What’s News, Breaking: Monday, March 6, 2023

March 6, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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CITY AWARDED $2M FOR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND FLOOD MITIGATION PRACTICES

CITYWIDE — Water quality improvement projects across New York State, including one encompassing New York City, have been awarded a total of $110 million through two grant programs, Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Monday, March 6. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is receiving $2 million as part of a Nonpoint Source Abatement Project for Green Infrastructure Practices on city-owned street medians, which will be upgraded with green infrastructure practices to protect local water quality and address inland flooding challenges.

The grant programs support projects that will help protect drinking water, combat contributors to harmful algal blooms, update aging water infrastructure, and improve aquatic habitat in communities statewide, with more than $90 million of the funding supporting water quality improvements in Environmental Justice communities that have been disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution.

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NEW STEM PARTNERSHIPS CREATED IN RENEWABLE ENERGY

RED HOOK AND CROWN HEIGHTS — Community Offshore Wind, a joint venture with National Grid and RWE, has created over 10 new partnerships increasing youth access to STEM education to foster future careers in the renewable energy industry. During the recent Engineers Week (Feb. 19-25), Community Offshore Wind sent 75 students from Red Hook Initiative, Good Shepherd Services at the Joseph Miccio Community Center and other downstate programs to museums — including the Brooklyn Children’s Museum in Crown Heights — outdoor spaces, and environmental and marine education programs for hands-on learning experiences.

One month after submitting a proposal to provide New York State with clean energy and record economic investment from offshore wind, Community Offshore Wind is also investing over $100,000 into STEM and environmental education programs to prepare the offshore wind workforce of the future.

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NEW BILL WOULD REDUCE WORK-PERMIT WAITING PERIOD FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

NATIONWIDE — The Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, with Congressmember Dan Goldman (D-10) as a co-sponsor, would reduce the current 180-day waiting period for work authorization eligibility to only 30 days, allowing any asylum seeker to apply for a work permit as soon as 30 days after applying for asylum. While this legislation would make no changes to any laws or regulations relating to the asylum process, it would address the bureaucratic backlog by eliminating the unwieldy two-year renewal schedule, and allow families to begin assimilating more quickly.

Current federal law passed in 1996 requires asylum seekers to wait half-a-year after filing an asylum petition before obtaining authorization to work. To prevent any gaps in employment, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services last May automatically extended the work permits of certain Employment Authorization Document Renewal Applicants’ work permits for 540 days (almost a year and a half).

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COUNCIL SPEAKER ADAMS DECRIES NEW BUDGET’S FAILURE TO ADDRESS CRITICAL ROLE VACANCIES

CITYWIDE — New York City Council on Monday, March 6, began a series of hearings on the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2024 Preliminary $102.7 billion Budget. During the hearings, the respective committee will examine the allotments to various agencies, hear testimony from their leadership and from the public. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, while praising the increased revenue projections of $738 million, expressed grave concern in her opening remarks that the Preliminary Budget was $1.7 billion less than presented last November, stressed importance of protecting the city’s ability to provide essential services that support New Yorkers, and reiterated that while the city may face economic challenges and uncertainty, the failure to fill critical-role vacancies particularly in housing, economic opportunity and public safety undermines the well-being of New Yorkers.

“The fact that these cuts are not distributed evenly only magnifies this concern,” said Adams.

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MARCHERS HALT TRAFFIC ON MANHATTAN BRIDGE TO DEMAND PASSAGE OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FOR ALL

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Excluded workers, in company with the advocacy group New York Communities for Change, took over the Manhattan Bridge, shutting down traffic during the morning rush hour on Monday, March 6, to demand that Governor Kathy Hochul and the leaders of state legislature pass the Unemployment Bridge Program to create a safety net for all workers, according to the social media giant Twitter and other sources. The web page for the Pass The Unemployment Bridge Program defines excluded workers as freelancers, undocumented workers, workers in re-entry, street vendors, day laborers who are barred from the state unemployment system even though they perform essential work and asserts that unemployment insurance is a basic labor right.

The march, which began at the Downtown Brooklyn end of the Manhattan Bridge, had concluded by 10 a.m., with Notify NYC broadcasting a message that the bridge reopened.

