Hundreds of Local Storefronts Remain Rented to Corporate Brands, While Small Businesses Struggle, and Landlords Warehouse Empty Space A new report from the Center for an Urban Future (CUF), a public policy think tank that uses data-driven research to bring attention to overlooked issues, documents that the proliferation of chain stores in Lower Manhattan has...

Congress Enacts Partial Funding to Keep World Trade Center Health Program Operating At the last possible moment, on Friday, December 23, the U.S. Senate ratified a bill that directly affects many hundreds of Lower Manhattan residents. The so-called Omnibus Bill, intended to pay for all government operations beyond that date, contained a provision (sponsored by...

Less Murder, More Rape Crime statistics for the seven major felony offenses regarded as a bellwether in gauging public safety are now available for NYPD’s First Precinct, covering the full year of 2022. The command—which covers Lower Manhattan, south of the Brooklyn Bride and City Hall, along with the area west of Broadway, up to...

The Skyscraper Where Sea Captains’ Orders Were Once Howled from Windows Community Board 1 (CB1) is pushing back against a proposal by real estate developer Moinian Group to alter the historic facade of a landmarked building at 17 Battery Place, which has played a colorful role in Lower Manhattan history. The Whitehall Building (as 17...

World’s Tallest Holiday Inn Files for Bankruptcy The Holiday Inn at 99 Washington Street (on the corner of Rector Street) has filed for bankruptcy. The 492-unit lodging, which boasts of being the world’s tallest hotel branded as Holiday Inn, closed during the pandemic, causing the business to default on a $137 million loan last March,...

CB1 Calls for Greater Greenery as City Launches Enhanced Tree Map Community Board 1 (CB1) is urging City administrators to embark on a reprise of the Bloomberg Era MillionTreesNYC Initiative, which planted one million new trees throughout the five boroughs, with an eye toward boosting the tally of saplings in Lower Manhattan. Last month, the...