COMMENTARY – Last Subway: The Second Avenue Subway’s Phase 2 Begins

Since January 1, 2017, when Governor Andrew Cuomo led the celebration to open the Second Avenue Subway, much has happened. A pandemic undermined subway ridership, Governor Cuomo resigned, and a new governor and mayor took office. And now the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway has begun. This will provide the next chapter of the wonderful book by Philip Mark Plotch’s on the Second Avenue Subway, Last Subway: the Long Wait for the Next … <Read More>


City Planning Holds Hearing on Skyscraper East Harlem Development [UPDATE: Application Found to be Appropriate]

UPDATE: On June 21, 2017, the City Planning Commission the application from the New York City Education Construction Fund and AvalonBay Communities to redevelop a city block in East Harlem to be appropriate. The proposed development would shift the Marx Brothers Playground to the center of the block and facilitate the construction of two buildings at either end. The eastern building would rise eight stories and contain two public high school relocated from other <Read More>


Second Ave. Subway condemnation moves along

Challenge by hotel and commercial owner rejected by court. In the summer of 2006, the MTA initiated the condemnation needed for the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway, the construction from East 63rd to East 96th Street. After holding a hearing and issuing final findings, the MTA requested a court to finalize its condemnation plan by allowing it to file a final map and authorize vesting.

Condemnees The Marmara Manhattan, an East 94th Street … <Read More>