Mayor Eric Adams said Oct. 6 the city will sell $460 million of taxable, fixed-rate general-obligation social bonds in October, its fourth such sale since 2022, to help finance nearly 2,200 affordable apartments. Proceeds will reimburse projects under HPD’s ELLA, SARA and Supportive Housing Loan programs; more than 80% of units will serve households at or below 60% of area median income ($97,200 for a family of four), including 790 units for formerly homeless New Yorkers. The latest deal brings Adams-era social-bond issuance to $2.38 billion supporting over 14,300 units, part of a pipeline of roughly 426,800 homes backed by a 10-year, $25.8 billion capital plan. Moody’s, S&P, Fitch and Kroll reaffirmed the city’s AA-category ratings and stable outlook—building on Fitch’s 2023 upgrade—citing steady fiscal management and resilient revenues.

Mayor Adams Announces New York City’s
Fourth Sale of Social Bonds to Support More Affordable Housing
as Leading Independent and Internationally-Recognized Rating Agencies Again Affirm City’s
Strong Financial Standing and Stability

 – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that New York City will sell $460 million of taxable, fixed-rate General Obligation Social Bonds in October 2025, helping to support the creation of thousands of units of affordable housing. Additionally, Mayor Adams announced that — for the 18th consecutive time in this administration — the independent, internationally-recognized credit rating agencies Moody’s Ratings, S&P Global Ratings, Fitch Ratings, and Kroll Bond Rating Agency have all affirmed the city’s strong bond ratings and stable outlook. Selling bonds to investors generates resources that the city uses to build and maintain its world-class infrastructure, and, in this case, will be used to support the construction and development of nearly 2,200 units of affordable housing in New York City. Social Bonds exclusively supporting affordable housing in New York City have only been issued during the Adams administration, and this is the city’s fourth issuance of Social Bonds since 2022.

“When it’s come to tackling our generational housing crisis, our administration has gotten creative as we’ve used every tool possible to tackle our generational housing crisis,” said Mayor Adams. “From our historic ‘City of Yes’ plan to our neighborhood rezonings, we have never been afraid to take the bold and necessary steps to build more housing for working-class New Yorkers. Issuing Social Bonds exclusively for housing is yet another example of how we are thinking outside the box to finance and spur more affordable housing. With this latest sale of $460 million of General Obligation Social Bonds, we will support the construction of nearly 2,200 additional units of affordable housing. And because of our work and more, the leading credit rating agencies have, once again, affirmed our administration’s strong fiscal management. Our administration has consistently stepped up to the plate, skillfully managing crises after crises while making our economy stronger and boosting investor confidence. And while we have made great strides, we will never stop fighting to make our city more affordable, more livable, and the best place to raise a family.”

Financing Affordable Housing Through Sale of Social Bonds

Social Bonds allow the city to take advantage of demand for investment opportunities while addressing core policy objectives, including investing in programs and initiatives that can make the city more affordable for working-class New Yorkers. The city’s first three sales of Social Bonds — all of which took place under the Adams administration — totaled $1.92 billion and helped finance over 12,100 units of affordable housing across the city. Following the upcoming transaction, the city will have sold $2.38 billion of Social Bonds since 2022 to help finance over 14,300 units of affordable housing.

The upcoming issuance of Social Bonds to support the building of more affordable housing follows yet another record-breaking year by the Adams administration for producing and connecting New Yorkers to affordable homes. Through its efforts to date, the administration has created, preserved, or planned for over 426,800 homes for New Yorkers — including at least 250,000 affordable homes — over the next 15 years. To support the creation of even more affordable housing, the Adams administration continues to use every tool available to produce the homes New Yorkers need and make generational progress against the city’s housing crisis, having committed $25.8 billion towards affordable housing through the city’s 10-Year Capital Plan.

Net proceeds from the upcoming sale of Social Bonds will be used to reimburse prior spending by the city under the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Extremely Low- and Low-Income Affordability (ELLA) Program, Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program, and Supportive Housing Loan Program (SHLP). The projects being financed are expected to provide an estimated 1,152 units under the ELLA program, 190 units under the SARA program, and 856 units under the SHLP program. Over 80 percent of the units will be for households earning 60 percent of area median income (equal to $97,200 for a family of four) or below. Additionally, 790 of the total units — more than one-third — will provide housing for individuals and families formerly experiencing homelessness.

