Rendering of proposed development in East Harlem, Manhattan. Image Credit: Perkins Eastman Architects

City Council approved with modifications a redevelopment plan that will bring 3 high school facilities, 315 affordable housing units, a new park and playground, retail space, and job opportunities to East Harlem. On August 24, 2017, the City Council voted 41-0 to approve a modified land use application for the redevelopment of a full city block in East Harlem. The application for redevelopment from the New York City Education Construction Fund and AvalonBay Communities was approved by the City Planning Commission on June 21, 2017. The entire redevelopment requires a zoning map change (LU 0700-2017), a zoning text change (LU 0701-2017), and 2 special permits (LU 0702-2017 and LU 0703-2017). (read more…)

Council Member Helen Rosenthal Gets a “High-Five from a Constituent. Image credit: NYCC/William Alatriste

City Council passes a package of bills intended to strengthen protections for tenants subject to harassment by landlords. Since the mid-2000s and largely due to the housing bubble, predatory equity has become a metastasis on the New York City housing market. The expulsion of both rent stabilized and market-rate tenants is accomplished through means both legal, by abusing technical loopholes in State law, and illegal, by dangerous living conditions and intimidation. (read more…)

Rendering of proposed buildings at 1125 Whitlock Avenue as designed by Langan Engineering. Image credit: DCP

The City Council approved the construction of 474 low-income affordable units in Longwood, Bronx. On July 20, 2017, the New York City Council voted 46-0 to approve the construction of two new 14-story mixed-use buildings at the intersection of Whitlock Avenue and east 165th Street in the Bronx’s Longwood neighborhood. The applicant, Ader Group, LLC, requested a zoning map amendment to change the project area from an M1-1 zoning district to an R8A/C2-4 zoning district, and a zoning text amendment to designate the project as a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing area. The development site is a 61,586-square-foot lot bounded on the east by Whitlock Avenue, on the south by Aldus Street, fronting Longfellow Avenue and on the north by East 165th Street. The site is currently occupied by auto repair shops, storage facilities, and a light industrial plastics facility. The previous zoning, M1-1, allowed for a maximum floor area ratio or 1.0 for both commercial and manufacturing uses, and 2,4 for community uses. Residential uses were not permitted in the zoning district. (read more…)

Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings, Council Member Jumaane Williams. Image credit: NYCC/William Alatriste

City Council Committee heard testimony on legislation to codify reporting requirements for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development regarding inclusionary housing and affordable units. On June 19, 2017, the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Building held a hearing on a package of five bills. Four of the bills concerned the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s reporting requirements for affordable housing developments. The fifth bill concerned the definition of residency in the City’s lead abatement law. (read more…)

Council Member Daniel Dromm. Image Credit: William Alatriste for the City Council.

City Council to have hearing on a bill to define “residency” in the City’s Lead Law in response to a decision by the Court of Appeals. In April 2016, the New York State Court of Appeals found that a landlord has no duty to remove lead paint from residences where children six-years or younger may spend time when the child does not live in the apartment. The Court found that a child spending in excess of 50 hours a week in an apartment did not trigger the landlord’s duty. Yaniveth R. v. LTD Realty Co., 27 N.Y.3d 186 (N.Y. Apr. 5, 2016). (read more…)