The buoyant mood across Manhattan is contagious—the Knicks’ incredible playoff run, the stretch of gorgeous weather, and the excitement building ahead of the World Cup are combining to make this a memorable spring.
I haven’t had the opportunity (or more accurately, the cash) to catch a Knicks game this season. But I did tell The New York Times that when New Yorkers are celebrating a winning team, it’s maybe a little harder to build support for legislation I sponsored in the State Senate to end Madison Square Garden’s indefensible property tax exemption, a giveaway that has cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion so far. And the Garden’s owner, James Dolan, continues the Orwellian face-scanning surveillance to keep critics and perceived adversaries out of the arena—so perhaps I wouldn’t be able to get in anyway!
World Cup preparations, meanwhile, is moving full speed ahead. This week, I joined Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani to dedicate a new soccer pitch for kids adjacent to Tavern on the Green—on what was once a Robert Moses parking lot.
I also enjoyed seeing so many at the Public Theater’s event on Monday night; I helped celebrate the 40th anniversary opening night at Central Park’s SummerStage; and attended the relighting of the Apollo Theater marquee. A great week so far—ONE MORE WIN!
Manhattan has a serious dog waste problem. If it seems like you’re seeing more and more dog waste left of the sidewalk instead of bagged and thrown out, you’re right – and we have the data to back it up. My team partnered with BetaNYC to analyze four years of dog waste complaints to 311 and discovered that these complaints have been steadily rising since 2022, with this past winter being the worst on record. A single day in February 2026 set the all-time record for dog waste complaints in one day.
When we zoomed in to the neighborhood level, we learned that Washington Heights and Inwood (Community District 12) experience the most complaints – 626 since January 2024 alone, and three times more than the neighborhood with the second highest number of complaints. But this isn’t because these neighborhoods are filled with dog owners who don’t care if their neighbors are scraping waste off their shoes. We found that CD 12 has the fewest public litter baskets and dog waste bag dispensers of anywhere in Manhattan, so of course dog waste is ending up on the sidewalks. And we see hot pockets of similar issues in other neighborhoods throughout the borough.
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Dog waste is more than unsightly. It’s a health hazard. It carries dangerous pathogens that can survive in soil for months or even years and be deadly to young children and people with weakened immune systems. When it rains, fecal matter washes into storm drains and flows into the East and Hudson Rivers, adding to contamination in local waterways. Dog waste left on the street may also serve as a food source for rats. This report finds a correlated pattern in the 311 data: community districts with high rates of dog waste complaints also consistently show high rates of rat sighting complaints.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Based on the data, my office is recommending:
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Targeted basket installation on specific high-complaint, low-coverage blocks in the districts where the data shows persistent concentration.
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Waste bag dispenser expansion into uptown Manhattan, where coverage is effectively nonexistent despite the area generating the borough’s highest complaint volumes.
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Front-loaded outreach and community education timed to begin in November or December, ahead of the late-winter peak, rather than ramping up only after complaints have already risen.
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Report what you see. If you encounter dog waste on your block, call 311. Every report helps close the gap between what the data shows and what is actually on the ground.
With the right City interventions and community support, we can put an end to dog waste littering our sidewalks.
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Free June 27
Manhattan World Cup Watch Parties
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Join our office for two free FIFA World Cup Watch Parties in Manhattan. On Saturday, June 27th, swing by SummerStage in Central Park at 5pm for a live screening of Panama vs England, and then head uptown to United Palace for Colombia vs Portugal at 7:30pm. We’re excited to bring free watch parties to our borough!
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Come visit our gallery at 1 Centre Street, 19th Floor South for a new exhibit with the Museum of Chinese in America, Faces of Change: Chinatown Photographs from the Museum of Chinese in America Archives, curated by Alan Chin
The Museum of Chinese in America’s photography collection is an invaluable archive documenting the residents of Chinatown through the mid and late 20th century. These were decades of dynamic change as the population increased and also fought to enter mainstream of American life. What’s also notable—аnd this is more easily seen intrinsically in these photographs rather than described—is just how NEW YORK Chinatown has always been, and is today.
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Op-Ed: Penn Station Belongs to New Yorkers
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I wrote an op-ed with Rep. Jerry Nadler on the danger of a new amendment passing through the House that would strip local control of the area around Penn Station and deny the city and state of needed tax revenue. I support a thoughtful Penn Station transformation, but local elected officials must be consulted on this project. Read the op-ed here.
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Cast Your Vote for the People’s Money by June 21
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$4 million. 5 boroughs. 20 projects. The People’s Money — CEC’s citywide participatory budgeting process — is in its Voting phase! Now through June 21, all New Yorkers age 11 and up, regardless of immigration status, can vote on how to spend $4 million dollars worth of city funds in their boroughs. All of the project ideas came directly from the people in your communities, and now it’s your chance to make your voice heard and vote on which ones will be implemented in your borough! Vote online at
Check out the CEC’s Instagram to see what’s on each borough’s ballot, learn about their flagship events, and more! Go to to learn more about The People’s Money!
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World Cup Transportation Information
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I joined Mayor Mamdani and families from across the city to run a 2K in Fort Tryon Park to get the word out that free child care for 2-year-olds is coming this fall, and applications are due June 26. This pilot program is open to families in Washington Heights, Inwood, and Hamilton Heights, and will hopefully expand citywide next year. Learn more and apply here.
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