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MORE FIXES COMING TO NEW BROOKLYN LIRR SERVICE: GOVERNOR

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Governor Hochul on Sunday directed the MTA to make immediate modifications to the new LIRR train schedules, to take effect on Monday, following a week of criticism and confusion focused on the changes to service between Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal. The governor said that the LIRR will add two additional trainsets to the Atlantic Avenue rotation in order to reduce wait times to below nine minutes, as well as deploying 30 extra customer service workers to help direct riders at Jamaica and establishing a “platform controller” to more efficiently direct departures of and coordinate connections for Atlantic-bound trains.

“These changes are intended to ensure that during rush hours, the platform at Jamaica serving Brooklyn trains will have a train waiting at the platform with doors open and will not depart until a second train has arrived on the opposite track. During the afternoon/evening rush, a similar system will be in place at Atlantic Terminal,” the MTA said in a press statement.

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BROOKLYN ORGS TO ATTEND LANDMARKS REFORM RALLY

CIVIC CENTER — Several Brooklyn organizations are set to attend a rally near City Hall calling for reform of the Landmarks Preservation Committee on Tuesday, including Preserve our Brooklyn Neighborhoods, Citizens for Responsible Neighborhood Planning of Clinton Hill and Fort Greene, and the Society for Clinton Hill. The rally, organized by Humanscale, will protest what the group says is a capture of the committee by real estate interests that has led to opaque operations and the destruction of historic buildings across the city.

The rally is open to the public and will kick off at 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday outside 250 Broadway in Manhattan; participants are encouraged to bring signs.

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MADISON-MARINE-HOMECREST CIVIC ASSN. TO DISCUSS VACANCIES

MARINE PARK — The Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association will be holding a meeting next week to discuss increasing commercial vacancy rates in southern Brooklyn, featuring a talk from Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President and Marine Park resident Randy Peers – as well as Irish soda bread, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. “We’d like to focus on challenges facing our southern Brooklyn community, especially from the proliferation of large, vacant business properties. We hope that neighborhood small business owners will attend,” wrote Liz Morrissey, president of the civic group.

Attendees are asked to wear masks to the meeting, set for March 16 at 7 p.m. in the Carmine Carro Community Center; for more information phone 917-734-2614, or email [email protected].

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CITY AWARDS GRAND ARMY ARCH RESTORATION CONTRACT

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — The city on Thursday awarded a $5 million contract for the restoration of Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza arch, formally known as the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Monument, reports Patch NYC.The restoration of the plaza was announced in 2018 but only began last year with landscaping restoration, while work on the arch itself is not expected to begin until 2024.

The Department of Transportation is also considering designating Grand Army Plaza to be made a car-free zone as part of the restoration plan, but has not confirmed any concrete plans for this yet.

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CITIZEN BIKE LANE REPORTING BILL MOVES FORWARD, WITHOUT BOUNTY

CITYWIDE — A contested bill sponsored by Lincoln Restler that would have allowed New Yorkers to earn bounties for reporting cars illegally parked in bike lanes is now moving forward in the City Council – but without its star feature, reports Streetsblog. The council’s updated draft of the bill omits the proposed $25 bounty, but would allow any New Yorker who takes a short course on appropriate reporting to file an official complaint, using a mobile app, for unattended vehicles left in bus or bike lanes virtually anywhere in the city following a phased-in enforcement period.

While commenters were angered by the loss of the potential reward, activist groups did not feel it was a major problem: “I know some will be disappointed by removal of the ‘bounty,’ but that’s actually something that would have provided constant political ammunition for the drive-or-die and parking corruption crowds,” Bike New York Advocacy Director Jon Orcutt told Streetsblog, praising the “fantastic news.”

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TOWER REMNANTS UNCOVERED AT VINEGAR HILL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

VINEGAR HILL — Local blog Brownstoner helped solve an architectural mystery after a reader snapped photos of the remnants of two large circular tower structures uncovered at a construction site in Vinegar Hill. A search of historic records revealed that the towers had been massive tanks used to hold coal gas by the Brooklyn Union Gas Company prior to their demolition in the 1930s, after which point warehouses appear to have been built on top.

Brownstoner says that the developers of the site, which is slated for a 218-unit apartment complex, will be remediating any environmental damage left over from the gas.

Historic photos show the giant tanks in 1927 and 1938. Photos by Percy Loomis Sperr. Photo: Brooklyn Public Library.

