The final legislative session of 2017 saw an active NYC City Council scrambling to pass almost 40 bills before the term’s end. Among these legislative actions was the passage of a zoning text amendment for the creation of a special permit that will limit self-storage facilities in NYC’s Industrial Business Zones (IBZ’s). City Council’s vote in favor of the new special permit is a victory for the industrial and manufacturing sectors, albeit an imperfect victory … <Read More>
Search Results for: Citywide
Community Boards: For Affordable Housing But Against Administration’s Solutions – What’s Going On?
The results are in, and two of the de Blasio administration’s key land use initiatives, Zoning for Quality and Affordability and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, are not receiving a welcome reception at community boards and borough boards.
In fact, as of this writing, according to CityLand’s vote tracker of the city’s 59 community boards, 45 have voted to oppose Zoning for Quality and Affordability and 38 have voted to oppose Mandatory Inclusionary Housing. Four of the … <Read More>
Simeon Bankoff: Taking the Context out of Contextual Zoning
In March 2015, the City Planning Commission announced a proposal called Zoning for Affordability and Quality, which broadly calls for three principal changes in the current citywide zoning resolution. The plan proposes to change and enlarge definitions of senior housing to include more types of housing providers than currently permitted. It also proposes to increase buildable space for senior housing in some instances. The proposal also seeks to lessen or some instances no longer mandate … <Read More>
Landmarks Applies Double Standard for Townhouse Addition
A recent decision by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to approve a non-compliant addition to a building within an historic district has enraged residents who are held to stricter standards, and preservationists who see the floodgates opening to the deterioration of the historic districts on a broader scale.
Instant Run-off Voting: End High Cost, Low Turnout Run-Off Elections
A runoff election held weeks after a primary election always results in depressingly low voter turnout. Citizens Union supports instituting an instant runoff voting system where voters rank their preferred candidates on the day of the primary rather than needing to return to cast another ballot on a subsequent election day two to three weeks later. This would ensure that the winning candidate enjoys broad electoral support, as well as avoiding the logistical and financial … <Read More>
The Dinkins’ Autobiography: Filling in a Missing Chapter
Join us at the September 27th CityLaw Breakfast, featuring the Hon. David N. Dinkins, former New York City Mayor. This event is sponsored by the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School. Click here to RSVP.
David N. Dinkins, New York City’s 106th mayor, now 86 years old, tells his story in his newly published autobiography, A Mayor’s Life: Governing New York’s Gorgeous Mosaic (Public Affairs 2013).
Dinkins … <Read More>