Press Coverage

The money means that work may begin as soon as Fall 2022 and wrap up the following year — once plans have been presented to Community Board 8 and the Public Design Commission later this year.

The park occupies the former site of the Jacob Ruppert & Company brewery, which closed in 1965 and was replaced by the Ruppert Towers apartment complex — as well as the park, which opened in 1979.

Though well-loved by East Side families, Ruppert has "a very '70s design," as Kallos described it. Its four-leaf clover shape divides the park into four quadrants, including a little-used grassless area that has been repurposed as a dog run.

Other problems include an excess of vegetation that blocks sunlight and attracts insects, as well as a dearth of sitting areas, rat infestations, outdated play equipment and hilly areas that pose accessibility challenges.

"Ruppert Park has needed an overhaul since I was kid and no one wanted to play there," Kallos said in a statement. "I can't believe it took my lifetime, but Ruppert Park is going to get a complete redesign to become a destination park in the neighborhood that everyone will want to go to."

City Councilmember Ben Kallos, widely seen as the architect behind the city’s 8-to-1 matching funds program, said the generous public support helped to blunt super PACs influence and allow more candidates the get their messages out and compete.

“We wouldn't have had the field that we did,” Kallos said. “That story repeats over and over again.”

CFB chairman Fred Schaffer downplayed the role of super PACs in this year’s election at the CFB meeting on Thursday, pointing to the outlay of $109 million in public funds.

“The support provided to candidates through the campaign finance program surpassed the amount spent by the outside groups," Schaffer said, "helping all the candidates who qualified get their story and vision for the city out to voters.”

Still, Councilman Ben Kallos, who represents the Upper East Side, said he is concerned.

“We need the Department of Environmental Protection, which manages our water supply, Con Ed working together to find any leaks underground, making sure that we’re not having any compromised spaces, and make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Kallos said.

Con Edison said gas and electric were not impacted in the area.

Kallos told CBS2 the DEP believes a 12-inch water main — or a 6-inch sewer main — may be the cause.

NEW YORK— Mayor Bill de Blasio today recommended Department of Finance Commissioner Sherif Soliman to the Traffic Mobility Review Board (TMRB). The mayor also called on the MTA to work faster to advance this crucial first-in-the-nation program, which will charge private vehicles for entering Manhattan’s Central Business District.

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“Congestion pricing will put fewer cars on the road and more funding toward mass transit, which means better commutes for the pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers who actually live in our city,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “I have advocated for this on behalf of residents for nearly four years and will keep pushing until it is implemented. I trust that under Sherif Soliman’s leadership, the Traffic Mobility Review Board will turn this plan into our reality, cementing New York City as a leader in transportation.”

“New Yorkers are used to seeing potholes - this is on another level,” UES Council Member Ben Kallos told Our Town, noting that the hole was 20 feet deep and 15 by 15 feet. “We’ve never seen sinkholes in New York City, let alone sinkholes this big.”

The size of the hole grew throughout the day as crews worked to survey how much of the earth below had eroded and other possible damage. Water was shut off to two buildings on the street while crews worked, but service was restored by Thursday night. Con Edison also sent representatives to the scene to ensure the gas line stayed intact.

Though the city has massive rainfall and flash flood warnings in recent weeks, Kallos said the apparent cause of this particular sinkhole was related to a 12-inch water main and a six-inch sewer line. The Council member said he introduced legislation in May that could prevent sinkholes such as these from happening in the future.

“If we had smart meters on our water supply and on our gas, the city would have noticed the gallons and gallons of water that was missing between the building and the distribution point,” said Kallos. “We need to catch water and the gas leaks before buildings explode and sidewalks crumble, and God forbid, something like what happened to Miami happens here in New York City.”

The two sinkholes forming in the span of a few days represent an urgent problem that won’t be solved by simply repaving streets, Kallos said.

The sinkhole, on East 89th Street between York and East End avenues, was first reported at 8:32 a.m. in a city alert.

