All New Yorkers aged 11 and up can help decide how to spend $5 million of mayoral expense funding. On September 14, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams and Civic Engagement Commission Chair and Executive Director Dr. Sarah Sayeed announced the launch of NYC’s first ever citywide participatory budgeting process. “The People’s Money” will allow all New Yorkers ages 11 and up to decide how to spend $5 million in mayoral funds, with the goal of addressing … <Read More>

Last month, Mayor Adams announced a new plan to bring automatic, weekly curbside organic waste collection to the entire borough of Queens. Residents can order free compost bins from the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), and bins will automatically be sent to buildings with 10 or more residential units.

The city is launching two parallel public engagement campaigns, BQE Central and BQE North and South. On September 16, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced a public engagement campaign that will inform the administration’s efforts to improve the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE). With federal funding newly available through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Mayor Adams intends to finance much-needed repairs to the BQE.

Homeowners of a one, two, or three family residence are now eligible for a $150 tax rebate. On August 24, 2022, Mayor Adams signed Local Law 82 into law. The bill authorizes a one-time property tax rebate up to $150 to hundreds of thousands of eligible New York homeowners. The bill was introduced (Intro 600) and voted on by the City Council in early August, passing by a unanimous vote following a public hearing.

Multiple lawsuits have challenged both the temporary and proposed permanent open restaurant programs. On August 18, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced a new enforcement initiative with multiple city agencies to remove abandoned outdoor dining sheds. The City’s temporary open restaurants program allowed for restaurants to build outdoor shed structures on sidewalks and in roadways to allow for safer outdoor dining during the pandemic. However, some of these structures have been abandoned by restaurants that have … <Read More>

For the first time in nearly 30 years, the city is developing a plan to expand and fill gaps in greenways across all five boroughs. On August 22, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced that New York City has received a $7.5 million grant from the US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program that will be dedicated to plan for a major expansion of the greenway network citywide.