- Officials in the City Clerk’s office say an unprecedented number of objection letters have been received regarding the proposed Chinatown Business Improvement District (Daily News).
- The Rent Guidelines Board raised the maximum increases on rent-stabilized apartments to 3.75 percent for one-year leases and 7.25 percent for two-year leases (NYT).
- Parents of the embattled Shuang Wen School are suing the Department of Education (DNA Info, Post, NY1).
- More on the alleged rape of a woman in Sara D. Roosevelt Park (DNA Info).
- An HBO documentary has become an issue in the case of two former East Village cops acquitted of rape but convicted of misconduct; their sentencing has been delayed (Post).
- Lower East Side couple Carol Anastasio and Mimi Brown will wait just a little while longer to get married (Daily News).
Sure, everyone wants clean streets, they’re great, but in the past 5-6 years the Chinatown Partnership has not proven that they have saved small businesses from leaving Chinatown. FACT: This Chinatown BID proposal has recently had more Verified Objections filed against it than any other BID proposal in NYC’s history!! This unprecedented number of objections, about 600, was accumulated in a matter of weeks last month, and that number is growing daily. This verifiable FACT, as stated by the City Clerk, has shown the claim of Councilmember Margaret Chin and the Chinatown Partnership – that Chinatown mostly supports the BID – is entirely false! The Chinatown Partnership has used unvetted, dubious “survey” data to support their claim of support, while ALL anti-BID signatures/objections are verified, notarized, vetted and REAL. This is just one of MANY reasons why the City Council cannot approve or support the Chinatown BID, the pro-BID people and Margaret Chin are not to be trusted to impose a PERMANENT NEW TAX on Chinatown in a time of RECESSION.