On Thursday, Mayor de Blasio announced that Dr. Mary Bassett, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, will step down at the end of this month. Dr. Bassett will be replaced by DOHMH’s First Deputy Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot who will serve as the acting commissioner until a permanent selection is made. Dr. Bassett has led the department since 2014 and in her new role she will serve as the director of the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University.

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Also announced this week, Purnima Kapur the executive director of the New York City Department of City Planning will also leave her position at the end of August to join Harvard University. Kapur will become a consultant to Harvard’s Allston Initiative in addition to teaching at Columbia University as an adjunct professor. She was appointed executive director in 2014 and spent 28 years at the department. A replacement for Kapur has not yet been announced.

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Next week, the New York City Council will hold several hearings, including a full stated meeting where the Council is likely to pass a bill to approve a rezoning of the Inwood section of Manhattan after three years of contentious negotiations between elected officials and residents. If approved, this will be the fifth neighborhood rezoning to occur since Mayor de Blasio took office. Estimates have been reported that the rezoning will bring approximately 5,000 new market rate and regulated homes to the area, as well as 1.2 million square feet of retail commercial space and an investment of $500 million dollars into the community.

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