New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday introduced a new initiative to turn vacant and abandoned lots across the city into new green and open spaces.
As part of the “Vital Parks for All” initiative, Adams said an additional $30 million was being allocated to transform vacant, underutilized and abandoned lots into parkland, playgrounds and greenspace in neighborhoods that do not currently have access to such space.
The new initiative is set to begin in the boundaries of Brooklyn's Community Board 5, which encompasses East New York and Cypress Hill, and Queens Community Board 3, which encompasses Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and Corona.
During his regular Tuesday press conference, Adams said his office submitted Uniform Land Use Review Procedure applications, which allow property owners, including city government, to change the zoning of properties.
“These two applications cover 44 sites across both community districts, and that could be transformed into green space to serve thousands of additional New Yorkers,” Adams said. “While not every site included in the application will be acquired, a successful ULURP application will allow our Parks Department to acquire the sites as long as there is a willing private seller.”
“Parks are important,” Adams added. “They play a crucial role in the peacefulness of our communities where people can gather and really not only cross-pollinate in the flowers but cross-pollinate in communities.”
Meanwhile, the mayor was asked whether he would intervene in Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests following the arrest of a 20-year-old Venezuelan student who was attending a Bronx high school. ICE reportedly arrested the student, whose name is being withheld, at an asylum hearing. He has no criminal record, according to Chalkbeat.
“I don't handle federal enforcement policies,” the mayor said, adding “we have not had ICE raids in our schools….Everywhere I'm telling people to go, I'm living up to what I shared with them.”
Adams was then asked whether he saw any similarities between now-dismissed federal corruption case with the Department of Justice’s current investigation into former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision to force patients sick with COVID-19 into nursing homes during the pandemic.
Adams threw it back on reporters, asking, “I'm hearing a lot of terms that people are saying about election interference? Do you realize that they were trying to have a trial with me during my election?”
“I'm not going to do to him what was done to me. Let him handle it. Let him speak to his lawyers,” Adams added.
The mayor was also asked about his opinion on bike lanes, after a viral video on social media showed a child being struck by a biker on Bedford and Myrtle Avenues.
“I like bike lanes. But have we put bike lanes in places where communities say we don't want them in? Yes,” Adams said.
Finally, the mayor addressed whether he supported the Rent Guidelines Board’s revised rent increase range on rent-stabilized apartments, which changed the increase for two year leases to 3.75%-7.75% from the previously approved 4.75%-7.75%.
“7.75 %... is just far too unreasonable," the mayor said. “We need to find a sweet spot, especially for small property owners, so that they don't lose their properties. And that's the role of the Rent Guidelines Board, hear both sides and come out with the right numbers."
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