39 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. Image credit: CityLand

Rent-stabilized tenant substantially profited from 93 individual Airbnb sublettings. In 2010, Linda Lipetz was diagnosed with cancer and was unable to work for over a year. From March 2011 to August 2012, in order to subsidize her rent, Lipetz sublet her rent-regulated apartment located at 39 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. Lipetz hosted 93 different people for 338 total days through Airbnb, charging a nightly rate of $95 for one person and $120 for two, and generating $33,592 in revenue. (more…)

Neighbors opposed the reopening of Chumley’s, a former speakeasy located on a residential block of the West Village. Chumley’s, a famous former speakeasy and literary hangout located at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village, closed temporarily in 2007 in order to repair structural defects in its landmark-designated building. Chumley’s is part of the Greenwich Village Historic District. In May 2012 Chumley’s began the process to regain its liquor license and reopen. The reopened Chumley’s would be a 2,000-square-foot restaurant with 58 table seats, a standing bar, no sidewalk café, and it would play only recorded music as background. It would also close at 1:00 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and at 2:00 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. (more…)

NYU superblock development as originally proposed. Image credit: NYU.

Court found no implied dedication of target parcels as parkland.  In 2012, the City Council approved a plan by New York University to develop two “superblocks” bounded by West 3rd Street, Houston Street, Mercer Street, and LaGuardia Place in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan as part of an expansion plan for the campus.  Assemblymember Deborah Glick, joined by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Historic Districts Council, and other local community groups challenged the approval in court arguing the Council’s approval improperly granted four community parks to NYU for the expansion in violation of the public trust doctrine.

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NYU superblock proposec development. Image credit: NYU.

Coalition of local residents, Greenwich Village community organizations, and elected officials sought to prevent NYU’s development of two superblocks north of Houston Street. In 2012, the City Council voted to approve multiple actions to allow an expansion plan by New York University to develop two superblocks bounded by West 3rd Street, Houston Street, Mercer Street and LaGuardia place in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The project, projected to take 20 years to complete, would entail the construction of four new buildings to be used for student housing and faculty residences, academic use, public space, and a grocery store to replace one eliminated by the development. The largest building, the Zipper Building, would be 980,000 gross square feet. NYU claimed the project would create approximately four acres of publicly accessible open space and amenities. (more…)

Plans sent back to Community Board, Landmarks and Art Commission. Under Parks’ plan to renovate Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, the off-center fountain would be moved 22 feet to align it with the park’s famous arch at its Fifth Avenue entrance. The new fountain would be raised to grade level, have a 45-foot high water plume, and be 23 percent smaller than its current size. Parks received approvals for renovations from Manhattan’s Community Board 2, Landmarks and the Art Commission.

Four Greenwich Village residents sought an injunction to stop Parks’ renovation, arguing that Parks failed to get needed approvals since it submitted obscure plans, withheld information, and failed to clearly explain its plans at each step. The residents submitted evidence alleging that Landmarks voted on a plan to repair, but not move the fountain; Board 2 later approved a plan to reduce the fountain’s size by only 10 percent; and months later the Art Commission was first to learn of the 45-foot plume of water, which, the residents allege, would eliminate the ability to sit around the fountain to watch performers, a historic use of the fountain since the 1960s. (more…)