Op-Ed Response: Pandemic May Necessitate Mail-In Ballots

The following is an op-ed in response to Professor Ross Sandler’s Commentary regarding mail-in ballots and the election. To read that piece, click here

I think Ross Sandler makes some very good points in this editorial on mail-in ballots.  I think, however, that we have an exceptional situation with this year’s election.  Part of the problem in thinking about the mail-in ballot issue is that it takes a fair amount of time to undertake … <Read More>


Landmarks Votes to Designate Manida Street HD

The designation created the 150th historic district in New York City. On June 23, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to create the Manida Street Historic District in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. The designation followed support from local residents, community activists, and elected officials who wanted to preserve 42 semi-detached brick houses along Manida Street from Garrison to Lafayette Avenues. 


Landmarks Approves New Three Story Residential Building in Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights HD

The building’s ground-floor storefront design was inspired by the commercial storefronts seen on the block. On June 9, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to issue a binding report for the construction of a new three-story residential building on a vacant lot located at 358 Malcolm X Boulevard, Brooklyn. The vacant lot is located within the Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District. The proposal is part of a Department of Housing and Preservation Development affordable housing … <Read More>



Nail Salons, Personal Services Reopen as Part of Phase 3

Indoor dining is still suspended. On July 6, 2020, New York City entered Phase 3 of its reopening. Phase 3 allows personal services like nail salons, spas, tanning salons, massage parlors and tattoo parlors to reopen, as well as courts for sports in City parks. The “personal services” industry under Phase 3 does not include hair salons and barbershops, which were allowed to reopen under Phase 2. 


CityLaw Profile: Elizabeth Fine, General Counsel, Empire State Development Corporation

Elizabeth Fine became General Counsel and Executive Vice-President of the Empire State Development Corporation in 2014 after a long career of government service. Fine grew up in New Haven, Washington D.C., and Lima, Peru. Her family eventually settled in the Boston area, where Fine graduated Brookline High School. Jonathan Fine, Elizabeth’s father, had worked in Lima for the Agency for International Development while her mother, Edith W. Fine, was an administrator for the Peace Corp. … <Read More>