Eric Adams speaking at an August 17 press conference on his tripartite plan to convert a wide swath of unused office space into affordable housing. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine is to his left. ( Photo via NYC Mayor’s Office) Mayors Adams Proposes New Plans to Turn Vacant Midtown Offices Into Apartments As a grim housing shortage plaguing New York has shown no signs of abatement, Mayor Eric Adams held a Tuesday, August 17... News 20 Aug 2023 | 10:59
New Yorkers Will Soon Have to Begin Separating Food Waste as Part of New Composting Bill By next fall, Manhattanites will have to separate their food waste from the rest of their trash. The Zero Waste Act, passed... News 19 Jun 2023 | 02:00
Mayor Eric Adams takes a sledgehammer to an abandoned dining shed. He is promoting legislation that will make the sheds widely available on a seasonal basis for people who like outdoor dining–while still trying to placate other community members who find them to be a source of blight. Photo: Mayor’s Office. ( Photo via Mayor’s Office ) Dining Sheds May Become A Summer Staple. Is This Right...Or A Blight? In a concession to the restaurant industry, a bill introduced in City Council seeks to formalize the introduction of dining... News 25 May 2023 | 09:36
Tall, well-lit construction sheds may become the norm for the city’s 9,000 scaffolding installations if new regulations proposed by City Council majority leader Keith Powers and council member Erik Bottcher, Shaun Abreu, and Chris Marte become law. Manhattan, with 4,000 of the sheds, has more than any other borough. Photo: Ralph Spielman Reach for the Sky: New Scaffold Bills Call for 50% Boost in Height and New LED Lighting New bills to overhaul scaffolds that now cover 280 miles of sidewalks in New York City would force builders to make them... News 19 Mar 2023 | 10:51
Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins may have sung that a “spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,” but soon in this town a new bill introduced by Keith Powers may make chain stores carry warning labels that too much sugar is very bad for your health. Photo: Walt Disney Records Councilman Powers Takes on Sugar with Sweet Truth Act Pop Quiz: What do you and some fast-moving bacteria have in common? Surprise answer: A taste for sweets. Sugar isn’t just... News 10 Feb 2023 | 01:40
Council Member Keith Powers referenced his father’s own experience running a small business in an acknowledgement of “how hard mom-and-pop stores work to keep their doors open.” Photo by Stephen Yang / NYPost, courtesy of Keith Powers’ office Council Member Keith Powers Backs Small Biz Break Small businesses were hurting badly during the pandemic — and the way Council Member Keith Powers sees it, they ought to... News 27 Jan 2023 | 07:26
Todd J. Stein is campaigning as a community advocate. Photo courtesy of Todd J. Stein For Men Only, District Leader Race in the 76th AD Political potpourri – Welcome 2023 and all the politics that comes with it. The most hyperlocal of the political races this... Voices 30 Dec 2022 | 09:52
A rendering of what Fifth Avenue could look like, after new construction begins next year. Photo courtesy of the mayor’s office A New Vision For Fifth Avenue This winter, in a bid to encourage holiday shopping and festivities, the city transformed a stretch of Fifth Avenue from... News 21 Dec 2022 | 03:15
Dozens of protesters turned out at 250 Broadway, where City Council offices are located. Photo: Abigail Gruskin ‘The Yuck Mobile’ A mock dining shed on wheels stalled briefly in front of City Council members’ offices downtown, at 250 Broadway, in the... News 18 Nov 2022 | 10:52
Traffic on the West Side Highway near Hudson Yards. Photo: Abigail Gruskin The Crackdown On Loud Cars Is On A Roll Noise in New York City, like the vibrating drilling of construction or the booming sound of music coming from the apartment... News 30 Sep 2022 | 12:18
Central Park’s horse-drawn carriages. Photo: Sofia Cipriano Debate Rages Over Central Park Horses Last month, Queens Council Member Robert Holden introduced a bill that would replace the 68 horse carriages in Central Park... News 12 Aug 2022 | 04:03
A proposed map of newly drawn City Council districts was released on July 15. Map screenshot from the NYC Districting Commission ‘Preliminary’ City Council Redistricting Is Just That, Council Members Say City Council districts are the latest to get a major overhaul as part of a redistricting process on the heels of the latest... News 22 Jul 2022 | 02:20
Community members attended a town hall on the UES a week after the fatal shooting of Azsia Johnson. Photo: Abigail Gruskin What’s Being Done About Guns? An Upper East Side town hall grew rowdy on Wednesday night at P.S. 77 when locals implored a panel of elected officials and... Home 08 Jul 2022 | 04:36
New Council Member Julie Menin (at podium) met with New York City Department of Sanitation officials on January 12 to announce the allocation of $120,000 in the city’s fiscal year budget to increase litter basket pickups in her district. Photo: Abigail Gruskin Julie Menin’s Early Days as Council Member On the second day of the new year, now-Council Member Julie Menin took to Twitter to announce that she and her 3-year-old... Home 20 Jan 2022 | 05:00
Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim, via Flickr Council Debates Use of Propane Heaters The outdoor dining scene to which New Yorkers became accustomed during the COVID-19 pandemic now hangs in the balance, as... Home 11 Dec 2021 | 06:05
