Nearly four months after the 1915 Billingsley Terrace partial collapse in Morris Heights, Bronx City Council Member Pierina Sanchez on Thursday announced legislation aimed at establishing stricter regulations for apartment building safety and landlord participation. Sanchez, who represents the Bronx’s District 14 on the New York City Council, stood outside City Hall on April 25 and said more should have been done to prevent the collapse in December, which displaced more than 100 people. “Questions remain about what the Department of Buildings could have done to prevent this tragedy and whether ..read more

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson joined Consul General of Ireland, Helena Nolan, and President of the Bronx Economic Development Corporation, Robert Walsh, for a walk-through of Katonah Avenue, a small commercial strip of Irish-owned businesses in Woodlawn on Tuesday, April 23. Also joining them was Director of Social Work at the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, Megan Macdonald. Gibson and Nolan spent time at Laborers’ International Union of North America during the tour. Photo courtesy Arlene Mukoko The first stop of the tour was The Bronx Sandhogs – Local 147. For generations, Local ..read more

Creeping black mold and goo, flooded offices, freezing halls and extremely high studio temperatures — these are just some of the descriptions of infrastructure at CUNY campuses I heard at my Higher Education hearing on facilities at CUNY. These stories are not of long forgotten buildings left to rot as the rest of the city welcomes modernity. These are the very real and present-day accounts of students’ accommodations in CUNY colleges, where essential upgrades rely on the capital budget, which addresses long-term needs. Council Member Eric Dinowitz is chair of New York City Council’s Higher Ed ..read more

The joy in the air was palpable along Exterior Street on Wednesday, April 24, as Major League Baseball legends gathered for the unveiling of “Legendary Yankees,” also known as “Play in Color,” a trio of murals dedicated to living, Black baseball players. The artwork is the first of many as part of the Bronx Children’s Museum’s “Exhibiting Possibilities” project, in partnership with the Bronx Terminal Market, the New York Yankees and The Players Alliance, an organization dedicated to highlighting Black talent while fighting systemic barriers in baseball. “The purpose of what Exhibiting Possibil ..read more

Environmental advocates and local elected officials are sounding the alarm about a proposed expansion of a gas pipeline, which they say would increase the state’s dependence on fossil fuels and increase greenhouse gas emissions in Hunts Point. If approved, the expansion — proposed by the Iroquois Pipeline Company — “would be completely undermining” the state’s climate goals, said Emily Skydel, senior NYC organizer for the nonprofit advocacy group Food and Water Watch.  Officially called the Iroquois Company Enhancement by Compression (ExC) project, the expansion would add new compressor s ..read more

Dozens of people gathered on the sidewalk at the corner of Maccombs Road and W. Mount Eden Avenue on Tuesday to celebrate local religious leader Josephine Gooding’s legacy with a street co-naming ceremony. Now co-named Evangelist Josephine Gooding Place, the street along W. Mount Eden Avenue honors the life of the late leader. Her son, Jay Gooding, also a pastor, told the crowd during the co-naming event that he appreciates the city for putting up the street sign that honors his mother’s legacy. “I often say that legacy is not something that you leave for someone, but rather what’s been impart ..read more

A’hoy, New Yorkers! Get ready to see sailors and other service members all throughout town when Fleet Week returns to NYC at the end of May. The Big Apple’s time-honored tradition of welcoming the U.S. armed forces to the city will kick off with the famous Parade of Ships on Wednesday, May 22, in the waters off Staten Island and Manhattan. The celebration continues through Memorial Day weekend before wrapping up on Tuesday, May 28. Activities include ship tours, demonstrations, musical performances and meet-and-greets with service members.  Coinciding with Memorial Day Weekend, nearly 2,3 ..read more

The Department of Justice has warned the NYPD to stop allowing officers to park their cars on sidewalks and in crosswalks outside precincts — lest the feds be forced to sue the city for violating the civil rights of people with disabilities. Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), sent a letter on March 29 to the Police Department’s legal bureau to report the findings of a DOJ investigation into precinct parking behaviors, and to warn the department that the widespread scofflawery must end. “The sidewalks and crosswalks adjacent to NYPD precincts are su ..read more

For most CUNY students, attending college would be impossible without financial aid. But this year, the chaotic rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form threatens to derail the educational journeys of many current and prospective CUNY students.  That’s why we’re doing all we can to help students and their families overcome the glitches and complete the FAFSA form.  The new streamlined application was meant to be easier to complete when it launched in December – after a long-needed overhaul that sought to be especially beneficial for students ..read more

Eight months after ordering most city agencies to dramatically cut their spending, Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday unveiled a $111.6 billion budget plan that restores some slashed funding — but still leaves areas such as the city’s public libraries on the chopping block. Hizzoner’s Fiscal Year 2025 executive spending plan clocks in at roughly $2 billion more than his preliminary budget released in January and $4 billion greater than this year’s adopted budget. The plan’s release kicks off another round of City Council hearings examining it and negotiations between the two sides of City Hall to a ..read more