New urban farm opens in Brownsville, aiming to combat food inequity "The 5,000-square-foot harvesting lot, dubbed 'The Eastern Parkway Farm,' marks The Campaign Against Hunger’s second urban farm in Brooklyn, and sits on its namesake parkway between Pitkin and Howard avenues" (Brooklyn Paper)
Mixed-use development Manhattan West officially opens today, revealing restaurants, open space, and more "Following more than 30 years of planning, Brookfield Properties’ eight-acre mixed-use development Manhattan West officially opens today. Located on the blocks between 32nd and 33rd Streets and Ninth and Tenth Avenues, the $4.5 billion project serves as a much-needed link on the far west side, bordered by the new Moynihan Train Hall to the east, Hudson Yards to the West, and the High Line to the south. Manhattan West’s master plan was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and consists of six buildings–four office, one residential, and one boutique hotel. There’s also a 2.5-acre public plaza designed by James Corner Field Operations, as well as a Whole Foods, immersive retail, and tons of restaurants including two from Danny Meyer." (6sqft)
Comptroller: MTA Did ‘Transform’ Itself … Into A Worse Agency "A much-touted MTA efficiency plan unveiled during the Cuomo years failed to turn the agency into a leaner bureaucracy and instead only succeeded in saving money by firing actual people who work the buses and trains, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a new report issued on Tuesday. That staff shortage has already been ruining commutes across the city — and now leaves the agency less able to enhance service before congestion pricing begins, which experts have long said is essential." (Streetsblog NYC)
Empire Station opponents: Architectural planning for Midtown should be ‘democratic process’ "While these demands are not new, the coalition hoped that some aspects of the plan would change with the coming of Governor Kathy Hochul to the executive chamber after the resignation of Andrew Cuomo who championed the Empire Station Complex in his last two consecutive State of the State addresses." (amNY)
Housing Gotham: The 21st Century So Far (Part I) "The analysis shows that historical landmarked residential neighborhoods are 'bad' for housing stock growth, as the maps suggest. For example, a block with ten landmarked properties in 2002 lost 2-3% of its housing units two decades later, on average. Interestingly, however, landmarked commercial districts had the opposite effect. Those areas that were formerly retail, lofts, or businesses, and were landmarked, saw their housing stocks grow because the insides were converted to apartments. However, the number and size of residential landmarked districts are much greater than the number of commercial landmarked districts, so the net effect of landmarking was to decrease the housing stock." (Building the Skyline)
