Housing

Legislature Passes Gay Marriage, Rent Laws in Overtime

Lawmakers in Albany spent all of last week scrambling to address a long list of items on its agenda before breaking for the year, staying four days past the scheduled end of the legislative session and passing a number of high-profile laws in its final few days. Among the legislation was a historic bill to legalize same-sex marriage, which after days of intense lobbying in Albany from parties on both sides of the debate, was passed by the State Senate late Friday night.

Shelter Plan for Vacant Muller Center Blasted at Hearing

Father Richard Gorman ripped into the city's homeless shelter plan at a hearing las week. (Photo by Alex Kratz)
During his lengthy and impassioned testimony at a public hearing concerning the fate of the vacant Muller Army Reserve Center in Wakefield, Father Richard Gorman compared the Bloomberg administration to a) Josef Stalin and b) a group of slave owners (with Wakefield residents being the slaves). Gorman, the longtime chairman of Community Board 12, which includes Wakefield and Woodlawn, made those comparisons in the course of blasting the city’s controversial proposal to house a 200-bed homeless shelter for men in the Muller Center. The mayor’s office says the city’s homeless needs outweigh the desires of community residents and stakeholders.

Fight Over Worship at Schools Puts U-Heights Church in Spotlight

When the leaders of Bronx Household of Faith, an evangelical Christian congregation based in University Heights, first approached the city, in 1994, about using its public schools to hold worship services, they didn’t think much of it. They certainly did not think they would find themselves, 17 years later, fighting for freedom of religion and speech as part of a back-and-forth legal case that could end up in front of the Supreme Court.

Crime Watch: Boy Shot On Grand Ave.

Police are asking for help finding the gunman responsible for opening fire on a crowd last Friday night in Fordham Heights, injuring three people, including a 5-year-old boy.

Op-ed: Action Needed on Dirty Boilers That Pollute and Kill

When it comes to health-threatening air pollution in New York, toxic boilers are public enemy number one. These boilers—which burn #4 and #6 heating oil in apartment buildings and other structures—are a menace to the health and well-being of our city. While they are only used by one percent of all New York buildings, they account for an astonishing 86 percent of the city’s airborne soot pollution.

Rent Hike Rattles Tracey Towers

Residents at Tracey Towers, the twin concrete high-rises on Mosholu Parkway, are bracing for another battle with management over their desire to raise rents up to 77 percent over the course of the next three years.

Sen. Diaz Betrays Tenants

Most New Yorkers don’t know who their state legislators are or what they do (or don’t do). But there’s no better illustration as to why they should than the impending debacle over rent regulations in New York City.