City Planning Commission Resumes Hearings

The full ULURP process will resume on September 14th. On August 3, 2020, the City Planning Commission resumed hearings for the first time since March 16th. Hearings had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic after Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order halting the ULURP process which allowed the City Planning Commission to cancel its meetings. While other agencies started resuming public hearings virtually in June and July, the City Planning Commission has <Read More>


Mayor Announces ULURP Restart

NYC Engage announced with ULURP restart. On July 15, 2020, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the City Planning Commission will start holding remote hearings, beginning with an August 3, 2020 Review Session and a public meeting on August 5, 2020. The Mayor also announced the launch of “NYC Engage,” a new online portal intended to facilitate public engagement during the remote public hearings. The last time that the City … <Read More>


ULURP Remains Suspended, What Next?

Why did ULURP remain suspended when so many City agencies and public bodies took to virtual operations? On March 16, 2020, the Department of City Planning announced that, pursuant to an executive order from Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure and all relevant public hearings and votes were suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the suspension, Community Boards, Borough Presidents, and the City Council have virtually convened to … <Read More>


Coronavirus Puts Halt to Land Use Review Process

The executive order freezes land use applications so public meetings do not need to occur. On March 16, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed Emergency Executive Order #100, which laid out several steps of the City’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. In the interest of limiting public gatherings to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, Emergency Executive Order #100 freezes land use applications that have a timed review or vote requirement. This includes applications within <Read More>


HPD Proposes Affordable Homeownership Project in Bedford-Stuyvesant

Affordable homeownership project receives generally positive feedback. On January 22, 2020, the City Planning Commission heard an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for the disposition of city-owned property and to designate three areas in the southern portion of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn as Urban Development Action Areas. The UDAAP designation would help facilitate the construction of seven new buildings and 78 affordable homeownership units. Felipe Cortez, a borough planner at HPD and Jack … <Read More>


Supreme Court Judge Finds Inwood Rezoning in Violation of SEQRA

City expected to appeal Judge’s decision invalidating the Inwood Rezoning. On December 10, 2019, Judge Verna L. Saunders of the New York State Supreme Court, New York county ruled in favor of the Northern Manhattan is Not For Sale’s Article 78 petition challenging the legality of the Inwood Rezoning. The rezoning was proposed by the city’s Economic Development Corporation and was set to up-zone 59 blocks in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan. Approval of the … <Read More>