City Planning Creates Plan Responding to Bushwick’s Rapid Development

The plan will address community concerns including affordable housing, open space, transportation safety, and economic development. On April 24, 2019, Department of City Planning Director Marisa Lago released the Bushwick Neighborhood Plan Update. The plan was created in response to the neighborhood’s rapid development, population growth, resident displacement, and lack of affordable housing from an increase in market-rate construction.


City Planning Certifies City Applications to Build Borough-Based Jails

The four jails are set to replace Rikers island by 2027. On March 25, 2019, the City Planning Commission certified the City’s application for four borough-based jails as a part of the City’s plan to shut down Rikers Island. The four jails – in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn – will have a total of 5,748 beds and a capacity of 5,000 inmates. The additional 748 beds will be used to account for taking … <Read More>


Closing Rikers Island: A Catalyst for Criminal Justice Reform

Former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, speaking at a CityLaw Breakfast on January 23, 2019, powerfully argued that the time has come to close Rikers Island, New York City’s notorious jail located on an island in the East River. Judge Lippman’s remarks echoed the 2017 recommendations of the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform which Judge Lippman chaired. Judge Lippman spoke at the breakfast in a question and <Read More>


City Develops Plan to Protect Lower Manhattan’s Shoreline from Climate Change Impacts

The project will include the expansion of the Lower Manhattan shoreline and four capital projects devoted to the resiliency of Lower Manhattan neighborhoods. On March 14, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) Project. The project is one of the City’s responses to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy was a turning point for the City to tackle infrastructure resiliency. Hurricane Sandy resulted in $19 billion of devastation for … <Read More>


City Planning Approves Application for Supportive and Affordable Housing in East New York

The new building will have 43 apartments for formerly homeless individuals. On January 9, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve an application for the development of a seven-story residential building at 461 Alabama Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. The City Planning Commission held a public hearing for the application on December 5, 2018. The applicant team consisted of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, CB Emmanuel Realty LLC, … <Read More>


COMPLETE VIDEO – Open Space Dialogues: From Vacant to Vibrant

On November 19, 2018, New York Law School hosted New Yorkers for Parks for their Open Space Dialogues: From Vacant to VibrantThis installment of the Open Space Dialogues explored the ways New Yorkers have and want to, create nontraditional open spaces in unusual places, from a single lot or tunnel to entire neighborhoods and whole islands. The event was kicked off by Center for New York City Law Associate Director Brian Kaszuba, who … <Read More>