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Dear New Yorkers,

A mega-development that would bring four 24-story towers plus 11 other buildings to the Rockaways has begun its official environmental review.

That’s the first step in a long process before the project becomes reality.

The proposed development would create an enormous amount of new housing on the peninsula — and possibly serve as a resiliency hub during future extreme storms.

But the developer’s reputation has some locals worried.

Last year, New York City sued Alma Realty for allowing 13 buildings in its portfolio to “fall into dangerous states of disrepair, posing an imminent threat to the health, life and safety of hundreds of residential tenants and the public,” the lawsuit’s complaint said.

It went on to detail how the buildings, located in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, amassed over 800 violations with five city agencies, including for lead paint, vermin, illegal basements, unsafe wiring, mold and missing or broken fire doors.

The city’s planning department will host an initial public hearing on the Rockaways project on Thursday.

Read more about the developer and the proposed project here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Tuesday's Weather Rating: 1/10. Rain. And a lot of it. Cloudy and dreary for the entire day with high temps in the upper 40s. A few periods of heavy rain are likely, and localized flooding is possible. This stinks. The vibes are bad.

Our Other Top Stories

Mosques and community groups in Astoria and around the city are offering meals and providing community and comfort to migrants observing Ramadan in the city for the first time. With newcomers from Africa making up a growing share of New York City’s migrants, Islamic faith groups and houses of worship have become increasingly important resource centers. A number of mosques across the city, for example, have offered free meals and allowed asylum seekers to sleep in their basements, with some of those mosques going into debt to do so.  Mayor Eric Adams frequently proclaims that the city has recovered all the jobs lost in the recession. But many more New Yorkers rely on government safety net programs than did so before the pandemic. And the costs of those programs are likely to continue to grow — especially if the legislature and governor agree on a proposed increase to the cash assistance program a half million New Yorkers are now participating in, up 50% from before the pandemic.

Reporter’s Notebook

City Council Says It’s Found $6B to Restore City Hall Budget Cuts

The New York City Council said they identified more than $6 billion in newly-available funds to help restore some of the cuts initiated by Mayor Eric Adams, including bringing back some school cafeteria menu items and restoring seven-day library service.

Speaker Adrienne Adams on Monday presented the Council’s updated response to the mayor’s preliminary budget for the fiscal year that will begin in July, addressing discrepancies between their financial forecast and the mayor’s more pessimistic one. The city is required by law to balance its budget each year.

“We know working and middle-class New Yorkers rely on effective governmental services to stay in the city,” Adams said, adding that their budget response isn’t a “wish list” but a “vision for the city’s budget that fulfilled our obligation to New Yorkers.”

The additional money comes from additional tax revenue, billions in underspending, and reserve funding, Councilmember Justin Brannan, the finance chair, said.

He also said the largest financial burden in the city wasn’t the asylum seeker crisis but the ending of around $2 billion in COVID-related federal relief. That money, mostly within the Department of Education, would be replaced with city funds under the council’s plan.

— Katie Honan

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Tuesday, April 2: Intro to Ethnobotany: Herbs in Context, a workshop to introduce participants to ethnobotany and plan culturally relevant gardens. Free from 6 to 8 p.m. at Bronx River Community Garden. Tuesday, April 2: Photographic Archives and Legacy Building, a conversation by acclaimed photographers and archivists about stewarding archives and managing personal and family histories. Free from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. Saturday, April 6: First Saturday, featuring a celebration of National Poetry Month with music, artists and activists. Free from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Brooklyn Museum.

THE KICKER: Just 55,879 New Yorkers voted early in this year’s presidential primaries. And today’s the day to head to the polls in person to vote in the presidential primaries. THE CITY’s 2024 elections guide can help you find your poll site, and much more.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Tuesday.

Love,

THE CITY

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