5 Stories You Need to Pay Attention to This Week

NEW YORK, NY — It's hot. Very, very hot. But if you're looking for some good news, the long-awaited Westfield World Trade Center Mall is opening this week — and yes, it's very much air conditioned. City Hall is also air conditioned, but that won't prevent it from getting a little heated when a controversial Inwood re-zoning application goes to a vote Tuesday.

Patch looks at five stories you'll be talking about this week ...

1. Aug. 15: Planning Commission votes on spot re-zoning — Re-zoning issues continue to to play a major role in re-shaping the city. This one revolves around the old Adorama building on West 18th Street. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer wrote an op-ed in last week's Daily News calling for mandates on spot re-zoning, as developers are trying to do with this lot. The law says that if a developer wants to re-zone a development — almost always to build a bigger building — affordable housing must be included. Developers claim this can be circumvented if they don't increase the floor area (regardless if they build a hundred stories on top of it). The City Planning Commission votes on Monday whether that loophole should be allowed.
2. Aug. 15: Inwood re-zoning rally — The people of Inwood continue their re-development fight at a rally Monday night. Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez and community leaders will address the Sherman Plaza re-zoning at 6:30 p.m. on the corner of Sherman and Broadway, as last week's postponed vote comes to a head. The public is largely opposed to a re-zoning application that would allow a high-rise apartment building in their neighborhood. There will be a vote in the City Council on Tuesday morning, and this time there will be no postponement.
3. Aug. 16: Westfield World Trade Center opens — The (very) long-awaited shopping mall at the base of 1 World Trade Center finally opens on Tuesday. Construction on the building began in 2007, and a almost a decade later it's ready to open. The mall will be headlined by shops such as Apple, Banana Republic, Invicta, Kate Spade, Lacoste, Pandora, Sephora, Under Armour and Victoria's Secret. If you're looking for deals on opening day, Shake Shack will be serving free custard from noon to 9 p.m., Kate Spade will be offering a free tote with a $200 purchase, Sephora will offer a free leather tote with a $20 purchase and Pandora will be offering a gift with a $150 purchase.
4. Aug. 16: City Council stated session — The entire City Council will be in session on Tuesday, with ceremonial tributes starting at 1 p.m. and real business getting underway at 1:30 p.m. The host of subcommittees and committees meeting before stated session on Monday and Tuesday will determine the agenda for the full council. A whole range of topics could be tackled, with the Committee on Environmental Protection looking at fracking, the Committee on Aging looking at unpaid caregivers and the Committee on Civil Service and Labor looking to establish a division monitoring the complex world of home and child care.
5. Aug. 17: High of 88! Finally! — Forget about zoning rules and billion-dollar developments, this is the biggest day of the week. The high temperature is finally forecast to be under 90! With highs of 91 and 93 on Monday and Tuesday respectively, the National Weather Service gives us the (barely) good news that the high on Wednesday will be 88. That will be the first day since Aug. 10 under 90. Yes, that's a full week of 90-degree days. In fact, eight of the first 14 days of August have reached 89 degrees or more at LaGuardia (including three days over 97). Enjoy the 88, New York City, because it's supposed to be 91 on Thursday. We're all going to die, aren't we?

Photo Credit: World Trade Center Oculus by John Sonderman via Flickr/Creative Commons