NEW YORK’S PARKS: Twenty-one landmarks across the state will be illuminated in green and gold to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the State Council of Parks. “The system we have today started with visionary leadership, and it has grown over the decades to encompass more than 250 properties covering 360,000 acres of land,” Hochul said in a statement. The Empire State Plaza, Niagara Falls, One World Trade Center and Jones Beach State Park will be among those that will be illuminated in the parks’ green and centennial gold, as the governor called it. A special centennial flag will also be raised at state parks and historic locations across the state. — Shawn Ness CASINOS SITING APPROVED: The City Council approved a zoning proposal today to make way for casinos in the five boroughs, amidst a fiercely-competitive contest to operate gaming facilities in and around the city. The plan, which passed 35-15, will legalize casino uses in certain commercial and manufacturing areas — but the change would only apply to facilities that have obtained one of three state-issued gaming licenses. At least nine casino bids are expected in New York City, and all of those proposals would need buy-in from local politicians to advance in the process. Local zoning approvals are required to be considered for a license, and the citywide change is intended to reduce the burden of individual applications on city government and ensure New York City bidders are not at a disadvantage compared to those in surrounding counties. “As one of the handful of members who actually has a potential application, it’s just a way to level the playing field,” said Council Member Justin Brannan, whose district includes a casino bid at Coney Island. “I think the [community advisory committee] process is going to be robust and rigorous but in order to get to that process and for the community to actually have input, whether they want it or not, we need this text amendment.” But the proposal still drew pushback from some Council members. “I cannot support anything that removes local zoning control from current Council members and our community boards,” said Council Member Kristy Marmorato, who has a casino proposal in her Bronx district. Meanwhile, Council Member Kalman Yeger called the change “bad policy” and said “no amount of revenue is worth destroying neighborhoods in this city.” — Janaki Chadha HOUSING: New York’s housing inventory hit a record low in March, according to a new report from the New York Association of REALTORS. Inventory now sits at 14.7 percent, equivalent to 5,000 homes across the state. And while inventory is at record lows, the median sale price of homes has increased nearly eight percent. Wayne County saw the largest increase in cost, jumping from an average home cost of nearly $135,000 to $210,000, a 56 percent increase. On average, homes are on the market for less time as well, 63 days to be exact, signaling that whatever homes are on the market are still being bought up regardless of price increase. — Shawn Ness ENERGY TIDBITS: Lawmakers and Hochul have agreed to a sweeping change to how transmission lines are approved, with hopes from policymakers that it will speed up approval of projects essential to the state’s investments in renewable energy. The package also moves the Office of Renewable Energy Siting into the Department of Public Service. The deal sets a yearlong timeline for the state to craft standard regulations for transmission line projects to minimize environmental impacts and avoid building on farmland. That’s likely a tight timeline — the regulations for siting renewable projects took much longer and Hochul’s budget proposed 18 months. The agreement on siting earned some praise from renewable energy developers. “It is clear that improvements to the permitting process are needed,” said the Alliance for Clean Energy New York’s interim executive director Deb Peck Kelleher. "With only six construction seasons left until 2030, time is of the essence, and we cannot afford any delays.” Storage was not included in the purview of the siting office, but the deal expands NYSERDA’s “Build Ready” program to include energy storage projects. The program, which aims to have NYSERDA identify and do pre-development activities for difficult-to-use sites for renewables, has also been extended to 2030. It was established in the budget in April 2020 and so far hasn’t been very active: The first auction of a 12 MW solar project site on an old mine closed last month. NYSERDA is evaluating bids and expects to notify a winner next year. Labor unions also got some wins, with prevailing wage and project labor agreement requirements expanded to cover thermal energy network projects, transmission lines and offshore wind supply chain investments. Storage projects getting subsidies through state programs were not included in the expansion, however. “For us it was most important that there were labor standards attached,” said Vinny Albanese, executive director of the state Laborers’ Political Action Fund. He was also supportive of the transmission siting changes. The budget will also include a sales tax exemption for residential storage projects, a requirement for NYSERDA to study the need for fast charging along highways and freight corridors and increased fees for air permits and pollutant emissions. — Marie J. French
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