New York politics updates not about Taylor Swift
Hyper-local news from New York
Hi All,
Early voting is now underway in multiple New York special elections. In the 3rd Congressional District race to replace the fabulous fabulist George Santos, over 10,000 ballots were cast this weekend. In the Bronx’s 77th Assembly District, vacated by Latoya Joyner, the number of voters who came out was…40.
We can’t just blame the 77th District’s voters for their apathy. Why show up when it’s hard to understand what role local policy plays in influencing our cost of living, public safety, and quality of life?
On that note, here are some stories about what’s going on right outside our doors that you may have missed amidst headlines about the Super Bowl, Grammy’s, and far-right culture war freakouts. (In other words, headlines about Taylor Swift.)
The city unveiled new garbage trucks designed to automatically empty trash containers, ending the bags-on-the-street rat buffet. Thanks in large part to UWS councilman Shaun Abreu, a Community District 9 pilot of trash containerization will soon cover the whole CD en route to slowly going citywide. (In other trash news, we’re back to the baseline of sidewalk bin service after the mayor scrapped his proposed sanitation department budget cuts.)
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine spoke to Brian Lehrer about his efforts to get rid of unsightly scaffolding. The BP wants to reform Local Law 11 processes that require frequent inspection of every tall building’s facade—irrespective of materials or age, and without mechanisms limiting how long ugly scaffolding stays up—to make “sidewalk sheds” nicer and rarer.
Permanent outdoor dining rules were released, going into effect next month. The good: restaurants are no longer flying blind about required aesthetics and materials for their dining structures. The bad: the rules, as mandated by the city council, only allow roadbed dining from April through November—a poison pill that means many restaurants won't be able to invest in durable structures, returning roadbed space to free car storage.
Beyond having their hyper-locality in common, these are all issues that New York’s Community Boards weigh in on. If you've ever wanted to have more of a voice in them, now’s the time to apply to join yours! Email me if you want to chat more about the process.
Ryder