About two weeks from today, the U.S. Supreme Court will be concluding oral arguments on two major marriage equality cases On March 26, the federal lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act filed by Village resident Edie Windsor — assessed more than $360,000 in federal estate taxes after her spouse Thea Spyer died in 2009 [...]

More than 400 people turned out for a major forum on Pier 40 last Thursday evening. David Gruber, chairperson of Community Board 2, convened the forum and did an admirable job moderating it, and is to be commended for his efforts. Much information was shared, and we all learned a lot. The major stakeholders had [...]

Judge Donna Mills’s ruling this week that N.Y.U. and the Bloomberg administration must make available their correspondence relating to the open-space strips along the university’s two South Village superblocks marks a very interesting development — and is being seen as a positive sign for a community lawsuit against N.Y.U. The four strips are about 50 [...]

It’s become de rigeur for our top city officials to all give annual State of the City addresses. As it turns out, these speeches are about more than simply raising one’s profile, and, in fact, offer many good ideas. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, in her State of the City address on Feb. 11, laid [...]

It was hard to imagine New York City ever being without Ed Koch. Whether you loved him, hated him or fell somewhere in between, Koch was a larger-than-life figure who always seemed to embody the very essence of the city. His death on Feb. 1 at age 88 came as a shock — even though [...]

At its January full board meeting, Community Board 2 unanimously passed a resolution calling on Mayor Bloomberg and the city to take steps toward dealing with chaotic street congestion caused by the massive number of street vendors along Broadway in Soho. The board wants Bloomberg to finally convene the Street Vendor Review Panel — something [...]

The City Planning Commission’s recent approval of a major rezoning of Hudson Square means the clock is now ticking until the City Council takes up the application for a vote — in about a month and a half from now. An extremely serious concern is the impact that approval of a residential rezoning for the [...]

On Tuesday the City Planning Commission approved a major rezoning for an 18-block area of Hudson Square. Propelling the rezoning is Trinity Real Estate, which feels legalizing residential use in the currently manufacturing-zoned former “Printing District” will create a better, more balanced neighborhood. Trinity projects the rezoning — creating a 25 percent residential enclave — would [...]

It was a proud day for New York on Tuesday when Governor Cuomo signed off on the toughest gun laws in America. Better known for its dysfunction, Albany came together under Cuomo’s leadership and pushed through a sweeping package of gun-control measures, hailed by the governor as the “most comprehensive package in the nation.” The [...]

Zoning issues are invariably complex, but the case of God’s Love We Deliver’s plan to sell a portion of its air rights to a neighboring development project presented special challenges for Community Board 2. Ultimately, the community board resolved to support the application, but its stance has left many neighbors angry — and not just [...]