By Janaki Chadha

A man works to clear a drain in floodwaters, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A potent rush-hour rainstorm has swamped the New York metropolitan area. | Jake Offenhartz/AP Photo

More than two years ago, Hurricane Ida claimed the lives of 11 New Yorkers in flooded, mostly-illegal basement apartments.

The deluge of rain that hit New York City on Friday prompted concerns that basement and cellar dwellers were again at risk — and people had to be rescued from at least six such homes that had flooded, officials said.

The situation underscored how little lawmakers have done in recent years to improve unsafe conditions in basement units and bring apartments up to code.

The Adams administration has backed legislation in Albany that would give the city the ability to create an amnesty program for illegal basement units, bringing them in line with certain health and safety standards without having to follow aspects of the state multiple dwelling law that make proper conversions prohibitively expensive.

Gov. Kathy Hochul included a proposal to accomplish that in her wide-ranging housing plan in January, but the legislative session went by without any progress on the issue, and the push drew opposition from some Queens lawmakers. Housing advocates are calling for more urgent action.

“We hope that basement and cellar tenants will be able to stay safe this weekend, despite inaction from their government,” a coalition of groups called Basement Apartments Safe for Everyone wrote in a statement Friday. “We yet again call on Albany and city lawmakers to make basement and cellar legalization a priority this year.”

“A basement apartment legalization program would ensure that basement apartments are structurally sound and that tenants can safely exit their homes in an emergency,” the statement said.

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 14: A couple looks out from the observation deck of the Top of the Rock as the One Vanderbilt building stands among the Midtown Manhattan skyline on September 14, 2020 in New York City. The One Vanderbilt building, the second-tallest New York City office building, opens up amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when many city employees are working from home. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

OFFICE ATTENDANCE PLATEAUS — POLITICO’s Janaki Chadha: Only 59 percent of Manhattan office workers are expected to be in their workplaces on an average weekday under a “new normal” post-pandemic, according to a survey released Monday by the Partnership for New York City.

But the return-to-office picture — which has significant implications for the city’s commercial real estate market — isn’t quite as dire as it seems. The survey of more than 140 major Manhattan office employers found that only about 80 percent of workers were in the office on the average weekday before the pandemic. “The actual drop off in office attendance since 2019 is much smaller than has been previously assumed,” the business consortium wrote in a press release.

ADAMS, HOCHUL MOVE AHEAD ON TAX RELIEF — THE CITY’s Greg David: “Last week, Mayor Eric Adams unveiled an ambitious development agenda that would make it easier to build new housing in every neighborhood in New York City — if the City Council approves. Meanwhile, the mayor is not waiting and neither is Gov. Kathy Hochul after the state Legislature this year refused to pass any elements of her proposed housing program, including tax relief and office-to-residential conversion powers Adams sought.

“Now both the governor in Brooklyn and the mayor on Staten Island are moving to make an end run around the legislature, by providing big property tax breaks to selected new residential development projects that would have qualified for the 421-a tax abatement that lapsed in June 2022.”

ADAMS ALLOWS VOUCHER USE STATEWIDE — POLITICO’s Janaki Chadha: The Adams administration will start allowing homeless New Yorkers to use city rental vouchers on apartments in other parts of the state — a move that immediately drew the ire of county leaders and set up another fight between the city and rest of New York.

Adams on Tuesday said the policy will expand access to housing and open up options in places where apartments may be cheaper than in the city, which is struggling with a severe supply crunch. As of this summer, there were 20,000 households with vouchers who have been unable to find permanent housing, according to City Hall.

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Subways were hit hard by the heavy rain Friday. | Photo by Patrick Cashin, courtesy of the NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

SUBWAYS HIT HARD BY RECORD BREAKING RAIN  — Gothamist’s Stephen Nessen: “Hours after the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia drenched New York City with record breaking rain, much of the subway system remained suspended, running reduced service or facing delays. Only one of the three Metro-North lines was running anything close to regular service. Still, MTA Chair Janno Lieber said, ‘it could’ve been worse.’”

ELIZABETH STREET GARDEN FIGHT DRAGS ON — The Real Deal’s Kathryn Brenzel: “The battle over a sculpture garden in Little Italy is back on. A state appellate court on Thursday ruled that a group seeking to preserve the Elizabeth Street Garden can appeal to the state’s highest court, in order to argue that the city wrongfully approved plans for a 123-unit affordable apartment building….

“The court granted the group’s request for leave to file an appeal with the Court of Appeals, a move that is not automatically available in cases where the appellate court’s decision was unanimous.”

RIGHT TO SHELTER CHALLENGE — POLITICO’s Janaki Chadha: Adams suggested Thursday he wants to exempt the influx of migrants from the city's decades-old right-to-shelter mandate as his administration tightens the length on shelter stays and explicitly discourages new arrivals.

“I don't believe the right to shelter applies to a migrant crisis,” Adams said during an appearance on WABC’s "Sid & Friends in the Morning," referring to a mandate dating back to 1981 that the city provide shelter beds to anyone in need.

EAST HARLEM MAY GET NEW BID — Crain’s Nick Garber: “One of the last Manhattan neighborhoods without a business improvement district will soon shed that status: a coalition of nonprofits, storeowners, residents and real estate developers have banded together in an effort to form a BID along a bustling but troubled stretch of East 125th Street.”

— Wells Fargo is buying the former Neiman Marcus space at Hudson Yards.

— A New York appeals court rejected Donald Trump’s bid to delay a civil trial.

— Migrants were evicted from shelters during the severe rain Friday, even as New Yorkers were told to avoid travel.

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