The hole measures 20 feet deep and about 15 by 15 feet in diameter, a spokesperson for the city's Emergency Management department said. A 12-inch water main and a six-inch sewer pipe are being eyed as possible causes, investigators told City Councilmember Ben Kallos.

Photos and videos showed the sinkhole stretching across the middle of the road as crews from the Department of Environmental Protection jackhammered into the asphalt. The city asked neighbors to avoid the area.

Two buildings have had their utilities shut off: an empty building under construction, as well as 504 East 89th Street, where 10 apartments were temporarily without water, Kallos said.

Over the last five years, one councilman has introduced multiple pieces of legislation addressing the issue, but he believes lobbyists from the real estate industry have prevented the city from enacting them.

“I have legislation that says that when the sidewalk sheds go up, work has to start. If it doesn’t, the city would step in, do the work and make bad landlords pay,” Councilman Ben Kallos said.

All under a 90-day deadline.

NEW YORK - New York City's Board of Elections has come under increasing scrutiny after the independent organization mistakenly counted more than 100,000 test ballots and included those numbers in the primary night and early voting totals.

"They're doing a horrible job," said Councilman Ben Kallos. "They have one job, and it's to count votes."

While the Board has apologized for the mistake, calling it human error, it's not enough for many, who are demanding reforms

The city provided no timeline for when work would begin, saying details would be determined during the design process. The Parks and Transportation departments will present the project Thursday night to Community Board 8.

"John Finley Walk is an incredible spot to take a stroll and enjoy the waterfront," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. "These infrastructure improvements will ensure New Yorkers will be able to enjoy this beautiful promenade for generations to come."

News of the repairs was hailed by local officials, including City Councilmember Ben Kallos, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

WEST VILLAGE, NY — The day a sidewalk scaffolding shed first went up over part of a West 9th Street block, Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York City, "Shakespeare In Love" had recently won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and Britney Spears had just earned her first No. 1 hit.

It's still there.

The shed of wood and metal first went up outside 24-26 West 9th St. on Nov. 7, 1999. Though official records show it came down briefly in 2004 and again in 2007, it quickly returned both times, making it a 22-year blight, frustrated local residents said.

"Manhattanites are so sick of this nonsense: sidewalk sheds go up and decades later they are still up. It is frankly embarrassing for us as a City that we cannot get these repairs done and get the sheds down," Kallos told Patch.

"My legislation would force the building owner here to make the necessary repairs for the facade to be safe and then take the scaffolding down all within 90 days. If they don't want to, the city would get it done, and the landlord would have to deal with the bill. With over 300 miles of scaffolding crowding City sidewalks, hurting local businesses, and ruining quality of life, the time is now to enact this reform."

New York City Council member Ben Kallos is looking to crack down on illegal apartment listings on home-sharing sites such as Airbnb. The law he’s introduced would require homes rented on short-term rental platforms to register with the city.

The five boroughs lack enough affordable housing stock. At the same time it’s home to thousands of apartments listed on sites like Airbnb. By requiring listers to register their apartment with the city, Kallos said he hopes New Yorkers will not only understand what apartments can be legally rented out but will have more legal apartments to choose from — which, theoretically at least, could bring down rents.  

SEE ALSO: De Blasio, Eyeing Tourism Recovery, Eliminates Hotel Tax for Summer

The number of illegal listings in New York City is difficult to approximate, however. Anecdotes and estimates do peg the number in the thousands as do the city’s recent enforcement efforts. When New York sued Airbnb in 2019, it accused brokers with Metropolitan Property Group of illegally facilitating 13,691 rentals from 2015 to 2018, housing more than 75,000 guests, pocketing $21 million in revenue along the way, according to The New York Times. (The case was eventually settled.)

As Council member Ben Kallos has received complaints about outdated equipment at Ruppert Park, he stepped up to the plate and allocated $3 million to give it a much needed facelift.

Ruppert Park, located at Second Ave. between East 90th Street and East 91st Street, was built in 1979, yet it has been nearly 25 years since it was renovated.

“We haven’t done enough for Ruppert Park,” the Council member said. “It’s fallen into disrepair.”

