Billy Richling is a staff reporter for Bklyner, covering politics, real estate and everything else. He lives in Flatbush, and previously worked for the Times Square Alliance.
News
An overnight subway disinfecting and cleaning at Stillwell Terminal last spring. (Image: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit)Even as the coronavirus pandemic has profoundly disrupted New York’s public transit services [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/08/climate/nyc-transit-covid.html] and sent the Metropolitan Transportation
News
The Vanderbilt Avenue Open Street last year. (Image: Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council)New York City’s Open Streets program [https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pedestrians/openstreets.shtml] emerged last year as a rare bright spot in a 2020 filled mostly with despair and frustration. The city’s
community
A rendering of the storefront of Van Alen Institute’s new location at 303 Bond Street in Gowanus, remade as a hub for community information. (Image: Van Alen Institute)A longstanding nonprofit with a track record of reimagining city spaces is launching a new fellowship program for Gowanus residents who
affordable housing
State lawmakers are considering legislation to increase the city’s affordable housing stock, but groups who represent Brooklyn’s working waterfront say it could unintentionally cost the city industrial jobs. The bill, called the “Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act,” [https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/s5257] looks to
Education
38 Sixth Avenue in Pacific Park. (Image: Developer)A new pre-school and home decor shop are coming to Brooklyn. Greenland Forest City Partners, the developer responsible for creating the 22-acre mixed-use neighborhood known as Pacific Park [https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox?compose=DmwnWrRmVGWqjKwnWJvDslNnDWmbXMXHrGMJXrXdPprhRNlrntHKqBpGBpwshWzklcFkVvjjwGPL] , announced today that Wonderforest
News
Image via Wikimedia Commons.Bklyner wishes a zissen Pesach to all Brooklynites who celebrate! Passover, which begins at sundown on Saturday, serves as a remembrance of the persecution and exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. At ceremonial dinners called seders, those observing the holiday eat foods that evoke [https:
brighton beach
100 Neptune Avenue in Brighton Beach, the site of a planned 170-bed shelter. (Image from Google Maps)A well-known service provider slated to oversee a controversial planned homeless shelter in Brighton Beach has been abruptly dropped by the site’s incoming owner, raising questions about the shelter’s future. CORE
Election 2021
Boris Noble (Image: campaign)Boris Noble dropped out of the race for the District 48 Council seat in southern Brooklyn on Wednesday, citing health complications stemming from coronavirus. Noble, a former housing analyst for the Brooklyn Borough President’s office, said in a statement [https://www.facebook.com/nobleforcouncil/posts/
News
Brooklyn. (Photo: Zainab Iqbal/Bklyner)Brooklyn. (Photo: Zainab Iqbal/Bklyner) We’re only half-way through the week, but there’s already plenty of news throughout the borough. Here’s what’s happening: * Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez is dismissing [/brooklyn-district-attorney-dismisses-prostitution-warrants/] all outstanding prostitution arrest warrants. * Longtime Greenpoint tenants are worried
Central Brooklyn
Carlos Menchaca (Image: William Alatriste/Campaign)We’re just under three months away from New York City’s June 22nd primary elections [https://vote.nyc/] which, in this heavily Democratic borough and city, will likely be the decisive race in many contests. Brooklynites will have the opportunity to vote for
Central Brooklyn
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday, March 22, 2021. (Image: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)In his latest effort to address the spike in violent crime that has plagued the city for much of the past year, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today the expansion of Cure Violence programs in
COVID-19
The Brooklyn Nets Food Pantry at PS/IS 308 on January 15, 2021 in Brooklyn, New York (Image: Michelle Farsi)Even as service providers and food pantries across the city have stepped up to meet the surge in demand for free food prompted by the pandemic, several parts of Brooklyn