36 West 66th Street. Image Credit: Google Maps.

NOTE: This article was written for and previously appeared in an issue of CityLaw earlier this year, and was chosen for publication to CityLand prior to the issuance of a recent appeal decision that has now overturned this case. Please wait for future coverage of this issue.

Developer received permit to build record-setting skyscraper on the West Side of Manhattan. In November 2017, Extell Development Company unveiled plans to build a massive residential tower for luxury condominiums at 36 West 66th Street. The building, if completed at 775 feet tall, would be the tallest on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Extell applied for and received a permit from the Department of Buildings after making slight modifications to the structural design in order to accommodate, primarily, fire safety concerns.

The Sheepshead Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Image Credit: Google Maps.

The application will add square footage in the basement but not change the height of the building. On July 14, 2021, the City Planning Commission heard an application for an upgrade in residential rezoning to allow for the construction of a dialysis center and other changes at the Sheepshead Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 2840 Knapp Street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. 

The POPS logo designed by Emma Reed. Image Credit: NYC DCP

The spaces were closed to prevent the spread of COVID. As of July 1^st, the Department of City Planning announced that all Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) have reopened to the public. POPS are public spaces owned and maintained by private property owners under various zoning regulations at no cost to the City. There are nearly 600 POPS in existence today, in the forms of indoor and outdoor atriums, plazas, walkways, and other spaces that provide New Yorkers new opportunities to partake in and enjoy urban life.

Image credit: NYC Department of Parks & Recreation.

Upgrades include new swings, sensory play equipment and new pavement. On July 15, 2021, the Department of Parks and Recreation announced the groundbreaking for renovations at Challenge Playground on 251 Street between 61st and 63rd Avenues in Little Neck, Queens. The upgrades will make the playground more accessible and inclusive.

Image Credit: NYCEDC

The Bronx Museum, a cultural hub, is looking for a creative partner to help modernize the Bronx Museum.  On July 7, 2021, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) released a Request for Proposals to solicit plans from interested architects to design a new South Wing Atrium and entrance for the Bronx Museum of the Arts in the Concourse Village section of the Bronx.

84-40 Avon Street, Queens. Image Credit: Google Maps

Owner of private elevator failed to perform annual safety inspections. Lisa Neuman is the owner of a single-family home located at 84-40 Avon St., Jamaica Estates, New York. A private elevator has been present in Neuman’s home since the 1990s.  Beginning in 2011, Neuman began receiving yearly notices from the Department of Buildings for failing to perform annual elevator safety inspections in violation of §28-304.6.1 of the Administrative Code, which became effective in 2008. Under Building’s rules, an owner who fails to file a test report for their elevator is subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 per year per elevator.  Buildings filed seven violations for the years 2009 through 2015, and fined Neuman $7,000.