City Planning Data Shows Lower Storefront Vacancy Post-Pandemic

On November 15, 2024, Department of City Planning (DCP) Director Dan Garodnick released new data showing the city’s storefront vacancy rate is down to 11.1 percent. This marks the fourth straight quarter of declining vacancy.

In comparison, a survey of 24 corridors across the city during summer 2020 showed inactivity rates of over 30 percent. Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island all have borough-wide vacancy rates below nine percent, although some higher vacancy rates persist, … <Read More>


Can Alternate Side Parking Be Fixed?

By Mark Chiusano

There are countless ways to demonstrate the forever-controversial nature of alternate side parking (ASP) in New York City, but only one involves Mayor Ed Koch’s voice whining from a mechanical street sweeper.

That was the gimmick the then-mayor unveiled in 1988 to encourage illegally parked cars to move, so the street sweepers could clean. “Get it outta here,” his tape-recorded voice implored. 

It’s just one example of how alternate side parking – <Read More>



New York’s Holiday Season 2024: What’s Happening

Happy holidays! As the 2024 holiday season begins in New York City, CityLand is delighted to present our annual guide on some of New York’s seasonal highlights.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade will be held live on Thursday, November 28 from 8:30 AM to noon. The event will also be televised on NBC and streaming on Peacock. For more information about the parade route, click here.



Could Public Space Stewards Help Make New York City More Livable?

By Mark Chiusano

For obvious reasons I was recently revisiting a small controversy over the usage of public space in a certain midtown Manhattan building: Trump Tower.

In 2016, Donald Trump and New York City went back and forth over whether the building had to keep some public benches in the lobby. During construction decades earlier, the tower had been allowed to rise higher in exchange for a little bit of public space (some of <Read More>