According to Kallos, parents with young children will go to any park on the UES but Ruppert.

City Councilman Ben Kallos is pushing legislation that would waive application fees for city public school students hoping to enroll at CUNY colleges.

Roughly 75,000 Department of Education kids apply to the public schools each year and pay $65 to do so.

“It’s unacceptable that right now, a 17-year-old can be told by a high school guidance counselor their rent-burdened single mother isn’t poor enough to get a break on hundreds of dollars of fees to apply to colleges and compete for scholarships,” said Kallos, who co-sponsored the bill introduced last week.

Overall, the initiative would cost the city roughly $4.8 million.

Around 75,000 New York City public schools students apply to CUNY colleges every year.

Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

“This legislation is about bringing more access and equity to the families that struggle,” he said. “A $65 fee should not be what prevents a talented kid from getting into a CUNY.”

The largest urban university system in the country, CUNY currently runs 11 senior campuses along with seven community colleges across the boroughs.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is co-sponsoring Councilman Ben Kallos’ effort.

Stefan Jeremiah for New York Post

The schools currently enroll roughly 275,000 students.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is co-sponsoring the legislation.

Mayoral candidate and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams also supports the effort.

Ron Adar / M10s / MEGA

“College application fees can be a financial burden for our public school students,” she said. “This legislation will make applying to CUNY more accessible for high schoolers and will help make their dreams of a college education possible.”

Mayoral candidate and current Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is also backing the push.

While New York’s multiple dwelling law makes it illegal to rent an entire apartment for fewer than 30 days in a building with three or more units, that law is largely only enforced when neighbors complain, WSJ reported. Councilman Ben Kallos introduced the bill to reduce the number of illegal short-term rentals and increase the stock of permanent housing in the city.

City Councilman Ben Kallos, a Manhattan Democrat, said the bill would reduce the number of illegal short-term rentals and increase the stock of permanent housing in the city. Mr. Kallos said the legislation would also help the hotel industry, which saw occupancy rates decline because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Currently, it is illegal to rent an entire apartment in a building with three or more units for fewer than 30 days. However, enforcement of the law is largely driven by complaints from neighbors. The Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement handles investigations into illegal rentals in the city.

While the mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement is charged with implementing the law, it has been “nearly impossible” to do so, Kallos says, due to legal challenges.

That’s where his bill comes in.

By requiring renters to register with the city before offerings are advertised online, the city would be able to reject them in advance. Failure to comply would result in steep fines.

Kallos expects thousands of units to go off the short-term-rental market as a result — paving the way for hotels to start recouping losses from the pandemic.

• The one-acre park, on Second Avenue between East 90th and 91st streets, was built in 1979 by the city's Housing Preservation Department before being transferred to the Parks Department in the 1990s. (Nick Garber/Patch)

A grassless area repurposed as a dog run could be rehabilitated through Ruppert Park's renovations, Councilmember Ben Kallos said. (Nick Garber/Patch)

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Ruppert Park, one of the Upper East Side's small but treasured green spaces, is set for a major overhaul thanks to an infusion of new funding, City Councilmember Ben Kallos told Patch.

The one-acre park, on Second Avenue between East 90th and 91st streets, was built in 1979 by the city's Housing Preservation Department before being transferred to the Parks Department in the 1990s.

In that time, it has served countless families and hosted many an afternoon playtime — but Ruppert remains "an acquired taste," Kallos said.

"The park has a very '70s design," he said. "Walking by the park as a child, all I saw was a giant six-foot fence and overgrowth that just doesn't seem welcoming."

A fountain in the center of the park is rarely functional, its "four-leaf clover" design has led to two quadrants being under-used, including a grassless stretch that has been repurposed as a dog run. Overly dense trees create a lack of sunlight and excessive moisture in the summertime, attracting bugs, Kallos said.

Critics say the machine illustrated the unnecessary militarization of the police

The New York Police Department has canceled its trial of a robot dog made by US firm Boston Dynamics after receiving fierce criticism regarding the “dystopian” technology.

