WORLD WORLDWIDE USA NewYork NY NewYorkCity NYC thecity THE CITY News Journal Update - THE CITY Scoop: NYCHA Falling Facade in Bronx Follows Years of Citations and No Action

 

View this email in your browser If you know anyone who might like this newsletter, send it to them. If this was sent to you by someone else, subscribe here — it's free! Dear New Yorkers,   Seven years ago, structural engineers warned that the brick facades of most buildings in NYCHA’s Jackson Houses, in The Bronx, were “unsafe.”    Before dawn last Thursday, a panel of bricks broke loose from the 15th floor of one of those buildings and plummeted down.   The bricks crashed into the sidewalk sheds that NYCHA has often installed — to protect people walking below them — in response to its hundreds of citations for unsafe building facades. (Some stay up for years, or even decades.) The sheds crumbled when the bricks hit — and if anyone had been underneath, they could have been injured or killed.   "Nothing was done. Residents are scared," said Daniel Barber, a Jackson Houses resident and chair of NYCHA's tenant-led Citywide Council of Presidents.    Read more here.   Some other items of note:   Embattled Bishop Lamor Whitehead is facing a new legal threat. A lawsuit filed last Friday in Kings County Supreme Court alleges that the longtime mentee and friend of Mayor Eric Adams filed false paperwork to claim possession of a church building in East Flatbush —after trying to evict its congregation.    Where are new police officers getting their first assignments? We mapped it. Across the city, about 16% of patrol cops are newbies to the job. But in some precincts, the share of rookies is double that – like on the Lower East Side, where one-third of the police officers in Manhattan’s 7th Precinct were hired within the last two years.   Someone out there — maybe you? — has an unclaimed $8 million just sitting in New York's Lost Money fund. And there is more than $17 billion in smaller sums waiting to be picked up. The state comptroller manages the pile of unclaimed checks, lost utility deposits and old bank account sums. We wrote a guide to how it works, and how to track down money for yourself, your business or on behalf of a relative.   We’re just getting started covering this year’s local City Council races. Primary Day is June 27! And we want to make our reporting better with your help. What are your questions about voting, your ballot or local campaigns? Text “Election” to THE CITY’s team at (718) 215-9011 to get answers, or email us at ask@thecity.nyc with “Election” in the subject line.   May 31 is the last day to see the MISSING THEM photo exhibitions in The Bronx and Queens honoring those who appear in THE CITY’s COVID-19 memorial project.   See how New York City is doing with our newsroom’s economic recovery tracker.   For the latest local numbers on COVID-19 hospitalizations, positivity rates and more, check our coronavirus tracker. Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Tuesday's Weather Rating: 4/10. Spring remains on hiatus. High temperatures barely reach the middle 50s with a blustery southwest wind. An upper level low is continuing to spin overhead, leading to scattered showers all day long. The vibes are unsettled...again. THE KICKER: New public sculptures are floating down Park Avenue’s medians between now and the end of the year. Nine “hyper-realistic” figures of women swimmers by sculptor Carole Feuerman now adorn the avenue’s intersections between 34th and 38th Streets, an extension of a new exhibit by the artist at Galeries Bartoux. Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Tuesday. Love, THE CITY P.S. If you liked something about today's newsletter, or didn't, or if you have a question let us know at zshah@thecity.nyc THE CITY's work is made possible, in part, through the support of our sponsors. Interested in becoming a sponsor of THE CITY? Contact us here.  Copyright © 2023 THE CITY, All rights reserved.