DCP launches RSS feed to provide web updates

City planning commissioner Amanda Burden launched a new tool available on the department of city planning's (DCP) website. The tool, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) offers an opportunity for the public to be updated regularly on city planning's constantly changing web content. Users can subscribe free of charge to the service in order to be notified of important changes to the site. The RSS notification feed responds to mayor Bloomberg's mandate to increase accessibility, transparency and accountability in city government through technology. "City planning's website is chock full of information, including illustrative material on DCP initiatives and studies, and updates to the site are made frequently as land use projects move through Environmental and Public Review," said Burden. "Whether members of the public want to track the status of a land use application on their block, or be alerted when the latest Census figures are released for their neighborhood, subscribing to the RSS feeds can help them become more informed and empowered advocates for their communities." Interested users can subscribe to a variety of department news feeds: * The Land Use Review feed offers updates related to city planning commission meetings. In addition, the feed notifies subscribers when a new Land Use Application Status Report is released. This report includes information about where public and private applications are in the city's public review process. * A zoning feed notifies users of updates to the online zoning Resolution text and maps, including illustrative sketch maps of proposed and adopted zoning changes. * The studies, projects and proposals feed provides links to illustrative information about DCP proposed rezoning and text changes as well as new studies and population data updates. * A press release feed updates users every time the department sends out a press release. * The BYTES of the BIG APPLE feed describes updates to software, data and geographic base map files offered by the department. The RSS subscriptions are available on their website at: www.nyc.gov/planning.