From left to right: John Schoettler, Vice President for Global Real Estate at Amazon, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, and Mayor Bill de Blasio at the November 13, 2018 Press Conference. Image Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office

The project will bring tens of thousands of new jobs, billions in tax revenue, and investment in infrastructure, City says. On November 13, 2018, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that Amazon has selected Long Island City, Queens for one of its two new corporate headquarters. The City has been steadily increasing investment into Long Island City, with more than $2.4 billion of planned infrastructure investments and a recently announced $180 million investment for new schools, open space, and transportation. Long Island City is located across the East River from Midtown Manhattan and the Upper East Side, at the western tip of Queens. (more…)

Hotel Seville

Support for individual landmark designations of Beaux-Arts Hotel and Neo-Renaissance Office Building expressed at hearing. On February 20, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held public hearings on the potential designations of Hotel Seville and the Emmet Building, both in East Midtown, in the area to the north of Madison Square. Landmarks added both buildings to its calendar in December of 2017. (more…)

The Graybar Building at 420 Lexington Avenue. Image Credit: LPC

Hearing were held on twelve buildings over two meetings, with vary degrees of opposition— Citicorp Center Complex will be voted on separately at a later date. On November 22, 2016, Landmarks voted to designate eleven buildings in the Midtown area as individual City landmarks. Public testimony on the buildings was considered at two meetings on July 19 and September 13 of 2016. Landmarks undertook the surveying of the area as part of a mayoral program to strengthen and revitalize East Midtown as a commercial core. The initiative is expected to entail zoning for greater density, improvements to public spaces and mass transit, and commitments to economic-growth plans.

Landmarks staff identified three periods of significant development in the area; the pre-Grand Central terminal era; the period of intense development following the construction of Grand Central and other transit improvements; and the modern, post-World War II era. (more…)

Pershing Square in Manhattan. Image Credit: LPC

Designations opposed by developers and hoteliers; transit advocates expressed concern that landmarking would prevent improved subway infrastructure and access. On July 19 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held hearings on the potential designations of five possible individual landmarks in the East Midtown area of Manhattan. Twelve items in total were identified by Landmarks as significant historic and architectural resources, as part of the mayoral administration’s Greater East Midtown plan. The plan to revitalize the area is intended to strengthen its position as a commercial district. The plan is expected to entail rezoning for greater density, improvements to transit and public spaces, and funding commitments for improvements and economic growth projects, in addition to the preservation of landmark-worthy fabric. Various stakeholders, including elected officials, business and real estate interests, and labor organizations are informing the plan, and a steering committee released a final report in 2015. (more…)

John Weiss

John Weiss has served as deputy counsel for the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission since 2001. Weiss leads Landmarks’ efforts to protect landmarked structures from demolition-by-neglect, and each of his cases reveals a fascinating tale of New York City real estate.

After earning his undergraduate degree in political science and public policy from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Weiss was torn between studying law or architecture. He took time off while at Hampshire to work with the Washington, D.C. Public Defender Service and then for the Belchertown Planning Board in Massachusetts. Weiss also spent a summer in New York City working for the Municipal Art Society. He returned to MAS after graduating, where he helped form the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts.

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