One big problem with Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), experts say, is that they’re not laws, but rather private contracts between a developer and community groups. And if those groups aren’t around to hold a developer accountable—or the developer isn’t around and there’s no successor clause—there’s little anyone else can do to enforce an agreement.
When COVID-19 hit, policymakers saw an opportunity: The city had interconnected affordable housing and homelessness crises; the city also had hundreds of empty hotels hemorrhaging cash. But a year after the state passed a law funding the conversion of hotels to affordable housing, not a single one has happened. The experience of the Paramount Hotel on West 46th Street illustrates why.
The number of available apartments for low- and middle- income New Yorkers reached a 30-year low in 2021, according to the results of a vacancy survey used to determine whether rent stabilization laws will remain in place in the five boroughs.
Tenant attorneys, advocates and policymakers say the delays that Nichols has encountered demonstrate the flaws of the city’s code enforcement program, and the limits of a housing court system that can move at a glacial pace when it comes to holding owners accountable for unsafe conditions.
“Concerns about the creation of ‘mega jails’ have hounded the plans to close the jails on Rikers Island since before the historic vote in 2019. It has served as a useful boogeyman for opponents of the Rikers closure plan, especially in Manhattan. It’s also a fabrication.”
“The Carbon Free and Healthy Schools plan would be transformational: it would institute energy audits and retrofits of each school, repair and replace HVAC systems, invest in climate resiliency upgrades, and electrify our fleet of school buses. It would make use of schools’ large rooftops to generate solar power and increase school buildings’ overall energy efficiency.”
Those convicted of a crime prosecuted by the Manhattan District Attorney can apply to have their closed case reviewed by the new Post-Conviction Justice Unit (PCJU), what reform-minded DA Alvin Bragg called a “significant priority” for his office. “If you’ve committed the wrong person, there’s someone else out there who’s still doing harm.”
“It’s easy to cast all opposition to developments as NIMBY, but this ignores crucial racial and economic differences between neighborhoods and disparities in who has the power to decide the future of their communities.”
“Our elected officials are threatening hard-fought reforms designed to counteract the historic – and present – racism in law enforcement that targets my neighbors and eventually will target my son. Meanwhile, they fail to invest in our communities.”
The Adams administration has touted Safe Havens as an alternative for those who would rather sleep outside than in a traditional homeless shelter. But there are too few of the facilities to accommodate the majority of unsheltered New Yorkers.
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