On December 30, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced the appointment of Shampa Chanda as the new Chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) and Salvatore Scibetta as the new Vice Chair. The Board of Standards and Appeals hears individual applications for exceptions and changes to zoning regulations that may overly restrict specific properties where a broader change to the zoning text and map is unnecessary.  (more…)

Image Credit: City Planning Commission

The latest move in his “City of Yes” campaign, Adams has nominated career land-use experts Rasmia Kirmani-Frye, David Gold, and Chris Yoon to high-ranking administrative roles. On June 15, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams nominated Rasmia Kirmani-Frye and David Gold to serve on the City Planning Commission and Chris Yoon to serve on the Board of Standards and Appeals. These nominations will now move forward to City Council for an official vote. If City Council approves, Kirmani-Frye and Gold will serve five-year terms on City Planning while Yoon will serve a six-year term with BSA. (more…)

Image credit: New York City Council.

The bill provides better transparency and helps potential purchasers and agents. On June 17, 2021, the New York City Council passed a bill to require the City’s Board of Standards and Appeals to record a copy of a decision affecting a parcel of land made by the Board in the appropriate title recording system. The bill, Int. 2257-2021, will require the Board to record the decision with the Automatic City Register Information System (ACRIS) for properties in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens and with the Richmond County Clerk’s database for properties in Staten Island. The bill was sponsored by Council Member Fernando Cabrera. (more…)

BSA last amended its rules in 1995. On July 13, 2012, BSA adopted a final rule updating its practices and procedures. The final rule revises and clarifies the requirements governing filing procedures, public review, and the decision-making process for all applications filed at BSA. The final rule adds instructions on the filing, referral, and hearing notice requirements for vested rights applications; clarifies the types of applications filed on the Appeals (A) Calendar; revises the existing rules to allow BSA discretion to review applications to amend previous grants on the Special Order (SOC) calendar; and provides more specific guidance on the eligibility criteria for filing certain types of applications on the SOC calendar if the term has expired for more than two years but less than ten years. In an effort to streamline the dismissal process when it is clear that applications are not being prosecuted, the new rule provides that staff may dismiss an application, by letter, if the application has not been completed within one year from the issuance of BSA’s notice of comments.

City Record, July 13, 2012, at 1804.

*For comprehensive and timely notification of the New York City Agency rules, subscribe to CityRegs, a bi-weekly electronic newsletter. More information is available at: www.CityLaw.org.

Meenakshi Srinivasan

Meenakshi Srinivasan’s background in architecture and urban planning serve her well as chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals. With a staff of 20, including five commissioners, BSA reviews 400 to 500 applications per year, including appeals of final decisions made by the Department of Buildings, applications for variances from the zoning resolution, applications for certain special permits, and vested rights claims.

A native of India, Srinivasan’s early interest in art, science, and mathematics led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in architecture from New Delhi’s School of Planning and Architecture. Srinivasan practiced for a year as an architect in Delhi before expanding her interests to large-scale urban design and planning. Interested in examining how physical space impacts the public realm, Srinivasan came to the United States in 1986 to earn her master’s degree in city planning, urban design, and architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. (more…)