July 6–12, 2026
A quiet week for passed bills, with no new laws enacted locally or federally, but several votes are on the way that touch housing in Williamsburg and Washington Heights, elected officials' pay, and federal health funding.
A quiet week for enacted legislation. Nothing cleared final passage at any level of government this week. The action is ahead, and some of it is worth your attention before Thursday.
Coming up next week:
Affordable housing on the Williamsburg waterfront. The full City Council votes Thursday, July 16 on a zoning change (T2026-2036) for Monitor Point in Williamsburg. Any new development on that stretch of waterfront would have to include a set percentage of apartments priced for lower-income residents, and city planners would gain new sign-off authority over future projects there. If you live or work near that waterfront, this is the vote that sets the rules for what gets built. Reach out to your council member before Thursday.
Affordable housing in Washington Heights. Also on Thursday, July 16, the Council takes up two items tied to three lots on West 171st and West 174th Streets in Washington Heights. One item (T2026-2210) clears the way to build housing on those lots using a special city approval process that bypasses standard zoning review. A companion measure (T2026-2211) would give property tax breaks to buildings at 511 West 171st Street, 501 West 174th Street, and 522 West 174th Street, with the goal of keeping those units more affordable.
An 18% raise for elected officials. The Council also has before it a bill (T2026-2196) that would give the Mayor, all 51 Council members, Borough Presidents, Comptroller, Public Advocate, and District Attorneys an 18.2% pay increase, reflecting the first salary adjustment since the last local law on the subject. A city advisory commission recommended the raise. If it passes, future adjustments would happen automatically every four years, capped at the cost-of-living increase or 8.25%, whichever is smaller. The bill is still just introduced and assigned to committee, so Thursday, July 16 is not a final vote.
On the federal health front. Two bills cleared House committee and are headed to a floor vote with no firm date set yet. One (HR 8205) extends federal funding for ALS research and fast-track drug approval through 2031, keeping grants flowing to universities and labs and speeding access to new treatments for patients. The other (HR 6238) directs the National Institutes of Health to fund research on why people die or are seriously injured during pregnancy and childbirth, with the goal of getting new safety findings to hospitals and doctors nationwide. New York City's public hospital system and major academic medical centers would draw on both streams of research.
At the airport. A federal bill (HR 8770) that cleared committee would direct $500 million a year toward new baggage scanning systems and $250 million toward checkpoint equipment at airports across the country, funded through the $5.60 security fee already on your ticket. JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark would all be in line for upgrades. No floor vote date is confirmed yet.
Several other federal bills advanced through committee this week, covering a DHS office reorganization and a terrorism threat-reporting requirement, neither of which changes services or rules for residents directly.
See what's up for a vote now · Find your representatives