Former mayor Rudy Giuliani is in Florida today, skipping the Iowa caucus that his team never counted on anyway. Still, his staffers are trying to remain relevant in Iowa by "contacting reporters, reminding them that even though the former New York mayor is lagging badly [in Iowa]...he will remain a player in the big states that hold their primaries in upcoming weeks." more ›

Yesterday's building collapse at an under-renovation building on West 113th Street injured two workers and killed another who was planning on leaving the city on Friday to see his 2 year old son. Richard Joseph, a 33 year old Brooklyn resident, was on 2-month leave from his job as a police officer in the Barbados; he had come to the city in hopes of moving here. more ›

This past February Mayor Bloomberg announced an expansion of the city's five-year housing plan to a ten-year plan that will create and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing by the end of 2013. The two lead agencies in the housing initiative are the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Recently, Gothamist had the opportunity to take a walking tour of the neighborhood around Marcus Garvey Park led by HDC's Aaron Donovan, who also publishes Starts and Fits. In addition to showing us HDC buildings, Aaron also pointed out several notable market-rate developments in the neighborhood as well as new commercial buildings. (Disclosure: Gothamist lives in an HDC-financed building that was mentioned on the tour.) more ›

Gothamist's favorite pudgy ex-Met, Mo Vaughn, showed up at a press conference with Mayor Bloomberg to announce that he's going to take over and rehabilitate two low-income Bronx apartment buildings, thanks to an almost $30 million loan from the Housing Development Corporation. Vaughn says that after his arthritic knee prevented him from returning to baseball, he wanted to give back to the city. He also added, "Mayor Bloomberg truly cares about affordable housing and the people of New York City...[New York City is] fortunate to have him as our mayor." But Vaughn didn't go as far as endorsing him for re-election. more ›