Delivered Monday, August 5, 2019
It’s great to be here today, but, as you know, all development in Manhattan is controversial!
Thank you to EDC, Council Member Rivera and my friend Andrew Rasiej. I have supported this project since its inception because since my days as Chair of the City Council’s Technology Committee, I have understood what technology can mean for this city and its residents. Technology can re-shape government,… Read more READ: My remarks at the 14th Street Tech Training Center groundbreaking
Delivered Monday, August 5, 2019
It’s great to be here today, but, as you know, all development in Manhattan is controversial!
Thank you to EDC, Council Member Rivera and my friend Andrew Rasiej. I have supported this project since its inception because since my days as Chair of the City Council’s Technology Committee, I have understood what technology can mean for this city and its residents. Technology can re-shape government,… Read more Court rules in Brewer lawsuit: calls for Two Bridges projects to undergo ULURP
I’m please to report that NY Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron has ruled in favor of our lawsuit against the Two Bridges project. He agreed with us that the Two Bridges developments will have a ‘huge’ impact on the neighborhood, and must undergo the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) process.
In his opinion, Judge Engoron recognized that “…evading a required ULURP irreparably harms a community…” and that “…ULURP is… Read more Grant deadlines extended to August 16
The deadlines for applications for both the Manhattan Community Award Program (MCAP) and the Manhattan Counts 2020 Census initiative have been extended to August 16.
The MCAP provides funding awards of up to $3,500 to nonprofit organizations and public schools. Each award is contracted through one of four city agencies selected by the applicant: Dept. for the Aging, Dept. of Correction, Dept. of Education, and the Dept. of Health and… Read more Announcing the Winners of the Seaport Community Mural Project!
My office and the New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) are pleased to announce the winning designs in our Seaport Community Mural Project. These designs will be applied to structures that are part of the Interim Flood Protection Measures (IFPM) program, which will be installed along South Street in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport neighborhood. Below are the winners.
Andrea Bass, New York, NY:
Brenda Berkman, New York, NY:
Ebony Bolt,… Read more Fresh Food for Seniors expands into lower Manhattan
Hundreds of seniors across Manhattan have been taking advantage of my Fresh Food for Seniors program. They’re supporting local agriculture and eating healthier by ordering $8 bags of fresh fruit and vegetables (a $15 value). At the start of this season, I announced that we would be expanding into lower Manhattan and I’m pleased to share that deliveries in our new program area have begun at three locations: Southbridge Towers,… Read more Protecting the East Side from climate change
Climate change and sea level rise threaten the safety and prosperity of New York City. We have to think big—and act fast—if we’re to have any chance of blunting its effects. That’s why, after holding a public hearing in July and considering hours of community testimony, I supported the city’s East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project, with many conditions, in my formal ULURP recommendation.
Developed as part of a… Read more Illegal ticket hawkers at Battery Park
Staten Island Borough President James Oddo and I convened a meeting with the Mayor’s Office, city agencies, and community stakeholders to address the illegal ticket vending issue that has been plaguing the Battery, Peter Minuit Plaza, and the southern portion of Battery Park City for several years. Individual vendors, frequently using harassment and occasionally force, have continued to peddle ferry and boat tour tickets to Liberty Island, Ellis Island, and… Read more Victory on retail vacancies database
You can’t fix a problem when you can’t measure it. We’ve all noticed scores of empty storefronts in our daily travels around the city; many have been vacant for years.
That’s why my bill to create a city database of empty properties, co-sponsored with City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Member Helen Rosenthal and passed in July, is a great start in trying to solve this problem. The… Read more READ: My speech at City and State’s Manhattan Power 100 event
Delivered July 16, 2019.
I’m honored to be here tonight—not just because I’m a big fan of City & State, but because local journalism is important to our democracy—and our democracy has never needed journalism more.
I’m especially honored by Sheena Wright’s introduction. Her leadership of the United Way supports New Yorkers in so many ways—I’m humbled by her efforts and that of her staff and affiliates. And both of… Read more Help your neighborhood recycle more! Join the Manhattan Paper Recycling Challenge.
100% of the paper that Department of Sanitation trucks collect in Manhattan’s is barged to Pratt Industries’ recycling mill on Staten Island where the paper is “pulped” and then used by their corrugated plant nearby and fabricated into new paper products, resulting in a rare sustainable “closed loop.” (Approximately 15% of NYC pizza boxes are made right there!)
But the plants have excess capacity—so Pratt Industries, the plants’ owner, is… Read more 
