Samir Lavignia, the new chair of Community Board 5, is fending off charges that his Open NY group “infiltrated” the community board. His reign may be short since community boards across the city are scheduled to hold elections for new board positions in June. Photo: LinkedIn New Chair of CB5 Fends Off Charges His Open NY Group “Infiltrated” Community Board The new chair of Community Board 5, fending off charges that his housing advocacy group had illicitly infiltrated the board... Home 04 Apr 2024 | 09:06
Construction on the East Side’s Soloviev Group casino or any of the other four or five outlets seeking to land a license to erect and build multi-use casino’s in Manhattan–are probbly two years away after the state Gaming Commission said it won’t even begin accepting applications until next year. Photo: Soloviev Group/Artists Rendition. Casino Gambling Licenses Now Look to be Two Years Away Casino gambling is still coming to the New York City area. Just not so fast. That was the message from the state’s Gaming... News 28 Mar 2024 | 08:04
The artists rendition of a $12 billion casino that developers hope to build in Hudson Yards overlooking the Hudson River. Photo: Related and Wynn Resorts Hudson Yards $12 Billion Gambling Mecca Plan Unveiled by Developer and Casino Partner It will be, its developers say, the biggest thing ever on the West Side. Maybe because they never built Westway? The project,... News 15 Mar 2024 | 01:43
Eric Botcher, nyc council member representing Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen and parts of the Village, is teaming with Brooklyn Borough president Antonio Reynoso in a new push to overcome NIMBY-ism and seek residential housing across the city to avert looming crisis. Photo: Office of the Brooklyn Borough President/ District 3 City Council. Crisis Looming: With Only 8,000 New Housing Starts Last Yr, Politicos Seek Residential Push The solution to the Great City’s acute housing shortage seems, at one level, obvious. Build more housing. But since real estate... News 18 Feb 2024 | 07:51
Sadik Topia, who operated a newsstand on the corner of W. 79th St. and Broadway for 23 years, was forced by the City Departmet of Consumer Affairs to shut down in a dispute over unpaid fines. Mayor Adams said he would try to help if he could. City Council member Gale Brewer held a press conference supporting him on Jan. 25 on the corner where he once operated the newsstand. Photo: Michael Oreskes Beloved News Stand Operator Still Shut Down as Council Member Brewer Pushes Cause With the Adams administration sympathetic but unyielding to calls that it forgive or reduce the fines that have shut popular... News 26 Jan 2024 | 06:18
Mayor Eric Adams said he will “do anything in my power” to help beleaguered newsstand dealer Sadik Topia The city evicted Topia from the newsstand that he operated for 23 years at the corner of W. 79th and Broadway in a dispute over fines and penalties that have reached $94,000. Photo: Keith J. Kelly Mayor Vows He Will Try to Help Newsstand Operator Being Hit with $94,000 in Fines Mayor Adams said Tuesday he would do anything “within my powers” to get Sadik Topia back to work at his shuttered West Side... News 24 Jan 2024 | 01:03
Sadik Topia holds a copy of the West Side Spirit which highlighted his plight on a front page story last week. Photo: Michael Oreskes UWS Residents Rallying to Support News Dealer the City is Trying to Shut Down Sadik Topia admits he made mistakes, pleads one of his neighbors, Bette Kerr. He sold e-cigarettes he should not have been... Home 21 Jan 2024 | 05:57
409 Edgecomb Ave., in the Sugar Hill neighborhood in Harlem, has been surrounded by a “temporary” sidewalk shed for a record setting 17 years. ( Photo via Google Street View ) Spirit of Shed Regs Subverted by Landlords Who Leave Them Up for Years: Report They stretch over, and obscure, more than 380 miles of New York sidewalks, in total. There are now nearly 9,000 of them and... News 11 Dec 2023 | 02:27
The sparking new escalators at Penn Station may all come tumbling down in a few years when a major renovation of the entire station stakes place. Photo: Amtrak Stairway to where exactly? It would be a clear case of New York jadedness to call the spanking new Seventh Avenue entrance to Penn Station a stairway... Voices 24 Nov 2023 | 02:17
The Gardenia Italian deli and the Molly Wee Pub are among the small businesses that would be forced to move if the block south of the current Penn Station is demolished to make way for the new Hudson rail tunnel. Photo: Keith J. Kelly Activist Demands Big 3 RRs Hold Public Review to Avoid Demolishing Biz Near Penn The railroads that operate at Penn Station should conduct an independent, and public, review of whether they really need... Home 16 Nov 2023 | 08:07
Senator Chuck Schumer said the federal government is increasing its funding of the Hudson rail bridge known as the Gateway Project to 70 percent at a groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 3. Photo: Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul Groundbreaking for Hudson Rail Tunnel Draws Politicos and Protestors Officials announced a major step forward on building a new Hudson river tunnel that would double the number of trains that... News 06 Nov 2023 | 10:23
Caroline Hirsh, founder of the legendary Caroline’s on Broadway which closed earlier this year, is expanding the New York Comedy Festival to venues across Manhattan and the outer boroughs. Photo: NYC Mayor’s Press Office NY Comedy Festival Opens: Just What We Need In These Troubled Times The Talmud and stand up comedy can sometimes evoke each other, as if the Ten Commandments were handed down from the Catskills.... News 30 Oct 2023 | 05:09
The congestion pricing zone is set, but not the price motorists will have to pay to enter anywhere in Manhattan below 60th Street starting next spring. An MTA committee is mulling prices and exemptions prior to the new toll going into effect. Photo: Community Board 8 Congestion Pricing Details Begin to Emerge as MTA Committee Wrestles with Exemptions The daily struggle just to get subway and bus riders from here to there can easily overshadow the MTA’s new push for a larger... News 10 Oct 2023 | 05:58
The early plan from the Governor’s office to use tax revenue from new office towers around Penn Station was scuttled when Vornado Realty Trust said it was only going to complete two of the towers and halt the others due to the soft commercial office market. Photo: Keith J. Kelly Pressure Mounts on Gov. Hochul to Develop New Plan for Penn Station A coalition of civic and community groups pressed Governor Kathy Hochul to get more directly involved in determining the... News 29 Sep 2023 | 02:17
Ann Kirschner, the new president at Hunter College, meets with students at the start of the fall semester. The college with 24,000 students is one of the most diverse student bodies in the country, she says. Photo: Courtesy Hunter College Tech Entrepreneur Turned Educator Tackles New Job as Hunter College’s New Pres From the outside, Hunter College looks more like a Manhattan office tower than a university. But step inside and it is instantly... News 25 Sep 2023 | 12:34