Leading Credit Rating Agencies Again Show Confidence

Earlier this month, based on the strength of the city’s fiscal management, revenue performance, budget reserves, and post-pandemic recovery, Moody’s, S&P, Fitch, and Kroll all assigned double-A category ratings and stable outlooks to the city’s upcoming sales of approximately $1.5 billion tax-exempt and $1.75 billion taxable General Obligation Bonds, which includes the $460 million of Social Bonds. The four credit rating agencies have repeatedly upgraded or affirmed the city’s strong General Obligation Bond ratings and outlooks over the course of the Adams administration. Notably, in February 2023, Fitch Ratings upgraded the city’s credit rating from AA- to AA. On each occasion, the four agencies cited the city’s ongoing strong fiscal management in support of their decisions.

Maintaining a strong bond rating is an indication of the city’s financial strength and encourages continued investment in the city’s bonds, which help support funding to build and maintain housing, schools, streets, parks, and other critical infrastructure that spans the five boroughs.

In maintaining its Aa2 rating, Moody’s Ratings cited “New York City’s post-pandemic economic recovery, including a record-high employment-to-population ratio, positive trends in assessed property values despite commercial real estate challenges, and steady but slow tax revenue growth. The expanding economy is driven by the city’s competitive advantages: a young, highly skilled labor pool that over time has helped make New York City households wealthier; strong higher education and medical centers that also contribute higher paying jobs; and strong domestic and international transportation links that support New York City’s position as a global economic, financial and cultural hub.”

S&P Global Ratings stated that the AA rating “reflects our view of New York City’s governance strengths and the dynamism and resilience of its economy, which we believe support stable credit quality over the outlook horizon. At the onset of fiscal 2026, we believe that the fiscal trajectory remains stable, and budgetary reserves — while not projected to increase over the near-term — provide the city with financial flexibility to navigate near-term risks…The stable outlook further reflects our view of the city’s continuing ability to navigate potentially disruptive economic uncertainties and sustain financial stability in the near term, particularly amid a shifting federal and state funding landscape.”

Fitch Ratings noted that “New York City’s ‘AA’ Long-Term Issuer Default Rating and GO bond rating reflect the city’s exceptionally strong budget monitoring and controls, supporting Fitch’s ‘aa’ financial resilience assessment…The city experienced record revenue performance and strong economic recovery coming out of the pandemic, as well as improvement in reserve levels, which will help management navigate slowing revenue growth and future economic downturns.”

In its assignment of the city’s AA+ rating, KBRA wrote that “the city’s role as an international business and cultural center, and its position as the hub of the country’s largest metropolitan economy, highlight the diversity of the resource base supporting the G.O. Bonds. Institutionalized, long-range financial management and capital planning practices support financial stability.”

The credit rating and stable outlook affirmations follow the passage of the city’s $115.9 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Adopted Budget, which builds on Mayor Adams’ FY 2026 Executive Budget — often called the “Best Budget Ever.” The “Best Budget Ever” prioritizes investments that will make New York City a safer, more affordable city that is the best place to raise a family. Additionally, this fiscal year, for the first-time ever, New York City abolished or cut personal income taxes for eligible low-income New Yorkers. Recently, in his FY 2026 September Capital Commitment Plan, Mayor Adams announced the largest capital commitment plan in city history, which includes the acceleration of $1.5 billion in the New York City Housing Preservation and Development capital budget and $300 million in the New York City Housing Authority capital budget for FY 2026 to expedite construction and rehabilitation of nearly 6,500 homes, yet another example of how the administration is delivering affordable housing faster and more creatively.

Thanks to careful fiscal management and policies that have fostered robust economic growth, the Adams administration overcame unprecedented challenges in this budget cycle to manage the budget responsibly, support essential services, and make upstream investments that will benefit New Yorkers for generations to come.

