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In a recent speech during the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York Winter Conference, Governor Cuomo vowed to veto any 421-a legislation that doesn’t include protections for union labor. The governor said that the exclusion of a prevailing wage provision is “the camel’s nose under the tent” that may lead to weaker labor unions across the country.

The city council recently enacted a bill that would require street numbers to be placed on every side of a building that contains an entrance primarily used for day-to-day pedestrian ingress or egress. The bill is currently awaiting the mayor’s signature before becoming law.

The Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings’ Environmental Control Board (OATH ECB) is proposing to repeal its buildings penalty schedule, which consists of Buildings Penalty Schedule I and Buildings Penalty Schedule II. This schedule is found in 48 RCNY § 3-103, and contains penalties for violations of Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York (RCNY) and Titles 27 and 28 of the New York City Administrative Code. At the same time, DOB is also proposin...

The City Council recently passed a package of bills intended to make it harder for the police to evict tenants committing nuisances such as drug dealing. The mayor is expected to sign the package.

The NYC Commission on Human Rights recently announced five complaints filed against large owners and brokerage firms for repeatedly refusing to accept housing vouchers. The complaints allege discrimination against prospective tenants based on their lawful source of income, a violation of the NYC Human Rights Law. The complaints followed investigations proactively conducted by the commission and were the results of tips from prospective tenants and the commission’s...

The New York City Council is expected to introduce a package of bills aimed at addressing the increasing number of accidents and fatalities in the construction industry. The city recorded 24 construction deaths over a two-year period—11 each year for workers and two passersby. The city includes only what is in its purview to monitor, and excludes things like medical conditions or heat stroke.

According to new data from the city’s Department of Finance (DOF), the total tentative market value for all assessed properties in New York City increased to $1.157 trillion this year, an 8.74 percent increase from 2016, when the total crossed $1 trillion for the first time.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams recently joined affected tenants and housing lawyers in announcing a lawsuit based on data from a technology partnership that monitors heating-related harassment in Brooklyn apartment buildings. They discussed how residents across the borough are utilizing sensors from Heat Seek NYC, the winner of the NYC BigApps 2014 contest, to remotely track the temperature in their homes during the winter months.

According to the DOB, there are 9,000 sidewalk sheds in NYC. They are installed to protect people from falling masonry and other debris. However, some feel they are staying up too long. City Councilman Ben Kallos, who represents the Upper East Side, recently proposed a new law that would give building owners three months, with the possibility of a three-month extension, to make repairs and remove scaffolding and sidewalk sheds. If the work isn’t completed in that ...

The Regional Plan Association, an urban research and advocacy organization, recently came out with a new report that draws attention to the threat to the New York metropolitan area from sea level rise cause by climate change. The report is called “Under Water: How Sea Level Rise Threatens the Tri-State Region.” The report identifies the places in the New York area that are most at risk of being permanently flooded, and describes the effects of one, three, an...