Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Department of Finance

Department of Finance

  • When Inexperience Wins, New York City Loses

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    (photo via PayLock)


    The only thing worse than getting a parking ticket is having your car towed for unpaid fines. For decades, it was the ultimate New York hassle: spend hours looking for your car only to find out you’ve been ticketed, towed, charged a storage fee, and forced to rescue your vehicle from a distant decrepit parking lot.

    Driving has its place in New York City, which is why there are two million ...

  • Pointing to Amazon Announcement, Long Island City Co-op Renews Calls for Similar Tax Relief

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    CityLights, second building from right (photo: King of Hearts/Wikimedia Commons)


    Amazon’s announcement that it will locate one of its two new “headquarters” in Long Island City, Queens triggered immediate backlash among some elected officials and residents of the community who fear the effects it will have on local housing prices and already strained infrastructure, among other consequences. But the residents of CityLights, the largest affordable co-op in Queens, are particularly incensed by

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  • Amnesty Program Clears $150 Million Owed to City

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    Mayor de Blasio hands a pen to CM Ferreras-Copeland (photo: @JulissaFerreras)


    A three-month amnesty program run by the city Department of Finance cleared more than $150 million in penalties owed by New Yorkers due to fines from various city agencies. Proposed by City Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland and agreed to by the City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio, the September-to-December fine forgiveness program was aimed at addressing some of $1 billion in debt owed to the city and is being heralded as a success by officials involved.

    The program, which was the first of its kind

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