The City of New York has finally agreed to pay Occupy Wall Street for the property destroyed in the Zuccotti Park police raid on Nov. 15, 2011.
OWS initiated a suit on May 24, 2012, seeking compensation for the destruction of their People’s Library—a collection of over 5,000 donated books. About 3,600 of these were Read More
Have you ever wished that there was a better way to keep up-to-date with all the developments and trends over at the Department of Buildings?
There might not be a whole lot of us, but fortunately, the Department of Buildings is always anticipating the needs and desires of its heavy-users (well, some of our needs and desires—we’re awaiting the day when we can see actually see PDFs of building plans online). They’ve started producing a monthly podcast! It’s called State of Construction. Read More
You know, we’re starting to think it’s not a coincidence that all these dolphins have started showing up in New York’s bodies of (filthy) water. After all, in the past decade there’s been an uptick in marine life just kind of moseying into our rivers and canals, mostly with tragic results.
But this weekend’s sighting of not one but two bottlenose dolphins in the East River–both apparently in fine health, from what experts can see–shows that maybe the creatures can survive in these unsanitary conditions … at least for a little while. Which is pretty perfect metaphor for college students’ NYC migration habits, when you think about it. Read More
Despite the prevalence of iphones and macbook pros and the endless stream of streaming devices, the retro-loving hipsters of Kings county still love going to the movies. Williamsburg has welcomed two new movie theaters in as many years—Nitehawk and Williamsburg Cinemas. There are video bars/screening rooms (Videology) and resurrected video stores retooled as hubs of film culture (Video Free Brooklyn) and owners pouring cash ($1.8 million into aging, much-maligned Pavilion Theater in Park Slope).
The borough of Queens, however, is not faring so well. The Sunnyside Post reports that Sunnyside Center Cinema’s days are limited as a new owner has bought the building on the corner of Queens Boulevard and 43rd Street. The new owner has not announced plans for the building, but it’s most likely a teardown as the annual income of $326,000 barely covers the debt servicing. The Cinema’s lease runs through December 2014. Read More
Aside from their adherence to sidewalk etiquette and an affinity for one-handing pizza, when they put their feet to the street New Yorkers may not differ as much from their touristy brethren as they thought they did.
A New York Post survey of 100 New Yorkers showed that an overwhelming number don’t know where basic Big Apple landmarks are, making them little better than the confused Times Square tourists trying to navigate the city.
Apparently, only 32 percent of New York residents know where the Guggenheim is and only 21 percent can name the location of The Algonquin, the New York Post reports. Read More
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn once again finds herself in a terrible dilemma: Is she a leader, or is she simply an ambitious politician who very much wants to be mayor in 2014?
Increasingly, the answer appears to be the latter. Read More
It’s Queens’ time to shine!
Long Island City was once a barren post-industrial wasteland, but recent efforts are shifting the borough into a plausible location to live. Jet Blue flew its headquarters over two years ago and Queens Plaza is booming with real estate, but is it really New York if you aren’t living next to some college students? Read More
New York is about to be just as green as the Hudson River!
The Deputy Mayor, Cas Holloway, New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced a proposal for solar and wind power facilities in Fresh Kills on Staten Island earlier this week.
There’s a 75-acre plot of land within the massive 2,2000-acre dump-turned-public park available for lease that could be developed into a facility that generates upwards of 20 megawatts of renewable energy. That is enough to power about 6,000 homes. It will double the city’s natural energy capacity. Read More
New Yorkers have little interaction with the transportation workers that bring them from work to culinary class to preschool to home. But their presence is quintessential: subway conductors are there for the cheap rides and taxis are perfect for time crunches or corporate expense accounts. You know that MTA workers have health benefits—oh, you know all about MTA spending—but have you ever considered the health and welfare of taxi drivers? Read More
The National Low Income Housing Coalition published their “Out of Reach 2012: America’s Forgotten Housing Crisis” report this week. The report, in short, calculates the required hourly wages (at 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year) to sustain a two bedroom apartment. The report surveyed hundreds of counties, metropolitian areas, and cities across the United States, and then our buen vecino Puerto Rico.
Keep in mind that the report also stipulated that an affordable two bedroom apartment is 30 percent of your monthly income. Here are some interesting breakdowns (in hourly wages at 2080 hours a year). Read More
