve Property Restrictions on the Rivington House

The Department of Investigation’s Report found that the City’s deed-modification procedure lacks safeguards required to ensure the removal of restrictions on formerly City-owned property is in the City’s best interest. On July 14, 2016, the Department of Investigation issued a Report finding that the actions and inactions of City officials, specifically within the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services (MOCS), the Law Department, and Mayor’s Office, facilitated the sale … <Read More>


Mayor de Blasio Releases Plans to Reform Procedures Used in Removing Restrictions on Formerly City-owned Property

The proposed reformations increase transparency and community involvement, and impose new safeguards to protect against systemic abuse. On July 8, 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a series of reformations to the procedures used in removing limitations on potential uses, or deed restrictions, from formerly City-owned property. The proposed reformations would require parcels to meet stricter criteria to be deemed eligible for their deeds to be modified, and they would increase the levels of transparency … <Read More>


Safety Lighting Completed at Boulevard Houses in Brooklyn

Installation of safety lighting part of citywide plan to reduce violence at targeted NYCHA developments. On July 13, 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Housing Authority announced the completed installation of 504 new lights to improve public safety at Boulevard Houses in East New York Brooklyn. The installation is part of the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP) which was initiated in 2014.