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    Commentary

    New Special Permit for Self-Storage Facilities: An Imperfect Victory for Industrial Jobs Advocates

    Michael Devigne

    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…)

    Tags : Industrial Business Zones, Michael Devigne, self-storage text amendment
    Date:01/25/2018
    Category : Commentary
    (4) Comment

    New Local Law creates uncertainty for “as-of-right” development

    Howard Goldman

    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…)

    Tags : Goldman Harris LLC, Howard Goldman, ULURP
    Date:12/21/2017
    Category : Commentary
    (2) Comment

    A tale of the lost glove and the efficiency of the 311 system

    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…)

    Tags : 311, Taxi & Limousine Commission
    Date:12/15/2017
    Category : Commentary, The Center for New York City Law
    (1) Comment

    Speed Up the Redesign and Modernization of Privately-Owned Public Spaces

    By: Howard Goldman and Caroline G. Harris

    Over half the existing plazas and other public spaces located on private property lack the benches, vegetation, artwork, lighting and other amenities required by the City’s zoning code or promised by the developers in return for permission to build taller and larger buildings, as reported by Comptroller Scott Stringer in an April 18, 2017 audit. Stringer recommended more inspections by the Department of Buildings to bring these privately-owned public spaces (so-called “POPS”) into compliance. But there are two problems with Stringer’s recommendation: Buildings disagreed with the recommendation and does not plan more inspections; and the Department of City Planning, the agency that approves changes in the public spaces, lacks clear standards and takes too long to issue approvals. (read more…)

    Tags : POPS, Privately Owned Public Space
    Date:07/24/2017
    Category : Commentary
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    Wayne Barrett, R.I.P.

    The Center for New York City Law

    Image Credit: VillageVoice.com

    Wayne Barrett, who passed away on January 19, 2017, was in fact a “fierce muckraker” as described in the New York Times’ laudatory obituary published the day of Barrett’s death. Barrett’s unparalleled research scared the political people he wrote about, and his long articles in the Village Voice based on those facts frightened them even more.

    Wayne Barrett had no peer when it came to ferreting out the full story of politicians’ tricks, compromises and corruption. He read the transcripts, attended the trials, found the documents, got the witnesses to talk and drew the inferences. There is no better description of the hidden political dealings of mid-twentieth century New York City than can be found in Barrett’s books on the rise of Donald Trump and on the scandals that emerged in the third term of the Koch Administration in the 1980s. (read more…)

    Tags : Wayne Barrett
    Date:03/18/2017
    Category : Commentary
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