City Council Majority Leader Keith Powers presides over a session of the chamber on December 6. A bill he sponsored that would install citywide noise cameras–the “Stop the Noise” Act–was signed into law that day. ( Photo via New York City Council ) “Stop The Noise” Act Passes City Council; Consider Fixing Your Muffler To Avoid Fines The “Stop Spreading the Noise” Act, which will make noise cameras part of NYC’s traffic infrastructure and give a boost to... News 20 Dec 2023 | 01:48
Keith Powers, the Democratic majority leader in the City Council, has come out strongly against Mayor Eric Adams to force city retirees to give up their Medicare insurance and move to a private health care insurer’s plan. Photo: Keith Powers Powers: NYC Retirees Should Keep Healthcare They Were Promised In the past year, the city’s 250,000 retired municipal employees have understandably struggled with the city’s announcement... News 27 Oct 2023 | 03:16
Eric Adams speaking at an August 17 press conference on his tripartite plan to convert a wide swath of unused office space into affordable housing. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine is to his left. ( Photo via NYC Mayor’s Office) Mayors Adams Proposes New Plans to Turn Vacant Midtown Offices Into Apartments As a grim housing shortage plaguing New York has shown no signs of abatement, Mayor Eric Adams held a Tuesday, August 17... News 20 Aug 2023 | 10:59
New Yorkers Will Soon Have to Begin Separating Food Waste as Part of New Composting Bill By next fall, Manhattanites will have to separate their food waste from the rest of their trash. The Zero Waste Act, passed... News 19 Jun 2023 | 02:00
Mayor Eric Adams takes a sledgehammer to an abandoned dining shed. He is promoting legislation that will make the sheds widely available on a seasonal basis for people who like outdoor dining–while still trying to placate other community members who find them to be a source of blight. Photo: Mayor’s Office. ( Photo via Mayor’s Office ) Dining Sheds May Become A Summer Staple. Is This Right...Or A Blight? In a concession to the restaurant industry, a bill introduced in City Council seeks to formalize the introduction of dining... News 25 May 2023 | 09:36
Tall, well-lit construction sheds may become the norm for the city’s 9,000 scaffolding installations if new regulations proposed by City Council majority leader Keith Powers and council member Erik Bottcher, Shaun Abreu, and Chris Marte become law. Manhattan, with 4,000 of the sheds, has more than any other borough. Photo: Ralph Spielman Reach for the Sky: New Scaffold Bills Call for 50% Boost in Height and New LED Lighting New bills to overhaul scaffolds that now cover 280 miles of sidewalks in New York City would force builders to make them... News 19 Mar 2023 | 10:51
Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins may have sung that a “spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,” but soon in this town a new bill introduced by Keith Powers may make chain stores carry warning labels that too much sugar is very bad for your health. Photo: Walt Disney Records Councilman Powers Takes on Sugar with Sweet Truth Act Pop Quiz: What do you and some fast-moving bacteria have in common? Surprise answer: A taste for sweets. Sugar isn’t just... News 10 Feb 2023 | 01:40
Council Member Keith Powers referenced his father’s own experience running a small business in an acknowledgement of “how hard mom-and-pop stores work to keep their doors open.” Photo by Stephen Yang / NYPost, courtesy of Keith Powers’ office Council Member Keith Powers Backs Small Biz Break Small businesses were hurting badly during the pandemic — and the way Council Member Keith Powers sees it, they ought to... News 27 Jan 2023 | 07:26
Todd J. Stein is campaigning as a community advocate. Photo courtesy of Todd J. Stein For Men Only, District Leader Race in the 76th AD Political potpourri – Welcome 2023 and all the politics that comes with it. The most hyperlocal of the political races this... Voices 30 Dec 2022 | 09:52
A rendering of what Fifth Avenue could look like, after new construction begins next year. Photo courtesy of the mayor’s office A New Vision For Fifth Avenue This winter, in a bid to encourage holiday shopping and festivities, the city transformed a stretch of Fifth Avenue from... News 21 Dec 2022 | 03:15
Dozens of protesters turned out at 250 Broadway, where City Council offices are located. Photo: Abigail Gruskin ‘The Yuck Mobile’ A mock dining shed on wheels stalled briefly in front of City Council members’ offices downtown, at 250 Broadway, in the... News 18 Nov 2022 | 10:52
Traffic on the West Side Highway near Hudson Yards. Photo: Abigail Gruskin The Crackdown On Loud Cars Is On A Roll Noise in New York City, like the vibrating drilling of construction or the booming sound of music coming from the apartment... News 30 Sep 2022 | 12:18
Wynn Handman’s daughters, Laura Handman (left) and Liza Handman (second from left) were joined by City Council Member Keith Powers (second from right) and former Mayor Bill de Blasio (right) at the street naming ceremony. Photo: Elisabeth Ness ‘Wynn Handman Way’ Honors Late Theater Great For 50-some years, Wynn Handman taught actors on the Midtown block of West 56th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.... News 20 Sep 2022 | 03:58
Central Park’s horse-drawn carriages. Photo: Sofia Cipriano Debate Rages Over Central Park Horses Last month, Queens Council Member Robert Holden introduced a bill that would replace the 68 horse carriages in Central Park... News 12 Aug 2022 | 04:03
Mayor Eric Adams (right) and Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch (second from left) announced the launch a curbside composting program starting this fall, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, on August 8, 2022. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office The Dirt on Composting in NYC From banana peels to eggshells, we all leave a multicolored mess of food waste in the trash daily. We throw out so much food... News 12 Aug 2022 | 12:11
