Image credit: Airbnb

NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer recently released a report on Airbnb in New York City that is wrong on the facts, wrong on the methodology and wrong in its conclusions. (read more…)

Jeffrey A. Kroessler

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has calendared the AT&T Building at 550 Madison Avenue for a public hearing. As well it should. Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, the skyscraper with a distinctive Chippendale top was the first post-modern addition to the skyline when completed in 1984. It is as emblematic of its time as the Woolworth Building (Cass Gilbert, 1913) and the Chrysler Building (William Van Allen, 1930). (read more…)

Michael Devigne

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 marred by compromises that will likely raise more questions about industrial retention in the future. (read more…)

Howard Goldman

Central to the concept of zoning is that a developer may rely on the text and build to the limits written into the zoning resolution.  The council has now tinkered with that expectation.  Under a new local law, the council can potentially overcome the “as-of-right” option by adopting a text change on an expedited basis.

The local law was a response to the controversial Two Bridges project, a proposal consisting of three residential towers located on Cherry, South and Clinton Streets on the lower east side of Manhattan. These towers, to be developed by JDS Development Group, L+M Development Partners and CIM Group, and Starrett Development, range from 62 to 79 stories.  city planning ruled that, because the development  complied with the underlying zoning text, the project was not subject to advisory review by the borough president and approval by the city council pursuant to the uniform land use review procedure.      (read more…)

Ross Sandler, Center for New York City Law Director

Returning home at 11 p.m. from a charitable fundraiser in a yellow cab on a Thursday night with my wife Alice Sandler, I lost my right glove. It fell to the floor of the cab as I paid the fare, retrieved the receipt, gathered my umbrella and shouldered my briefcase. I discovered that the glove had disappeared when I arrived home. (read more…)