NYC Politics 101: City lawmakers shrug off community board disapprovals
PLUS: We have a state budget!
Hot takes are my own and not the views of Manhattan Community Board 5.
What you need to know
2 stories from the last week in local and state politics:
The City Council took the next step to allow casinos in certain parts of the city. Most community boards, including mine, don’t want casinos in their neighborhoods. And with good reason– the more convenient we make gambling, the easier it is for people to become addicted. Casinos come with lots of negative side effects, and the tax revenue upside is unclear.
If I could wave a magic wand and say “no” to a downstate casino, personally I would. But if there’s an inevitable casino, maybe community members should be asking ourselves under what circumstances we’d accept it. In my time on my community board, I’ve seen that when neighbors and business come to the table to compromise, both sides are better off. If neighbors aren’t willing to come to the table, they lose the power to extract concessions. They lose all leverage when they give a blanket “no.”
Part 2 next week: some ideas for what we should demand of casinos.
The state legislature passed the budget. The budget isn’t just how resources are allocated– it also contains a ton of policy. In this year’s case, policy about housing.
Our local and state electeds have made housing the issue of 2024. State lawmakers passed a new tax break that will result in more affordable housing production. The budget also got rid of a policy limiting dense residential construction in NYC. These are steps in the right direction, even if they don’t go as far as the governor’s 2023 proposal to hold all cities accountable for housing production.
Housing policy at the city level is up next. Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of City Planning are moving forward with a proposal called City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, aiming to tackle the city’s housing crisis through zoning updates that make it easier to build. The proposal goes to community boards next, for the public to weigh in.
One more thing from the state budget…
If you’ve noticed your local CVS putting all the deodorant in glass cases, you’re not alone. The Assembly also passed a number of measures to address retail theft and public safety, including allowing prosecutors to charge thieves with grand larceny from separate thefts; making it a crime to foster the sale of stolen goods online in order to combat stolen goods crime rings; and categorizing assault on a retail worker as a felony instead of just a misdemeanor.
New things to celebrate
We love NYC for its dynamism! Great cities are always innovating, creating, and adapting.
NYC moves ahead with e-bike battery charging hub despite community board disapproval.
NYC’s Landmarks Preservation Commission approved plans for an unused newsstand near City Hall Park to become a “Street Deliverista Hub.” Delivery workers will use the space to charge their phones and e-bikes, and have a respite from bad weather. Manhattan Community Board 1 didn’t think the design fit with the historic look of the area, but the Landmarks Preservation Commission is the end decisionmaker and approved the design.
As part of a pilot for safer e-bike charging, East Village has one public charging station, and more are opening in the coming weeks in Sunset Park, Essex Market, Washington Heights, and Downtown Brooklyn.
Burmese Bites, a popular food stall in Queens, is opening their second location– in Midtown. In 2022, Burmese Bites launched as a stand in Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst, to great reviews. Manhattanites now have quicker access to a solid Burmese lunch, in a city with limited Burmese options. The new midtown kiosk is inside Mona Kitchen at 310 E. 44th Street, near Second Avenue.