As warm weather returns and the summer approaches, we are reminded that the streets, sidewalks, parks, and plazas of New York City are our civic commons. New Yorkers should be able to dance in the streets, sidewalks, and curbs if they want to.
Government
Budget Cuts Could Make it Harder for NYC Govt to Reduce Its Carbon Footprint
Mariana Simões |
The government agency tasked with ensuring city owned buildings and vehicles don’t contribute to climate change is facing a $1 billion cut to its preliminary capital commitment plan. Of those, $775 million directly impacts environmental efforts.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: As Congestion Pricing Approaches, QueensLink Must Move Forward
Andrew Lynch, Noelle Hunter and Jasper von Seeburg |
Whether in Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Forest Hills, or Rego Park, the sentiment was the same: parks are great, but transit is needed more. If there is the opportunity for both, all the better.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: Congestion Pricing is a Step Forward for NYC
Cody Lyon |
“Congestion pricing is just one of many tools that will help tame some of the city street chaos a generation of car-centric planning left us with. And one of the primary benefactors of congestion pricing will be automobile drivers themselves.”
Government
More New Yorkers Are Struggling to Afford Public Transit: Report
Jeanmarie Evelly |
Transportation and anti-poverty advocates are pushing the Adams administration to provide an extra $55 million in the next budget to expand the Fair Fares program—through which low-income New Yorkers can qualify for half-priced MetroCards—to include people earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $60,000 for a four-person household.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: NYC’s Subways Need Services, Not Soldiers
Robert Mascali |
“We can create a better environment for both the homeless and riders by setting up drop-in centers within some of the larger subway stations.”
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: In the ‘Year of Greenways,’ Let’s Insist on Equity
Hunter Armstrong, Sharon Pope-Marshall and EdMundo Martinez |
“This absence of unified design and management can compound inequality. Where some areas of the city have seen the lion’s share of the city’s attention, other areas have been and are in danger of continuing to be completely left behind.”
Government
Lawmakers Seek More Changes to NYC’s Street Vending Rules
Jeanmarie Evelly |
Two years after the passage of Local Law 18—intended to overhaul street vending regulations and add hundreds of additional licenses to the market each year—councilmembers are weighing another package of changes, including one bill that would lift the cap on licenses altogether.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: To Boost Attendance, Make School the Place to Be
Lynette Guastaferro and Jacobē Bell |
“When schools take collective ‘ownership’ of chronically absent children and commit to finding out why they’re not in school, it makes a difference.”
Government
Initial Data on Forced Removals of People Deemed Mentally Ill Spurs Demand for Details
Emma Whitford |
“Every time you try to look at a piece of what’s being said here, it opens up a Pandora’s box of questions,” said Beth Haroules, director of disability justice litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: Four Steps to End the Impasse at Penn Station
Sam Turvey |
“This is a once-in-a-century opportunity to raise New York and the entire region to new heights of greatness by getting Penn Station right. We can and must do better.”