When the Brownsville Community Justice Center won a small city grant to erect an informational kiosk beneath the elevated 3 train tracks last fall, it seemed like a fun project for the group’s youth photography club. No one expected it … Continue reading
When New York state’s 421-a tax break program came crashing down early last year amid a standoff between developers and construction unions over wages, there were mixed feelings among many housing advocates. On the one hand, 421-a had been a … Continue reading
At a Sunset Park “visioning meeting” for Mayor de Blasio’s Brooklyn-Queens Connector waterfront streetcar plan last June, one local resident responded with exasperation when asked by a city official how new transit would help his neighborhood. “You should get the … Continue reading
The city’s venerable 421-a tax break for housing development, which expired last January and which Governor Cuomo now wants to renew and expand, has long come under fire from housing advocates as an insanely inefficient way to spur new residential … Continue reading
When Governor Cuomo called in to NY1 on the afternoon after Election Day to recount the “good conversation” he had had with our surprise president-elect, he made clear that he felt the downside of a Trump administration (as he put … Continue reading
Of the many, many strong feelings people have about the looming Trump administration, few are related to potential infrastructure policy. In fact, the president-elect’s position on the matter—as he inimitably declared in his acceptance speech, “We’re going to rebuild our … Continue reading
Last week, as the shape of the new White House regime started to become clear, I interviewed three experts in national politics to ask them what they expect to be the initial fallout from Trumpism, and what Americans who are aghast at this can do about it. … Continue reading
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for giving “voice to the voiceless” on international social justice issues, wrote an op-ed in yesterday’s Times (10/30/16) arguing for increased government action on poverty. His … Continue reading
When the construction firm AECOM proposed a sea of new apartment towers for Red Hook last month — and an extension of the 1 train under the East River to better connect the subway-inaccessible neighborhood to transit — it raised … Continue reading
Last Tuesday, on the heels of his worst week as governor, Andrew Cuomo unveiled yet another new plan to renovate the catacomb of misery known as Penn Station. On the surface, Cuomo’s announcement to build a new station using the … Continue reading