Make an Impact: Apply for a Seat on Your Community Board

Applications for New York City’s Community Boards are now open! New Yorkers living, working, or studying in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island are eligible to apply.

Community Board members review public processes, such as planning and reviewing land-use applications and zoning changes, and make recommendations for annual city budgets. Architects are uniquely qualified to represent their neighborhoods and advise on issues of development, public health, preservation, education, and more.

Community Boards provide an opportunity for architects to become advocates on behalf of their city and profession. Deadlines and links to each borough’s application information here:

• Manhattan due 01.29.16
• Queens due 01.29.16
• Bronx due 02.05.16
• Brooklyn due 02.15.16
• Staten Island applications accepted on a rolling basis

Pulse Points

• The Lobbying Bureau of the City of New York’s six-month amnesty period is currently in effect. The program allows individuals and organizations that are now, under the updated law, required to register as lobbyists without incurring penalties. The Lobbying Bureau is conducting trainings about this process. To learn more, visit the Lobbying Bureau website.
• Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that 2015 was the safest year on NYC’s streets since 1910, when record-keeping started, because of the Vision Zero program. The city has pledged to increase investment in Vision Zero in 2016.
• Mayor de Blasio announced the formation of a Supportive Housing Task Force to help the city implement its plan to create 15,000 units of supportive housing.
• NYC has financed more than 40,000 units of affordable housing in the past two years, which serve more than 100,000 New Yorkers.
• AIANY submitted a written statement in response to Intro. 478, a Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to requiring photovoltaic systems for city-owned buildings.
• As part of his State of the State speech, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a $20 billion Affordable and Homeless Housing and Services Initiative to assist in the creation of 100,000 affordable housing units and increase the state’s efforts to provide emergency shelter and supportive housing for the homeless.
• AIANY has been tasked with completing an aging-in-place guide for NYC building owners. Work began on Wednesday, 01.20.16 with a productive roundtable outlining the format and content of the document, to be released this summer.