200 Amsterdam Avenue Rendering Image Credit: SJP Properties

Advocates applaud decision while developers find decision deeply flawed. On February 15, 2020, the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development and the Municipal Art Society of New York,  won an Article 78 case regarding the construction of a 668 foot, 52-story condominium building located at 200 Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. New York County Supreme Court Justice W. Franc Perry’s ruling requires the developers, SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America, remove up to potentially 20 floors of the development.

529 West 29th Street. Image Credit: CityLaw

Landlord sought to evict disabled man who had set two fires in his apartment. Jose Reyes, who received social security disability benefits related to his mental illness, lived in a Section 8 housing building owned by 529 West 29^th LLC. Reyes set two fires in the building within a period of three months. Reyes set the first fire in his bathtub where he had placed documents and personal papers because he was experiencing extreme anxiety about a possible identity theft. The second fire happened when Reyes was not at home; Reyes left flammable materials next to or on a lit gas stove.

Image Credit: NYC HPD

The addition of over 25,000 affordable homes brings the City’s total affordable homes financed since 2014 to over 147,000. On February 3, 2020, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced that the City financed 25,889 homes in 2019. Of this number, 15,692 affordable homes were preserved and another 10,197 new affordable homes were financed.

Rendering of 20 Old Fulton Street/Image Credit: NV Design Architecture

The new building features arched windows and entryway inspired by arches of buildings within the historic district. On February 11, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve, with modifications, a Certificate of Appropriateness to construct a new one-story commercial building on a vacant lot located at 20 Old Fulton Street. The lot is on the south side of Old Fulton Street, between Everit Street to the west and Elizabeth Place to the east. The lot has been vacant since the mid-1920s.

Council Members Constantinides, Chin, and Levin speak at the Pre-Stated Conference on January 23, 2020, prior to the passage of their lead bills. Council Member Ritchie Torres (not pictured) also sponsored a bill for investigations of lead-based paint hazards. Image Credit: Official NYC Council Photo by John McCarten

One bill would require the results of Department of Education school inspections to be made public and distributed to parents and guardians. On January 23, 2020, the City Council voted to approve legislation to strengthen existing lead laws. While lead paint was banned in the 1960s, its use in buildings constructed prior to the ban still negatively impacts New Yorkers. Particularly, children who are affected by lead paint may have lifelong impairments. In 2018, nearly four thousand children were identified as having elevated lead levels.

Rendering of 1511 Pacific Street (Center Building)/ Image Credit: Citiscape Architectural Consulting

The proposed building design features elements that are characteristic to the historic district such as triangular pediments and fluted pilasters and brackets. On February 4, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve, with modifications, a Certificate of Appropriateness to construct a new three-story, two-family residential row house on a vacant lot located at 1511 Pacific Street within the Crown Heights North III Historic District, Brooklyn. The lot is located on the north side of Pacific Street and bounded by Kingston Street to the west and Albany Avenue to the east. It is located between a four-story brick building on 1509 Pacific Street and a two-story stucco building on 1513 Pacific Street.