October 6, 2025 NEW YORK

Sources: NYC.gov , Big New York news BigNY.com
Midtown Tribune News

Midtown Tribune Independent USA news from New York

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced the implementation of a citywide 15 mph speed limit for e-bikes, e-scooters, and pedal-assist commercial bicycles, effective October 24, 2025, following the publication of the final rule in the City Record. The measure aligns with international best practices and is aimed at enhancing public safety amid record cycling growth and rising use of micromobility devices. The initiative builds on the Adams administration’s broader transportation safety agenda, which includes over 87 miles of new protected bike lanes, upgraded infrastructure, and the recent launch of the Department of Sustainable Delivery—a regulatory body tasked with overseeing delivery app operations and promoting safer streets. The administration continues to urge the City Council to adopt comprehensive legislation to hold app-based delivery companies accountable for incentivizing unsafe riding behaviors.

Mayor Adams Announces Citywide Speed Limit for E-Bikes to Go Into Effect on October 24

 – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today delivered on a commitment made earlier this summer by announcing a citywide 15 mile-per-hour (mph) speed limit for electric bikes on city streets, effective October 24, 2025, following today’s publication of the final rule in the City Record. Once implemented, the 15 mph speed limit for e-bikes, e-scooters, and pedal-assist commercial bicycles will match the same speed limit that currently applies to stand-up e-scooters. The new rule mirrors best practices for e-bike speeds in many other areas of the world, including the European Union, which has implemented speed restrictions for e-bikes of 25 kilometers-per-hour (approximately 15 mph) in bike lanes.

“This new 15 miles-per-hour speed limit for e-bikes is about keeping New Yorkers safe while continuing to keep our city moving,” said Mayor Adams. “As more New Yorkers turn to e-bikes and e-scooters to get around our city, New Yorkers have asked us to set clear, consistent rules to address this issue and protect everyone. Starting October 24, whether you’re riding, walking, or driving, we know that everyone will be safe and protected on our streets. We’re proud of the work we’ve done to expand biking across the five boroughs while setting clear rules of the road that will improve public safety and New Yorkers’ quality of life.”

“With record bike ridership and a historic expansion of our protected bike lane network, we’re making it safer and easier than ever for the record number of New Yorkers choosing cycling by building infrastructure and providing education to meet the moment,” said New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “We are using every tool and studying worldwide best practices, to ensure every New Yorker is traveling at safe speeds on our streets.”

Today’s announcement is the latest step Mayor Adams has taken to enhance public safety for all New Yorkers on city streets. Other safety measures have included implementing targeted traffic enforcement against reckless driving, and the creation of the Department of Sustainable Delivery within the DOT. The Adams administration has also built a record 87.5 miles of new protected bike lanes, upgraded more than with sturdier barriers, and has begun building wider bike lanes along the city’s busiest routes to meet record demand for bike infrastructure throughout New York City.

Department of Sustainable Delivery
Recently, Mayor Adams announced the Department of Sustainable Delivery. Fulfilling a promise from his 2024 State of the City Address, the Department of Sustainable Delivery will consist of a team of data analysts, policy analysts, and peace officers who will focus on methods to improve traffic and vehicle safety and work to hold delivery app companies accountable for public safety. Funded as part of Fiscal Year 2026 Adopted Budget, which builds on Mayor Adams’ “Best Budget Ever,” the Department of Sustainable Delivery will bring order to New York City streets as the number of app-based deliveries and delivery workers have soared with little accountability in place for app-based companies. The Adams administration continues to call on the New York City Council to take up the administration’s comprehensive legislation to crack down on the root cause of reckless e-bike riding by regulating the app companies that incentivize dangerous behavior.

The Adams administration continues to call on the New York City Council to take up the administration’s comprehensive legislation to crack down on the root cause of reckless e-bike riding by regulating the app companies that incentivize dangerous behavior. 

September 24, 2025 Manhattan NEW YORK

Spources: NYC.gov , Big New York News
Midtown Tribune News

Midtown Tribune Independent USA news from New York

In a series of legal filings timed with Climate Week NYC, New York City is once again positioning itself at the forefront of national climate advocacy, opposing federal efforts to roll back the EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding.
While city officials frame the move as essential to protecting public health and the environment, the broader debate over climate policy remains far from settled.
Critics note that some of the planet’s highest recorded temperatures occurred in the early 20th century, before widespread industrialization, and argue that decades of massive public and private investment have yielded minimal observable changes in global climate patterns.
As the cost of climate initiatives continues to climb into the trillions, questions persist about whether the current approach—centered on aggressive regulation and top-down mandates—is delivering measurable results or simply reinforcing political orthodoxy at the expense of economic flexibility and scientific debate.

