New York’s green-buildings law focused more on fines than conservation
One Bryant Park, one of the most efficient buildings in the world and a global model for environmental construction, will start paying $2.4 million per year in fines to New York City in 2024 for violating the city’s new emissions law. Why? Because Local Law 97 prioritizes fines over energy conservation Large buildings such as One Bryant Park have densely populated tenant spaces that are responsible for the overwhelming bulk of energy used in the building. Contrary to established environmental practice, the city’s law penalizes the most energy-efficient and densely occupied buildings and encourages urban energy sprawl. More buildings with…
Date 2021-02-23
Author Douglas Durst
The 2021 New York City Power 100: 11-50
11: Mitchell Katz President and CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals New York City’s public hospitals have been the front-line defenses against a COVID-19 pandemic that has sickened hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. Dr. Mitchell Katz scrambled to build up a medical supply stockpile and was entrusted by the mayor to lead the city’s contact tracing program, despite a history of the health department handling such efforts. With COVID-19 rates rising again this fall and winter, public hospitals have canceled elective surgeries while vaccinating health care workers. 12 Dave Chokshi Commissioner, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene…
Author City & State New York
Who’s on Durst? REBNY Leadership’s Chance to Hit the Reset Button
“I like the sound of that: President Joe Biden,” Real Estate Board of New York Chairman Douglas Durst told Commercial Observer Durst, who’s also chairman of the 105-year-old Durst Organization, one of New York’s most storied commercial real estate developers and owners, took the helm at REBNY at the start of the year, following the departure of his predecessor, Bill Rudin. He’s now overseeing an organization that, in the months leading up to the pandemic, had butted heads and somewhat fallen out of favor with local politicians in New York City. And, while the role is still very new for…
Date 2021-01-26
Author Mack Burke
More than 170 business leaders sign letter urging Congress to accept Biden's win
New York (CNN Business): More than 170 prominent business leaders signed a letter urging Congress to accept the Electoral College results that declared Joe Biden as the next President of the United States "This presidential election has been decided and it is time for the country to move forward," the letter reads. "President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have won ... There should be no further delay in the orderly transfer of power." The letter was published Monday by the nonprofit Partnership for New York City, a major advocacy group for the business community. The group's CEO, Kathryn…
Date 2021-01-06
Author Alexis Benveniste
Igloos and Iceless Curling: How New York Hopes to Fight Off a Grim Winter
As New York City braces for a pandemic winter, many parks, plazas and open spaces that are so vital to its public life in warmer months have been transformed into cold-weather playgrounds Outdoor space has become essential for a crowded city with the virus surging and new restrictions imposed on indoor gatherings. As a result, the menu of outdoor offerings has gone beyond the usual ice rinks and winter festivities to make way for a far more robust outdoor culture. There is a new iceless curling cafe in Bryant Park in Manhattan, where players slide stones across five slippery synthetic…
Date 2021-01-06
Author Winnie Hu