In March, 2026, the Bond Center published “NYC City Charter Amendments on Land Use Approvals: Implications for Manhattan Community Boards 9 and 10”.

Recent amendments to the New York City Charter - ballot proposals 2-4 approved in the 2025 NYC election - introduce significant procedural changes intended to accelerate affordable housing development, streamline approvals for modest land-use actions, and establish new oversight mechanisms for contested affordable housing proposals. These proposals were entered into the City Charter and took effect in November, 2025.

On Nov. 15th and 16th, 2024, the J Max Bond Center for Urban Futures hosted ARCH @ 60: Bridging Past Visions and Present Realities, a symposium that brought together practitioners, advocates, and academics to reflect of the legacy of the Architects’ Renewal Committee in Harlem (ARCH)

Currently, most air rights transfers are used to create a distinctly financial style of building, the super-tall. This project proposes a smaller scale approach, unlocking air rights above existing residential development, adding 2-4 stories to create a higher, yet still contextually relevant, density.

The lasting effects of gentrification, rezoning, historic red-lining and economic and health disparities have rendered a built landscape — and its attending processes — fraught to navigate.