“The contract has been terminated and the dog will be returned,” a spokesperson for the NYPD told the New York Post. John Miller, the department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, told The New York Times that the machine was “a casualty of politics, bad information and cheap sound bytes.” Said Miller: “People had figured out the catchphrases and the language to somehow make this evil.”

The NYPD began leasing the machine nicknamed Digidog last year. “This dog is going to save lives, protect people, and protect officers and that’s our goal,” said the NYPD’s Frank Digiacomo in an interview with ABC7. The robot was deployed roughly half a dozen times during its tenure, mostly acting as a mobile camera in potentially hostile environments.

THE ROBOT DOG WAS DEPLOYED ROUGHLY HALF A DOZEN TIMES, MOSTLY AS MOBILE SURVEILLANCE

“The NYPD has been using robots since the 1970s to save lives in hostage situations & hazmat incidents,” said the department in February. “This model of robot is being tested to evaluate its capabilities against other models in use by our emergency service unit and bomb squad.”

Many, though, saw the robot as a symbol of both wasteful police spending and increasingly aggressive tactics being deployed by law enforcement. “Now robotic surveillance ground drones are being deployed for testing on low-income communities of color with under-resourced schools,” tweeted NYC Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in February.

In response to outcry over the machine, New York City Council Member Ben Kallos proposed a law that would ban the police from owning or operating weaponized robots. “I don’t think anyone was anticipating that they’d actually be used by the NYPD right now,” Kallos told Wired earlier this year. ”I have no problem with using a robot to defuse a bomb, but it has to be the right use of a tool and the right type of circumstance.”

Kallos told the Times this week that deploying Digidog on the streets of New York City highlighted the ongoing “militarization of the police.” Said Kallos: “At a time where we should be having more beat cops on the street, building relationships with residents, they’re actually headed in another direction in trying to replace them with robots.”

AROUND 500 SPOT UNITS ARE IN USE, MAINLY IN INDUSTRIAL SETTINGS

Spot, as the machine is called by creators Boston Dynamics, has never been weaponized, and doing so would break the company’s terms of service. But it is being deployed in increasingly controversial situations. Although the company has currently sold or leases around 500 Spot units, with most of the robots being used in commercial and industrial settings, such machines are of increasing interest to both law enforcement and military users.

Earlier this month, it emerged that the French military has been testing Spot in combat exercises. Boston Dynamics told The Verge at the time that while it knew the robot was being leased to the army, it was unaware it was being used in these exact scenarios. Spot was not weaponized in these exercises but used by soldiers for forward surveillance.

Speaking to The New York Times, a spokesperson for Boston Dynamics said, “We support local communities reviewing the allocation of public funds, and believe Spot is a cost-effective tool comparable to historical robotic devices used by public safety to inspect hazardous environments.”

The OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 9 are here. There's a new screen, faster wireless charging, and big claims about the camera partnership with Hasselblad. Can it all measure up against the Galaxy S21 lineup? In this review, Dieter Bohn and Allison Johnson put each smartphone to the test.

Councilman Ben Kallos (D-5) attended Tuesday’s meeting, citing the concerns of the community and noting, as he did in a statement to the Eastsiders for Responsible Zoning two weeks ago, that the Blood Center does very important work and can expand without a massive rezoning.

“This is why we insist that the Longfellow proposal, which would make the building as tall as a 33-story residential tower, is excessive and if allowed to go through unchecked will change our neighborhood forever. Every East Sider who could be affected by this proposal should be showing up to every Community Board and Department of City Planning meeting on the project,” said Kallos. 

Eligible New Yorkers can apply online before the June 29 deadline. Kallos's office will host informational sessions at 6 p.m. on May 19 and June 16. (More information below).

A deal with the city

This week's listing came nearly four months after the lottery was first announced by City Councilmember Ben Kallos, who initially said they would be open for applications by Christmas.

That delay was a result of pricing disagreements between the developer and the city's Housing Preservation Department, as well as fluctuations in the city's real estate market during the pandemic, according to a spokesperson for Kallos.