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Press Coverage
01/07/2016
Plans for a major overhaul of Second Avenue on the Upper East Side were revealed Wednesday at a community board meeting.
They include a protected bike lane, a parking lane, a bus lane and three travel lanes.
The redesigned street will look much like Second Avenue currently does above 105th street.
The proposed bike lane changes drew mixed opinions.
"I think it's great we're finally going to get our street back on Second Avenue. We're going to get more parking back on Second Avenue, and all the bikes going the wrong way on First Avenue will finally have a place to go," said City Councilman Ben Kallos of Manhattan.
01/07/2016
Since the 1990s, New York City has published, and public officials have quoted, an estimate that there are 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in the city, giving some 2 million tenants protections from eviction and unlimited rent increases.
The estimate comes from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, or HPD, which publishes a survey on which the number is based. Rent-stabilized apartments are vital to affordable housing and thus an important gauge of the housing market.
There’s one problem with the figure, however: It could be off by as much as 20 percent.
Data provided to ProPublica by the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) — which oversees rent-stabilized apartments — shows that, as of 2014, New York City had 839,797 rent-stabilized apartments registered with the state. For that same year, HPD’s survey estimated 1,029,918 units.
01/07/2016
Speaking before the meeting, Council Member Ben Kallos was supportive of the proposal. “I am for a complete street proposal that provides a protected bike lane to provide pedestrians, cyclists and motorists a safe way to use the street,” he told Streetsblog.
01/06/2016
In an effort to ensure that local community boards are representative of their neighborhoods, New York City Council Member Ritchie Torres will introduce a bill on Wednesday requiring the city to publish demographic information about board members.
The bill, co-sponsored by Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Ben Kallos, is straightforward and reads much like a general population census. It would require the reporting of community board members’ names, neighborhoods, occupations, and employment, duration of board service, who they were appointed by, as well as aggregations by borough.
01/06/2016
At a Tuesday night town hall hosted by City Council Members Dan Garodnick and Rosie Mendez at Gramercy’s Church of the Epiphany, stakeholders voiced concerns about problems related to homelessness, an increasingly controversial issue facing the East Side of Manhattan.
After presentations from city officials and nonprofit leaders who work on homelessness issues, local residents asked questions about how they can resolve problems specific to the area, like the myriad issues with the 850-bed 30th Street Men’s Shelter (also known as “Bellevue”).
01/06/2016
City Councilman Ben Kallos says residents might be pleasantly surprised by the changes to Second Avenue.
"We haven't had parking on Second Avenue for quite some time, so having any parking back should be a good thing for drivers and riders alike. People will no longer be going the wrong way on the First Avenue bike lane because they will have a bike lane to go downtown," Kallos said.
01/05/2016
Public Advocate Letitia James announced today she would introduce two bills that would expand the city’s power to penalize property owners with outstanding code violations—and expand the power of her own office and its annual “Worst Landlords List.”
12/31/2015
The DOE Fund is making a temporary return to East 86th Street to clean up the garbage that residents say chronically builds up along the sidewalk and flows out of trash bins. The DOE Fund, or the "men in blue," as they're called, began bagging up trash along East 86th Street on Dec. 19 and will finish their stint in the new year, according to Councilman Ben Kallos, who secured funding to pay for clean up on the busy street from Lexington to First Avenue.
12/22/2015
UPPER EAST SIDE — A local community board is making a last-ditch attempt to control the impacts of a planned marine transfer station on East 91st Street and York Avenue — after years of opposition from residents failed to stop construction from starting altogether.
The Marine Transfer Station Task Force was created as an attempt to halt the project, which seems to being going full steam ahead despite much objection from the community, according to Community Board 8 chairman Jim Clynes.
12/21/2015
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12/19/2015
The companies buy and compile housing court data from the state Office of Court Administration. Landlords, in turn, use the information to screen prospective tenants, often rejecting those who have been to housing court. But the information is frequently incomplete, misleading or wrong, according to housing advocates and tenant lawyers. For example, a tenant who withheld rent because of atrocious living conditions like rats or mold could end up blacklisted, even if he prevailed in court.
“Tenants should have the right to be able to go into court to protect themselves when their landlord is doing something wrong, without facing discrimination afterward,” said Benjamin J. Kallos, a New York City councilman who sponsored legislation that would bar landlords from discriminating against tenants on the lists, except in cases where the tenant has not satisfied the terms of an order issued by the courts.
12/16/2015
“There are serious problems with a mayor’s Management Report that is setting goals that go against the direction we want our city to go,” said City Councilman Ben Kallos of Manhattan, who oversaw a hearing on the report. “We’re disappointed by their failure to address the broader issue over the past two years.”
12/16/2015
Cornell Tech and Roosevelt Island public school P.S./I.S. 217 on Dec. 10 unveiled a three-year program that will train teachers to incorporate computer science (CS) activity across the curriculum.
12/15/2015
New Yorkers who say they’re seeing a lot more homeless on the streets better brace for next year — when even the de Blasio administration is projecting an increase.
The numbers are contained in small type in the mayor’s Management Report, which predicts that 3,350 individuals will be sleeping “on the streets, in parks, under highways, on subways, and in the public transportation stations in New York City.”
12/15/2015
"We're trying to protect and improve New York's landmark campaign finance program," said Council Member Ben Kallos, chair of the governmental operations committee and prime sponsor on three of the eight bills in the package.
12/11/2015
"Subway delays, making you late to a meeting with no way to tell anyone, was a part of being a subway rider,” he said. “But now you’ll be able to get in touch and get work done.”
According to the councilmember’s office, Kallos has been advocating for expanded Wi-Fi service for his district since last year’s City Council’s budget hearings.
12/11/2015
But as city agencies spend more money and hire more people in the de Blasio era, Ben Kallos, a Manhattan councilman holding an oversight hearing on the city Monday, said questions should be asked when tougher targets aren’t set from year to year.
12/10/2015
“Subway delays making you late to a meeting with no way to tell anyone, was a part of being a subway rider, but now you’ll be able to get in touch and get work done,” said Council Member Ben Kallos who has been advocating for this expansion in City Council hearings. “A connected commute is about to become a reality for nearly 200 million subway riders on the East Side. Thank you to the MTA and Transit Wireless for their partnership in bringing the Internet to any subway rider with a smartphone.”
12/10/2015
12/10/2015
The city wants to hear from residents about how best to spend $1.3 million to upgrade a run-down playground at Carl Schurz Park.
A meeting dedicated to the topic on Dec. 15 will gather ideas from the community about how to improve the play space at East End Avenue and East 84th Street, according to City Councilman Ben Kallos, who earmarked the funds.
12/10/2015
“Helping our teachers integrate computer science into their curriculum is critical to preparing our students for the careers of tomorrow,” said New York City Councilmember Ben Kallos. “The close relationship between Cornell Tech and P.S./I.S. 217 not only benefits the Roosevelt Island community but also serves as a model for how public and private institutions can work together.”
12/08/2015
12/04/2015
