Gillibrand: Data Needed on the Cost of Workplace Sexual Harassment
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–NY), is urging the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to collect data on the economic costs of sexual harassment in the labor force. Along with 21 other Democratic senators, Gillibrand wrote a letter earlier this week to Department of Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta and BLS Acting Commissioner William Wiatrowski with this request. “Right now, we do not know how many gifted workers and innovators were unable to contribute to our country because they were forced to choose between working in a harassment-free workplace and their career,” the senators wrote in their letter. “We hope that you will seriously address this enormous threat to our nation’s workers by collecting data on the prevalence and cost of sexual harassment that can better inform policy and procedures to address these problems.”
Read the full text of the senators’ letter here.
Image Courtesy of Ridgewood Real Estate Partners
NJ Developer Plans to Convert Greenburgh Country Club into Over-55 Community
In late January, Ridgewood Real Estate Partners presented a proposal to convert the former Elmwood Country Club into a townhouse community for people 55 and older. Ridgewood, a New Jersey-based company that specializes in repurposing golf courses and other large tracts of land, acquired the 106-acre property for $13 million last summer.
The former club, located off Dobbs Ferry Road, is zoned for up to 119 single-family homes. Ridgewood plans to build more densely, proposing 175 two-story townhomes with a condominium-style ownership system. As a result, the Greenburgh Town Board says they intend to tax the new development at a higher rate than single-family homes.
County Executive Latimer and County Executive Day Meet in Rockland County
Meeting last week in the Rockland County Office Building in New City, New York, Westchester County Executive George Latimer and Rockland County Executive Ed Day pledged to work together on issues impacting both counties. “This is about governing and governing well,” said Latimer. “This is about finding common ground and figuring out how we can do something that benefits both of our Counties. Most people aren’t concerned with governmental jurisdictions, they just want a better life and we want to both try to provide that together.”
Topics addressed in the meeting: bridge tolls, express bus routes, shared services, state mandates, and raise-the-age legislation.The County Executives also traveled to Albany together for the NYSAC Conference on January 30. Latimer and Day said this would be the first of many meetings to discuss the challenges facing Westchester and Rockland.
JLL Reports White Plains CBD Attracting Most Activity in Westchester County at Year-End 2017
According to data from real-estate services firm JLL, stronger market fundamentals have spurred leasing activity in the White Plains commercial business district. Vacancy rates have continued to rise despite declining availabilities in most submarkets, and average asking rents have fallen by $0.71 year-over-year. The White Plains CBD submarket recorded the largest volume of yearly net absorption in the region at 335,600 square feet.
JLL attributes this growth to the high demand for transit-centric opportunities among corporate occupiers. New York Life Insurance’s leasing of 176,000 square feet at 44 S Broadway marked the largest deal of the quarter, followed by Sumitomo Bank’s 101,000-square-foot lease at 1 N Lexington Avenue. The I-287 West Corridor overall vacancy rate declined 40 basis points in the past quarter, driven mainly by ENT & Allergy Associates’ leasing of 38,000 square feet at 660 White Plains Road in Tarrytown.
Sarah Lawrence Breaks Ground on $35 Million Barbara Walters Center
Sarah Lawrence College broke ground on the construction of a $35 million Campus Center named in honor of esteemed alumna Barbara Walters, who donated the lead gift of $15 million for the construction of the donor-funded building. The Center will include the Barbara Walters Gallery for exhibitions of fine art and the Barbara Walters Archives and Reading Room.
The environmentally friendly 34,800-square-foot center, designed by KSS Architects, will serve as a gathering place for students, faculty, and staff with lounges, dining and event facilities. The enhanced event space will also enable the College to offer more opportunities to welcome members of the local community to campus. The Center is expected to open in the fall of 2019.