WORLD WORLDWIDE US USA - New York NY - New York City NYC - the city THE CITY - Measuring rising groundwater, vanishing rent-stabilized apartments

 

Dear New Yorkers,

Kneeling in the grass at Bowne Park in Flushing, hydrologist Mike Como of the U.S. Geological Survey New York Water Science Center unfurled a tool with a yellow measuring tape into a well.

The well was nearly 60 feet deep, about the height of a six-story building. Como’s tool beeped, indicating that the water level beneath the ground was just about that far below the surface, too. He entered the measure into a national database.

Como’s work, which officially kicked off in February, is part of the federal agency’s monitoring of groundwater levels, which has resumed in New York City after a decade-long hiatus.

The city Department of Environmental Protection hired the USGS to collect scientific data on the depth of the water table as a first step to understanding the landscape and how factors like rain, sea-level rise and projects to manage stormwater affect the groundwater.

Groundwater flooding may become a more widespread or severe problem due to climate change: Water tables rise with sea levels, which are estimated to be at least half a foot higher by the 2030s.

The USGS is starting to monitor a network of over 150 wells throughout the boroughs, some installed as early as the 1970s. The first step is to find the wells, which may have been paved or developed over.

“A well in the Great Plains will probably stay there forever. Here, you come back, and then there's a McDonald's or Starbucks,” in its place, Como said.

Read more about the effort to monitor the wells here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Friday's Weather Rating: 9/10. FRIDAY MAGIC! Morning clouds will gradually clear out and give way to a beautiful day - with high temperatures in the low 80s, comfortable dew points and lots of sunshine. The vibes are VERY good out there today!

Our Other Top Stories

On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams named a 13-member panel to propose changes to the city charter. That panel will be led by a construction industry leader and Adams ally whose expected appointment to lead the city Economic Development Corporation was scuttled after THE CITY reported on his financial dealings. The group also includes other Adams friends: Hazel Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State conference; Kyle Bragg, the former head of the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ; and former Staten Island congressman Max Rose, who now works for Adams’ ex-chief of staff Frank Carone’s consulting firm. At a hearing on Thursday morning, members of the Rent Guidelines Board sized up the final housing market reports as they get ready to vote on next month’s annual rent hike for nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in the city. The reports indicated that New York City experienced its largest loss of rent-stabilized apartments in eight years last year, while permits for new housing dropped 76.2% in 2023 compared to 2022.

Reporter’s Notebook

Hotels Rebound With Help From Airbnb Ban

New York City attracts more tourists than any other city in the country, accounts for $53 billion in economic activity and almost $5 billion in tax revenue for the state, according to a new report released Thursday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

Amid the plethora of data points in the report, two stand out: the decline in visitors from China and how the city’s restrictions on short-term rentals is benefiting hotels.

In 2019, the number of visitors from China trailed only those from the United Kingdom. Today they rank ninth and the average spent by each visitor from China has plunged from $3,000 to just over $2,000. The weakness in travel from China is the primary reason international tourism in New York City is still about one-third below 2019’s record.

Meanwhile, the crackdown on Airbnb and other short-term rentals, which saw listings plunge from 22,000 to less than 3,000, was a key reason hotel occupancy pushed above 75% for 2023, a post-pandemic high, the report says. Average room rates increased to just over $300 a night.

(Many hotels being used for migrants are no longer included in the statistics so they have only a indirect effect in moving the numbers higher.)

The big payoff: gross profitability for hotels increased by 47%, the biggest jump in any major U.S. city.

— Greg David

Scoop will be taking a break for Memorial Day. We’ll be back with more news on Tuesday, May 28.

Things To Do

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

Saturday, May 25: NYC beaches open for the season. Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26: “Waves, all that Glows Sees,” a special interactive family performance celebrating the sea. Tickets are $10-17 (Saturday shows begin at 1 and 3 p.m., and the Sunday show at 2:15 p.m.) at Flushing Town Hall in Queens. Monday, May 27: Green-Wood Cemetery’s Memorial Day Concert, featuring the high-school musicians of the ISO Symphonic Band at Third Street, led by music director Paul Corn and hosted by guest conductor Brian P. Worsdale. Free ($10 suggested donation) from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Green-Wood Cemetery.

THE KICKER: New York City’s PBS station, THIRTEEN, is showing productions by the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park, reports West Side Rag. The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, where the company normally performs each summer, is under construction this year — but PBS is just one of the many places where you can catch the performances for free.

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

Love,

THE CITY

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