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GREENWOOD LOOKS AT PIVOT TO GREEN CREMATION METHODS

SUNSET PARK — Management at Green-Wood cemetery is looking at turning the historic graveyard even greener, according to The New Yorker, which reports that cemetery president Richard J. Moylan and his staff have been searching for a new electric crematory furnace, partially in an effort to cut harmful carbon emissions and partially as a result of constant breakdowns of their current furnaces caused by increased usage during the pandemic. The cemetery is also pursuing other environmentally minded initiatives – customers have begun to request green burials with no caskets or embalming, and landscapers have allowed lawns to revert to meadows.

Moylan also said he believes cremation will only become more important for Green-Wood in future years, as the historic cemetery is close to running out of space for traditional burials entirely.

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SOCIAL MEDIA SITES HELP PROSECUTE WOMEN FOR ABORTIONS

NATIONWIDE — Social media companies are working with law enforcement agencies to put women who get abortions behind bars, according to Business Insider, who reports that Facebook parent company Meta has already provided key evidence in the prosecution of a Nebraska woman who helped her teen daughter get abortion pills. Activists fear that search and social media companies may be now and in the future providing highly personal data to police in conservative states, both voluntarily and when compelled by warrants, and are warning women to take steps to anonymize their online activity, as well as calling for legislation that would prioritize consumer privacy.

While many Republican-led states have passed laws restricting abortion in the wake of the fall of Roe v. Wade, New York’s lawmakers have taken steps to enshrine it in its constitution, voting in January to place the addition of pregnancy status to the state’s Equal Protection Amendment on the statewide ballot for ratification in 2024.

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NYPD CITES DROP IN SUBWAY CRIMES AMID REPORTS OF VIOLENT ASSAULTS OVER PAST YEAR

CONEY ISLAND — Although the NYPD reported on Friday, March 3, that the overall index crime for February dropped by 5.6%, and subway crimes, in particular, fell by 9.1 percent, these figures do not comfort victims of recent crimes, particularly with a reported spike around the city of face-punchings. One such victim, identified in Eyewitness News 7 and other reports as Sharon Robinson, was riding the N train to Coney late at night on January 29 when her assailant, who has not yet been apprehended, tapped her and then punched her in the face repeatedly, causing swelling and cuts.

Two days before the incident, the NYPD released another report citing a drop in subway crime. The same night of the January index crime report, a shooting took place aboard a Coney Island-bound N train, which was still in Manhattan at that moment.

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MOTHER SAVED SON’S LIFE IN CONEY ISLAND HIT-AND-RUN

CONEY ISLAND — Word broke on Sunday evening, March 5, that the woman who was killed in the March 3 hit-and-run incident in Coney Island saved her son’s life in the process. The Daily News reports that the pedestrians, Tamika Richards, 41, and 18-year-old son, Rayquan Parker, were both hit, with the teen winding up underneath the truck. Richards yelled at the driver of a red pickup truck, who had run a red light — and even sped up when he heard her — family members told the news media.

Earlier in the weekend, the NYPD reported that the son had survived and that the driver is still at large. Parker and Ms. Richards, the mother of six, were on an errand to pick up beverages for visiting family members when she was killed.

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GAMBLING CASINO PROPOSAL IS SUBJECT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETING

CONEY ISLAND — The future of Coney Island’s Amusement District — particularly a gambling casino — is the subject of a two-session (10 a.m.-1 p.m., and 5:30 to 8 p.m.) neighborhood engagement meeting that Borough President Antonio Reynoso is convening in collaboration with Community Board 13 for today, Monday, March 6 at the Coney Island YMCA. The NY State Gambling Facility Board approved a Request for Application, to solicit proposals for up to three casinos, one of which would be in Coney Island.

The Borough President promises an impartial meeting to provide information and allow community members and other stakeholders to offer feedback.

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BROOKLYN CONGRESSMEMBERS SECURE ZOOM TOWN HALL ON SHORELINE RESILIENCY PLAN

RED HOOK & GOWANUS — An emergency Zoom Town Hall has been convened for Monday night, March 6, at 7 p.m. after Congressmembers Nydia Velázquez (D-7) and Dan Goldman (D-10) succeeded in getting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to present their major resiliency plan to this community after announcing it on very short notice. This 14-year construction project would place 12 storm surge gates around the city’s waterways — including the Gowanus Canal, Newtown Creek and near the Verrazzano Bridge, and would create barriers along many miles of NYC’s shoreline, including seawalls and floodwalls in Red Hook and elsewhere in south Brooklyn, and all of the Rockaway Peninsula.

