Final Showdown: Adams vs. Sliwa

In recent years, 15 New Yorkers experiencing mental health crises have died in encounters with NYPD officers. NYC’s current mayor has committed to send out mental health teams without cops in a two-precinct test. Some advocates want to go further.

In 2019, the state Legislature voted to charge vehicles a special toll to enter Manhattan south of 59th Street — with specific rates and other details to be determined later by an appointed board. Once congestion pricing is in place, funds will funnel to the state-run MTA to support mass transit — rankling some who seek city control over local streets.

A bill pending in the City Council would change New York City’s charter to allow “lawful permanent residents” 18 and over to vote in local elections.

Dank, shadow-casting sidewalk sheds are widely disliked but provide public safety protection during building facade work and construction.

Uneven property assessments have many homeowners in neighborhoods with lower real estate values paying much more in taxes than those in tonier areas, among other inequities identified by the NYC Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform.

Even before the pandemic, high rents in many Manhattan neighborhoods coincided with numerous empty storefronts and a proliferation of chain retailers. More stores are vacant now.

NYC currently requires all city employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID, but has declined to impose such a requirement on eligible students in public schools.

A growing segment of the workforce consists of workers who pick up assignments from apps like Uber or DoorDash. They’re treated by the companies as independent contractors lacking rights of employees, including the right to join a labor union.

NYC plans to close Rikers Island by 2027 and replace it with four new borough-based jails at accessible locations intended to make incarceration less inhumane.

The city Department of Homeless Services came to use hotel rooms to house many homeless families as their numbers in shelters grew. During the pandemic, the agency also moved many adults from shelters into hotel rooms to thwart the spread of COVID.