Staten Island Greenbelt adds 1.65 acre City park

New park would preserve natural features. The Department of Parks and Recreation sought a map amendment and approval of the acquisition of a 1.65-acre wooded parcel of private land to facilitate the creation of Manor Park on the southeasterly corner of Altamont Street and Manor Road in Staten Island.

The proposed park site, currently owned by Kanaga Corporation, includes a series of kettle ponds, vernal ponds, and young and mature trees. The site is used … <Read More>


Two Staten Island neighborhoods down-zoned

Staten Island Council Member wins approval for down-zoning despite strong concerns of Commissioners Merolo and Phillips. Council Member Andrew J. Lanza, representative for District 51 on the south shore of Staten Island, sought two map amendments for the Eltingville and Tottenville sections of Staten Island, which would predominantly restrict new development to single-family homes

In Eltingville, Council Member Lanza sought to rezone 12 blocks bound by Richmond Avenue, Koch Boulevard, Hayes Avenue and Hylan Boulevard. … <Read More>


New bridge for East 153rd Street approved

Bridge will provide four traffic lanes, two bike paths, two walkways and a needed cross-town connection. The Department of Transportation sought a City Map amendment for the construction of a new East 153rd Street bridge in the Bronx to span the Metro North railroad tracks and reconnect the east-west linkage of East 153rd, between Morris Avenue and the Grand Concourse. DOT closed the original 1899 two-lane bridge in 1988, due to safety concerns, and demolished … <Read More>


40 blocks of Kissena Park down-zoned

Commission down-zones another Queens neighborhood. On April 13, 2005, the Planning Commission approved another of the Bloomberg administration’s down-zoning initiatives by rezoning 40 blocks of Kissena Park, a small residential neighborhood directly north of its namesake, the 235-acre Kissena Park.

The down-zoning, commenced at the urging of the Kissena Park Civic Association, would be the first rezoning plan passed since 1961 in this predominately one and two-family home residential neighborhood. Designed to match the context … <Read More>


Anticipated Rezoning Approved with Changes

Affordable housing incentives, as well as height, massing and manufacturing zones, revised before approval. Over the disapproval votes of Commissioners Karen Phillips and Dolly Williams, the remaining members of the Planning Commission approved the rezoning of a two-mile area along the East River waterfront in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods after modifications were crafted to address public officials and residents’ comments.

The six linked applications, including text, map and City map amendments to create park … <Read More>


Mixed-use antique district expanded

129-lot area rezoned to permit residential, live-work and retail. The Planning Commission approved the proposed rezoning of a 129-lot area of Port Morris in the South Bronx that altered the area’s manufacturing zoning to mixed-use, facilitating increased live-work, residential and small commercial business development. The proposed new zoning builds on a 1997 zoning action that established the Port Morris Special Mixed-Use District – the city’s first mixed-use district – within a five-block area of Port … <Read More>