Community leaders will address a number of concerns with the USACE project, including its adverse impact on a new and necessary truck route to alleviate last-mile truck traffic in Red Hook. Advance public comments, due the next day, March 7, can be made via [email protected].

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CUSTOMS & BORDER CONTROL URGED TO LIMIT IMPORTS OF UNBRANDED LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES

CITYWIDE — Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-7th District), in a related move to the City Council’s new bill on technology safety, wrote to U.S. Customs and Border Protection calling on the agency to do more to curb imports of dangerous unbranded lithium-ion batteries used in electric micro-mobility devices like e-scooters and bikes, that more than 65,000 delivery workers use to earn a living. Unfortunately, the poor quality of these devices’ batteries poses a serious safety risk to deliveristas and residents due to their tendency to ignite fires; in 2022 alone, lithium-ion batteries caused 200 fires and six deaths in New York City.

Rep. Velázquez, in her letter, urged the CBP to make efforts to seize substandard lithium-ion batteries and compel micro-mobility manufacturers and sellers to require that resellers comply with minimum safety standards.

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MAYOR HOSTS INAUGURAL ‘BREAKING BREAD, BUILDING BONDS’ DINNER

CITYWIDE — Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday, March 2, hosted an inaugural catalyst dinner for his ‘Breaking Bread, Building Bonds’ (B4) initiative, with the meal held at the Barclays Center. Administration officials and members of The People’s Supper joined him for the catalyst dinner, at which more than 150 hosts — comprised of everyday New Yorkers from all walks of life —were trained on how to host their own dinners, which aim to convene diverse groups of New Yorkers and have them engage in conversations that promote mutual understanding and combat the rising tide of hate.

Launched in January and organized in partnership with The People’s Supper, UJA-Federation of New York, and several community-based organizations, the B4 initiative aims to organize a thousand meals, each with 10-12 diverse New Yorkers, and offering support, coaching, participant matches, a toolkit and resource guide to the hosts.

Mayors-B4Initiative-inaugural-catalyst-dinner_courtesy_Ofc-of-the-Mayor

Mayor Adams speaks at his inaugural B4 Initiative Catalyst Dinner, held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Photo: Office of Mayor Eric L. Adams.

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NY’S ATTORNEY GENERAL LEADS CHARGE IN DEMANDING INFO REQUEST ON TRANSGENDER STUDENTS BE DROPPED

ALBANY — Public university students in Florida who are undergoing gender-affirming care gained an ally in a coalition of 16 attorneys general, including its leader, New York’s Letitia James. The coalition sent a letter to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis decrying his request for information about these students and urging him to rescind it immediately. The coalition cited federal protections against discrimination in accessing health care, pointing out that Gov. DeSantis’ actions not only jeopardize the health and safety of young people and their families, and ignore widely accepted medical standards, but they also unjustly insert the state into the private relationship between care provider and patient.

The attorneys general stated that targeting the health care on which transgender students rely violates students’ rights to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and their right to freedom from discrimination in federally funded education institutions under Title IX.

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LANDER, CITY COUNCIL PUSH FOR VOTE ON NY PUBLIC BANKING ACT

CITYWIDE — NYC City Comptroller Brand Lander and members of the City Council, on Friday, March 3, joined other elected officials and the Public Bank NYC coalition for a press conference calling on the state to enact legislation opening the way for public banking in New York City. The move reflects rapidly growing statewide enthusiasm for creating local public banks, which are financial institutions that local governments create, charter, and operate to serve the public interest. The press conference coincided with the release of a letter from more than 100 local elected officials to the governor and leaders of both NY State Senate and Assembly, urging enactment of the “New York Public Banking Act” (S1754/A3352) – legislation to create a safe and appropriate regulatory framework for local public banking.

The New York Public Banking Act has broad support in both the NYS Senate and Assembly, but its advocates charge that the banking lobby has, thus far, blocked the bill from reaching a vote.

