News in New York – Get Stuff Built, City Legislation, AG Chief of Staff Resigns

Mayor Adams Launches “Get Stuff Built”

Last Thursday, Mayor Adams unveiled a new effort to address the affordable housing crisis in New York City. The City will be taking 111 actions, recommended by the Building and Land Use Approval Streamlining Task Force, to eliminate red tape and build housing more quickly throughout the five boroughs. The recommendations are expected to cut construction delays by 50%, and the “moonshot” goal of these efforts are to build 500,000 new homes in the next 10 years. Mayor Adams also formally began the environmental review process of rezoning areas around two of the four new Metro-North stations in the Bronx, as part of the City of Yes Bronx Metro-North Plan, which will bring jobs and homes to the area.

NYC Council Passes and Introduces Legislation

Last Wednesday, the NYC Council convened a Stated meeting, where they passed and introduced multiple pieces of legislation. The Council approved a bill establishing a civil service ambassador program and another creating a public service corps program, which will offer internships at a variety of city agencies. They also voted on legislation improving the accessibility of ranked choice voting ballots. The Council introduced a bill that would prohibit all private employers from terminating employees without “just cause,” in an expansion of protections for fast food workers that took effect in July 2021. You can find all of the bills that were passed and introduced here.

Attorney General’s Chief of Staff Resigns

Attorney General Letitia James’ longtime Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Khan, has resigned from his position amid a sexual harassment investigation. Khan has been accused of inappropriate touching and unwanted kissing by at least one woman. He has served as one of AG James’ top advisors for almost 10 years. The Attorney General said in a statement that her office hired an outside law firm to investigate the accusations.