City of New York Takes Multiple Actions Supporting Challenges to Federal Government’s Efforts to Roll Back Climate Science, Harm Public Health, Threaten Local Economies

The City of New York today announced that — as part of a coalition of dozens of cities, counties, and states from across the nation — it has filed three comment letters   opposing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed reversal of its 2009 “Endangerment Finding.” The landmark 2009 finding holds that greenhouse gas emissions — including those from motor vehicles — drive climate change and endanger public health and welfare. The new proposal — issued on August 1, 2025 — would deny the EPA’s authority to regulate harmful air pollution that contributes to climate change, harms public health, and would eliminate all existing EPA vehicle emission standards.

Additionally, earlier this month, the City of New York and a coalition of 19 attorneys general filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Environmental Defense Fund v. Wright, supporting the plaintiffs in a case challenging the authority of the Climate Working Group, convened by the U.S. Department of Energy in violation of Federal Advisory Committee Act requirements, to prepare a report that purports to undermine the scientific consensus on climate change.

This announcement builds on the work the Adams administration has done to address climate change and comes at the start of “Climate Week NYC,” the world’s biggest climate event of its kind. In 2024, Mayor Adams introduced the city’s first-ever climate budgeting publication through the city’s Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget. Climate budgeting is a process that incorporates science-based climate considerations into the city’s budget decision-making process by evaluating how actions and spending today contribute to meeting longer-term climate targets and needs. New York City is the first big city in the United States to adopt climate budgeting, joining other global cities, such as London, Oslo, and Mumbai, to utilize the process.

“New York City is no stranger to the devastating effects of natural disasters. With more extreme weather events hitting the five boroughs more often, for our safety and to protect our economy, we must be prepared for the effects of climate change, including by putting in place stronger federal regulations of greenhouse gases,” said Mayor Adams. “Attempts to undermine this scientific consensus should not be the basis for undoing important regulations that mitigate future environmental damage that threatens lives, brings harm to our communities, and hampers our economies. We are proud to stand with our partners from across the nation in taking multiple actions supporting long-held scientific findings that protect against environmental disasters in our communities.”

“More than a decade ago, the EPA formally determined that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of the American people, and that emissions from motor vehicles and engines contribute to the greenhouse gas pollution that threatens public health and welfare,” said New York City Corporation Counsel Muriel Goode-Trufant. “Now, over the span of a few months, the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPA have sought to manufacture a basis to reject this overwhelming scientific consensus, endangering all Americans and all New Yorkers.”

The 2009 Endangerment Finding was the direct result of the landmark 2007 U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Massachusetts v. EPA, which confirmed the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that threaten public health and welfare. In direct response to that opinion, and after more than two years of scientific review, the EPA determined, in 2009, that greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles contribute to air pollution that harm public health and welfare.

2009 Endangerment Finding Comment Letter

In their letter submitted to the EPA today, the coalition argues that rescinding the 2009 Endangerment Finding would violate settled law, Supreme Court precedent, and scientific consensus, endangering the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans, particularly those in communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harms.

Scientific research has proven that every region of the country is experiencing harms of climate change and motor vehicle pollution, including changes in temperature, precipitation, and sea level rise. Extreme summer heat — driven by climate change — is leading to increased rates of heat-related illnesses and deaths, particularly among vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, low-income individuals, and workers. Increasing rates of natural disasters — like wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and droughts — not only have a devastating effect on public health and safety, but on state and local economies as well.

Climate change poses existential risks to New Yorkers’ health and safety. Sea level rise in New York City is putting communities and infrastructure at risk of regular flooding. Extreme weather events — such as Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Ida in 2021 — can result in injury and loss of life due to exposure, interrupted utility service, or lack of access to emergency services. Additionally, warming temperatures exacerbate or introduce health problems. On average, more than 500 New Yorkers die prematurely because of extreme heat in New York City each year.

Not only does the EPA’s proposed reversal ignore those facts, but it also violates the EPA’s legal obligations under the federal Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change.