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URGING PASSAGE OF PUBLIC BANK ACT TO RECOVER FROM PANDEMIC’S FINANCIAL CRISIS

CITYWIDE — “A Public Bank in New York City would ensure our tax dollars are putting money to work for the public good,” said Councilmember Lincoln Restler (D-33/Downtown Brooklyn to Greenpoint), who joined City Comptroller Brad Lander at a March 3 press conference urging state legislature to move forward with a vote on the “New York Public Banking Act” (S1754/A3352). “We can invest in our communities to create deeply affordable housing, renewable energy projects, good jobs, and so much more,” Restler added.

Likewise, Councilmember Shahana Hanif (D-39th District/Carroll Gardens to Borough Park), said (excerpted), “We need public banking to fully recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19 and ensure our communities are made whole again.”

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ORTHODOX UNION SPONSORS LOBBY DAY IN ALBANY TO FUND VITAL EDUCATION GOALS

STATEWIDE — More than 1,000 students, teachers and administrators from 88 Jewish nonpublic schools and yeshivas, lay leaders and community members, will head to the state’s capital to advocate for nonpublic schools on Tuesday, March 14, for the Teach NYS’ Sixth Annual Mission To Albany 2023. Teach NYS, an education advocacy group and division of the Orthodox Union’s Teach Coalition, will host the state’s largest student-run advocacy day — and the first since the start of the pandemic three years ago — with a focus on funding its top goals: hiring certified STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teachers for these schools, creating and hiring teachers for arts and music programs, and providing free lunch programs during a time of skyrocketing food prices.

Brooklyn has many yeshivas, from Williamsburg to Brighton Beach, but there has been pushback from certain ultra-Orthodox communities who emphasize the need for only religious classes.

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NYC WATER WILL COME FROM CROTON WATERSHED FOR NEXT 2 WEEKS AS PART OF AQUEDUCT REPAIR PREP

CITYWIDE — New York City, reputed for having some of the best tap water in the United States, will experience a significant increase in the amount of water coming from the Croton Watershed, a group of 12 reservoirs in Westchester and Putnam Counties, for two weeks starting this Monday, March 6, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection announced on Friday. The increased reliance on Croton water is part of DEP’s largest-ever capital repair project, to connect a bypass tunnel around known leaks in the Delaware Aqueduct, the world’s longest tunnel, and engineers will temporarily shut down the aqueduct for two weeks in March as a scheduled test, for planned work on the Delaware Aqueduct this fall.

Due to the increase in Croton water, New York City residents may notice a slight taste difference in their tap water due to different characteristics between upstate reservoir systems.

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HOCHUL ANNOUNCES $7M IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT GRANTS

STATEWIDE — Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced that the Office of Strategic Workforce Development has awarded more than $7 million in grants to fourteen projects across the state through the second round of the Workforce Development Capital and Pay for Performance Grant Programs, which will support the training of more than 3,700 workers in fields like advanced manufacturing, renewable energy and construction. Brooklyn Workforce Innovation received $201,000 for their “Made in NY” Production Assistant Training Program, which connects diverse unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers to careers in film and television production by providing professional skills and job readiness training, as well as offering a pathway into the industry through their 24-hour placement hotline.

“Our new Office of Strategic Workforce Development will support the needs of New York’s businesses while providing resources to training programs that are removing long-standing barriers to the training and skills necessary to thrive in the workforce of the future,” said Hochul in a press statement.

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BILL PROPOSED TO DECRIMINALIZE SEX WORK IN NY

ALBANY — A Queens lawmaker has put forth a bill in the Assembly that would see sex work decriminalized statewide, reports Spectrum News, a move hailed by some sex workers but met with caution by others who warn of potential risks. Decriminalization would involve simply no longer prosecuting people for engaging in sex work, like prostitution, and is favored by the workers and many progressives, who say that it would help protect vulnerable people by not subjecting them to criminal penalties for “victimless crimes” and would allow trafficking victims to seek help without fearing police action; but other advocates fear that without a regulatory framework, decriminalization might increase the risk for workers following an increased demand, comparing it to the increase in stores selling cannabis over the last year.

Decriminalization differs from legalization in that legalization would involve creating regulations that govern how sex workers are allowed to operate, which proponents say helps protect workers, but opponents say can lead to the creation of secondary black markets.

