On October 17, 2019, the City Council approved a plan to replace Rikers Island. A month earlier, Allen P. Cappelli, a member of the City Planning Commission, had voted with the 9-3 majority in favor of the application. Cappelli called Rikers Island an “absolute abomination” and in need of “shuttering.” Cappelli’s vote reflected four decades of public service.
On November 25, 2019, the Center for New York City Law welcomed New Yorkers for Parks back to New York Law School for another installment of Open Space Dialogues. The event was kicked off by Executive Director of new Yorkers for Parks Lynn B. Kelly, with welcoming remarks by Center for New York City Law’s Associate Director Brian J. Kaszuba, Esq. The topic of the evening was “Neighborhoods Facing Change.”
How to collect your fall leaves and properly dispose of yard waste. Autumn has arrived, and with it, the annual plethora of fallen leaves in every shape, color and size. A New York City resident or commercial business owner is responsible for keeping sidewalk areas free from any obstruction that could impede pedestrian traffic. This begs the question, does such a requirement include a responsibility to rake, collect and set out fall foliage?
de Blasio Administration educates tenants on Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act. On October 21, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the launch of a campaign to educate tenants on their new rights under the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. The Mayor’s Office designed the advertisements to protect tenants and give New York City renters the information they need to hold their landlords accountable.
Comptroller’s office analyzes other sources of data, concluding retail vacancy is citywide problem. On September 25, 2019, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released a report regarding New York City’s retail vacancy crisis. Comptroller Stringer’s report is intended to fill a void in unexplored data from City Planning’s August 8, 2019, analysis of the same topic.
The City uses ingenuity to make use of City owned spaces in flood plain. On September 25, 2019 City Planning unanimously approved an application to facilitate the construction of resilient housing and create open spaces on 141 city-owned properties, purchased in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The properties involved sustained a level of storm and flood damage equal to at least half their respective value.