Special Hunts Point District plan starts public review

Plan strives to encourage growth in food service industry. On January 7, 2008, the Planning Commission launched public consideration for the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone portions of the Hunts Point peninsula. The proposal is now with Bronx Community Board 2 for its review.

City Planning seeks to downzone 70 blocks of industrial land to M1-2 for light manufacturing. The area surrounds a 22-acre residential district and is roughly bounded by Bruckner Boulevard, … <Read More>


Open space at issue in rezoning near Lincoln Center

Proposal includes controversial new bulk waiver that will impact ten community districts. West 60th Street Associates, LLC applied to rezone 14 lots in Manhattan’s Lincoln Square neighborhood from manufacturing to commercial zoning. On 11 lots, West 60th would develop a mixed residential and commercial project with 301 rental units, 41 condos, 10,000 sq.ft. of retail and 200 parking spaces. Along with a special permit for on-site parking, West 60th proposed a text amendment that would … <Read More>


Special permit for retail use issued for Plaza Hotel

Owner required additional permit to complete Plaza Hotel’s conversion plan. When El-Ad Properties bought the Plaza Hotel in October 2004, it proposed to convert the hotel’s 805 rooms into luxury residential condos and use the hotel’s banquet rooms, meeting spaces and existing retail as high-end retail destinations. Public opposition to the plan resulted in a compromise by which El-Ad agreed to maintain 284 hotel rooms and convert the remaining 511 rooms into 181 private condos. … <Read More>


Rezoning sought to allow air rights sale

Developer to buy 58,005 sq.ft. of air rights from Broadway’s Hirschfeld Theatre. An application to transfer additional air rights from the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, formerly the Martin Beck Theater, on West 45th Street started the City’s public review process on April 24, 2006 when the Planning Commission certified the applications of Allen Goldman of Fifth Street Holdings, LLC and SJP Residential Properties.

In 1998, the City enacted zoning rules aimed at preserving Broadway’s historic theaters. … <Read More>


Permit denied illegal Chelsea parking garage

Thirty-two space garage had sought special permit to continue operation. Landowner El-Ad Skyview, LLC sought Planning Commission approval for the continued operation of a 32-space public parking garage on the ground floor and cellar of an existing 12-story residential building located at 151 West 17th Street in Chelsea. The building was constructed in 2001 with an as-of-right, 10-space accessory garage, but has since been operating without a permit as a 32-space public garage. Access to … <Read More>


City Planning Holds Hearing on Transfer of Development Rights from Landmarked East Village Building

Community questions benefits received and context of development. On March 4, 2020, the City Planning Commission heard an application by Real Estate Equities Corporation for a special permit to transfer development rights from a landmarked site and construct a ten-story commercial building in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The development site is located at 3 St. Marks Place, on the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Marks Place and is currently vacant. The … <Read More>