The George Washington Bridge lit up with a sunset behind it.
This past week, Community Board 12-Manhattan (CB12M) submitted two comment letters to the City. The first, submitted on September 16, 2026, addressed the proposed rules implementing Local Law 136 of 2025. The second, submitted on September 19, 2026, provided feedback on the draft Fair Housing Growth Strategy.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has proposed rules restricting the use of certain chemicals in personal care products sold in the City. The Board supported the rulemaking but offered several suggestions for DOHMH to consider as it finalizes the rules. Chief among them was a recommendation to ensure that, in restricting certain chemicals, personal care products do not become inadvertently out of reach for New Yorkers living paycheck to paycheck.
Raising these concerns is part of CB12M’s mandate, according to Darly Corniel, Chair of the Board’s Health & Environment Committee. “Our responsibility as a community board is to ensure that our communities’ voices, concerns, and interests are clearly heard,” says Corniel. “This is the work we can do at our best: bringing community concerns that might otherwise go unheard into the public process.”
The Board also reviewed the draft Fair Housing Growth Strategy, developed jointly by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the New York City Department of City Planning. The Board’s concerns centered on the strategy’s content, coordination with community boards, and the timing of the feedback period.
“While CB12M welcomes the mayoral administration’s efforts to promote more equitable housing production across the City, we believe the draft Fair Housing Growth Strategy fell short of meeting the comprehensive analysis mandated by local law,” explains Indiana Porta, Chair of the Board’s Housing & Human Services Committee. “Regrettably, the timing of the draft report’s release and comment period did not allow for meaningful discourse, so we renew our call to engage community boards and the public in more meaningful ways so that growth is truly equitable and meets our community’s unique needs.”
The Board has proactively voiced its positions on policymaking efforts at all levels of government. These two letters bring the total number of comment letters submitted in 2026 to five, in addition to the Board’s general statements of policy, direct feedback offered through resolutions, and other submissions throughout the year.