The coalition argues, in today’s letter, that the EPA’s new legal interpretations are inconsistent with the Clean Air Act and binding Supreme Court precedent, and that the proposal would mark a drastic reversal of its own longstanding findings without any explanation grounded in science. To make matters worse, the Climate Working Group report on which the EPA relies is substantively flawed, yet the EPA blindly accepts its findings and disregards the scientific consensus, which was just reaffirmed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine last week.

In filing this comment letter, the coalition urges the EPA to abandon its proposal to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding.

Motor Vehicles Comment Letter

In withdrawing the 2009 Endangerment Finding, the EPA also proposes to repeal all existing federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for all motor vehicle classes and all years. In a second letter submitted to the EPA today, the coalition explains that this unprecedented disruption to the regulatory norms of the last 15 years will harm states and local governments’ residents, industries, natural resources, and public investments.

Regulatory enforcement for greenhouse gas emissions is also crucial to vehicle affordability, consumer choice, and to the success of the American automotive industry. The greenhouse gas program for vehicles incentivizes automakers to innovate and create better cars, saving drivers hundreds of billions of dollars in fuel and maintenance costs, and helps support domestic manufacturing and jobs. Repealing that program, as the EPA now proposes, will shutter factories, kill jobs, and wipe out billions of dollars in investments by Congress, states, and local governments to keep the American auto industry thriving and globally competitive.

Climate Working Group Comment Letter

Earlier this month, on September 2, the City of New York joined another coalition of 27 localities from around the nation in filing a comment letter opposing the Climate Working Group report that EPA relied on in its proposed recission of the 2009 Endangerment Finding.

In that comment letter, the coalition identified several legal flaws in the Climate Working Group report. In creating the Climate Working Group, the U.S. Department of Energy selected five widely known climate change skeptics, ignored well-established scientific integrity standards, and failed to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act’s procedures, which require the disclosure of all committee-related records and that committee meetings be open to the public.

The report — written in less than two months and filled with inaccuracies, factual omissions, and mischaracterizations of climate science research — attempts to critique decades of peer-reviewed scientific research establishing that the emission of greenhouse gases cause climate change and endanger public health and welfare.

In filing the comment letter, the coalition urged the Department of Energy to withdraw the unlawful and misguided Climate Working Group report.

Joining the City of New York in filing all three comment letters were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the chief legal officers of the city and county of Denver, Colorado, Chicago, Illinois, and Martin Luther King Jr. County, Washington.

Climate Working Group Amicus Brief 

On August 29, the City of New York and 19 attorneys general from around the nation filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Environmental Defense Fund v. Wright, supporting the plaintiffs in their effort to declare the Climate Working Group’s report unlawful.

In their brief, the coalition argued that the Department of Energy violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act by establishing and utilizing the Climate Working Group, and that this violation will harm state and local governments’ strong interest in ensuring that the federal government rely on the best available science to guide its climate policy decisions. In New York City, the New York City Panel on Climate Change uses federal climate data to develop its own reports and mapping tools, which inform many city policies, including the Climate Resilience Design Guidelines and zoning rules related to current and future flood conditions.

On September 17, the district court held that the federal government is not exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Joining the City of New York in filing this amicus brief were the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

In addition to the actions described above, Elijah Hutchinson, Executive Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, testified before EPA on August 21 to oppose its proposed recission of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and motor vehicle greenhouse gas standards.

These four actions build on the numerous actions the Adams administration has taken to protect New Yorkers from the effects of climate change. Just last week, Mayor Adams broke ground on a $218 million public safety project to protect Red Hook from coastal flooding and save hundreds of millions of dollars for residents in lost property costs. And, as announced in the Mayor’s Management Report last week, in Fiscal Year 2025, the city saw major environmental gains and savings, largely due to composting and recycling. Overall recycling tonnage increased 4 percent, and the diversion rate of recyclables rose for a third consecutive year to 21.8 percent, the highest since Fiscal Year 2011. Tons of refuse disposed to landfills decreased to the lowest level in at least 15 years, largely due to the tons of organic waste that were diverted, which increased nearly 29 percent. In 2023, Mayor Adams celebrated the passage of the “City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality” proposal, a historic set of citywide zoning changes that will facilitate climate action, clean energy, and resiliency.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2025  Manhattan New York

Sources: Big New York News BigNY.com  NYC.gov
Midtown Tribune news

Midtown Tribune Independent USA news from New York