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Gowanus Houses resident Katrina Gorham said her mother’s ashes went missing as she temporarily moved out of her apartment during renovations, Sept. 14, 2026. (Ben Fractenberg/The City Reporter)
Katrina Gorham says she’s frustrated and heartbroken by the situation and losing sleep from the stress. She says more than 100 boxes containing her and her three kids’ belongings also disappeared during the project, part of a $200 million overhaul of the New York City Housing Authority’s Gowanus Houses and nearby Wyckoff Gardens that was pledged in a neighborhood rezoning.
“I wanted them to help me locate my stuff,” Gorham told The City Reporter. “I feel so embarrassed and so hurt. My mom won’t let me sleep because she wants to be found.”
Gorham has filed a claim with NYCHA, which is investigating the matter and declined to comment on her specific allegations. A joint venture in charge of the renovations said it is also investigating, while the storage and moving company involved in the move declined to answer questions.
Some of Gorham’s neighbors have reported leaks, dust and other issues related to the renovations, which will likely come up tonight at a public meeting hosted by a task force tracking progress on the city’s promises around the rezoning.
Watch a live taping of the third and final episode of The City Reporter’s FAQ NYC podcast special series A Knickerbocker History of America on Friday, Sept. 18. This one is all about terror and features Brooklyn Borough Historian Asad Dandia. Free at P&T Knitwear on the Lower East Side. Doors open at 6:30, recording 7-8 p.m. RSVP here.
Reporter’s Notebook
Business Groups Blast Store Rent Proposal
Business groups will tell the City Council at a hearing Wednesday they oppose a provision in a proposed “Storefront Bill of Rights” that would require a mandatory one-year lease extension when a commercial tenant and landlord can’t agree on a lease renewal.
The Real Estate Board of New York and the Five Borough Jobs Campaign, which includes the city's county-level chambers of commerce, say such a provision will backfire, making it less likely for landlords to lease to independent businesses in the first place. Both groups support provisions that would require detailed leases and extended notice before a lease expires.
The bill is the latest local attempt to impose some sort of commercial rent regulation, which was first proposed in 2021 but hasn’t had a hearing in several years. The Mamdani administration has yet to take a position on the legislation.
— Greg David
Locations for New Toilets
Mayor Zohran Mamdani will today announce the first 17 locations for new public bathrooms across the city, part of a pilot program announced earlier this year.
The $4 million modular public bathroom pilot will operate free restrooms from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.. The fully accessible and touchless toilets will begin installation later this month, and last a year.
“Too many New Yorkers know what it’s like to have nowhere to go while they’re on the go,” the mayor said in a statement.
The city’s ambitious plan to build 2,100 public restrooms appeared backed up last month with a delay in the release of a citywide strategy, but the modular lavatories — installed and operated by Throne Labs Inc. — keeps it moving.
The locations are:
Yankee Stadium, Admiral Farragut Playground, Mapes Park and Monsignor Raul Del Valle Square in The Bronx, and Columbus Park, Milestone Park, Fulton Street and Truxton Street and Avenue C Plaza in Brooklyn.
In Queens, the restrooms will be installed at Astoria Boulevard South and 31st Street, Northern Boulevard and 31st Street, Northern Boulevard and 54th Street, and 34th Avenue and 64th Street. Manhattan’s bathrooms will be at Cooper Square, Malcolm X Plaza, Delancey and Suffolk streets, and Plaza Alianza Dominicana.
Staten Island’s lone toilet will be on the North Shore esplanade.
— Katie Honan
Council Staffers Rally for Contract
The union representing City Council staffers rallied on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday for contracts for members who have gone years without raises.
The Association of Legislative Employees demanded the Council reach fair contracts with policy, legal and technical staff — along with those working in oversight, finance, bill tracking and investigations — covering nearly 100 people in all. The union wants these staffers to receive raises similar to the approximately 20% boost their supervisors got in 2024.
“If we didn’t have these workers, the Council could not do its job,” Councilmember Kayla Santosuosso (D-Brooklyn), who was a member of the union bargaining committee when she served as a Council staffer, said at the rally.
Legislative counsel Johari Frasier said he loves his job, “but what I don’t love is watching my colleagues leave constantly because they don’t feel valued, they don’t feel like they can support themselves, they don’t feel like they can support their families.”
ALE is the country’s largest legislative staff union. A Council spokesperson said its conversations with the union are ongoing.
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