Council OK’s new design standards for public plazas

New standards and guidelines intended to improve public use. The City Council approved City Planning’s proposal to update, improve, and consolidate rules for privately owned public spaces.

Under the old zoning, a developer in parts of Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens can generate a floor area bonus of up to 20 percent if it builds an adjacent publicly-accessible open space, such as a plaza, arcade, or galleria. In practice, however, many of these privately owned public … <Read More>