Phyllis Eckhaus

The pathways of Greenwich Village—full of lovely old human-scale buildings—can transport a dreamy pedestrian back in time. The Village is not your typical tower-filled Manhattan streetscape, and you can thank the landmarks law for that. The 1965 Landmarks Law allowed for the protection of individual buildings, plus swathes of neighborhoods—“historic districts”—deemed special because of their […]

Ignoring community opposition, less than two weeks before ex-Mayor Adams’ term drew to a close, his administration gave the green light to the demolition of the landmarked Tony Dapolito Recreation Center at Clarkson and Varick Streets, as it approved the development of “Hudson Mosaic,” an apparently 350+-foot-tall tower at 388 Hudson Street, on a city-owned

“New York City housing stock is being gobbled up by multinational investment companies, investment funds, and people who have tons of cash,” Brooklyn City Council Member Sandy Nurse declared. “To buy a home, it’s impossible, unless you have a million dollars.” Speaking on the steps of City Hall on Nov. 12, Nurse rallied an eager

“The end of civilization!” That’s how Deborah Glick caustically characterized the Kraft company’s description of the packaging reduction bill she’s sought unsuccessfully to shepherd through the New York State Assembly for two years. The downtown Democrat, who chairs the assembly’s Committee on Environmental Conservation, recounted how last year Kraft raised the alarm: Glick’s bill could

“More affordable housing in New York City!” is a universal rallying cry and political platform. You could almost imagine there’s consensus behind the words, a shared vision of what constitutes “affordable housing” and how to bring more of it into existence. But you’d be wrong. Due to the Charter Revision Commission appointed by Mayor Adams

“Disability rights are human rights! The future is disabled!” Perhaps two hundred shouting and signing disability activists, many in wheelchairs, converged by the arch in Washington Square Park on Saturday July 26, both to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the landmark federal law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and urgently to warn that hard-won

How much should landlords get to profit off rent regulated tenants? And do long-suffering tenants get any say about it? These are the questions underlying the plight of hundreds of East Villagers, whose current landlord—the $23 billion private equity firm Madison Realty Capital (MRC)—faces foreclosure on its East Village portfolio of fifteen rent-regulated buildings. According