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BIDEN TO TARGET COVID RELIEF SCAMMERS

NATIONWIDE — On Thursday, President Biden introduced a $1.6 billion pandemic anti-fraud proposal to go after fraudsters and scammers who preyed on Americans during the emergency, prevent fraud and identity theft going forward and help victims; following “a historic degree of outright fraud and identity theft during the pandemic, which was the result of decades of underinvestment in basic government technology, the crush of demand during the pandemic, and ill-considered decisions by the Trump Administration to take down basic fraud controls,” according to the White House. The plan aims to punish those who engaged in major fraud, and despite the expense, its measures are touted to save taxpayers money, often with a more than 10-to-1 return on investment, reports USA Today.

“We want to not only capture them and get their funds, we want to send a signal to them that you can run, but you cannot hide,” said Gene Sperling, a Biden senior adviser who is overseeing the implementation of the COVID-relief plan.

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CITY SETTLES WITH EMTS OVER COVID MEDIA SPEECH

CITYWIDE — The city has agreed to settle with four FDNY EMS workers who faced poor treatment after speaking to the press during the height of NYC’s COVID emergency, reports the New York Daily News, with each worker receiving slightly under $30,000 and charges being struck from their records by the fire department. The EMTs’ union praised the decision, saying that the workers had been unjustly intimidated and stripped of their roles in April 2020 after speaking to the media about the catastrophic conditions in the city’s health care system and that this affirmed the right of EMS workers to freedom of speech.

“The parties have reached a fair resolution of this matter,” a spokesperson for the city’s Law Department told the Daily News.

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER CONVICTED IN WORKER’S DEATH

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez on Thursday announced that Jiaxi “Jimmy” Liu, 49, the operator of a Sunset Park construction company, has been convicted at trial of criminally negligent homicide, tax fraud and other charges, and Wilson Garcia Jr., 48, a foreperson, was convicted of criminal mischief in connection with an excavation wall-collapse that killed a construction worker, Luis Almonte Sanchez, who was buried under thousands of pounds of debris in 2018. Gonzalez said that, according to the evidence, Liu for months ordered employees to perform extensive construction work at a site in Sunset Park, despite warnings of dangerous conditions from workers and adjacent property owners, before on Sept. 12, 2019, a portion of an excavation support and an existing masonry wall collapsed, trapping employee Luis Almonte Sanchez, 47, who was struck by and buried under the collapsing debris.

“Today’s verdict should send a strong message that when contractors cut corners and put their workers’ safety at risk — they will face serious and criminal repercussions. The death of Luis Almonte Sanchez was a preventable tragedy that would have been avoided if the operator of the construction site followed all safety protocols or heeded warnings about unsafe conditions,” Gonzalez said in a press statement.

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BROOKLYN OFFICE MARKET CONTINUES SLUMP

BROOKLYN — While Brooklyn’s residential market is hotter than ever, its office buildings are continuing a run of hard luck, according to the Real Deal, which reports that leasing activity dropped by two-thirds from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the same quarter in 2022. Additionally, the borough’s “net absorption” of office space — a measure that compares how much space was newly occupied to how much space was vacated — dropped from a gain of nearly 280,000 square feet in Q4 2021 to just 950 square feet in Q4 2022, following a catastrophic loss of 473,350 square feet in Q3 2022.

Losses for commercial real estate owners have been partially behind Mayor Adams’ controversial opposition to “work from home” policies for white collar workers, something he has enforced at city agencies despite criticism.

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FDNY CHIEFS ASK FOR EMERGENCY HEARING TO HALT DEMOTIONS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – The group of FDNY chiefs suing Commissioner Laura Kavanagh suffered a setback on Thursday night after a judge in Brooklyn federal court denied a request for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked Kavanagh from demoting several senior staffers. The staffers have requested an emergency hearing, asking the court to reconsider, in light of serious safety concerns. Lawyers for the chiefs said that without the TRO, by Saturday the FDNY will be left with no chiefs with 5-alarm-fire experience and only one or two with 4-alarm-fire experience. In a memorandum they accused Acting First Deputy Commissioner Lizette Christoff of making false or misleading statements on the state of the FDNY’s senior ranks, asserting that the FDNY in fact has no clear options for replacing the fired and demoted staff members in the immediate future.

The lawsuit is the result of serious tensions arising from Kavanagh’s efforts to shake up the department following her appointment by Mayor Adams in October of 2022; while the mayor has supported her, critics have charged that a lack of experience in firefighting — Kavanagh joined the FDNY in an administrative role in 2014 after working as an advisor to former Mayor de Blasio — has led her to discount the institutional knowledge of senior staff.