Buildings vacated apartment building’s occupants before MTA started construction work nearby on the Second Avenue subway line. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, before performing certain construction work on the Second Avenue subway line, contacted Buildings regarding the building located at 1766 Second Avenue. MTA was concerned that drilling, excavation, and/or blasting for the new subway line could cause the already-leaning building to become unstable. Buildings declared the building “unsafe and an imminent peril,” and later issued … <Read More>
Search Results for: City of New York
City must pay for paving private property
DOT paved over portion of Staten Island property owner’s land. Foxwood Forest Lenca LLC owned a 15,700 sq.ft. parcel of land abutting Forest Hill Road on Staten Island. The land was undeveloped, and the portion along Forest Hill Road consisted primarily of grass and other vegetation. In 2008, the Department of Transportation entered Foxwood’s property and paved over this grassy area. According to DOT’s borough commissioner, the paving was done to address unsafe roadway conditions … <Read More>
City’s adult establishment laws upheld
Zoning restrictions against adult businesses survive trial on adequacy of prior study. The Department of City Planning conducted a study on the negative secondary effects of adult businesses in the City, and concluded in 1993 that such businesses increased crime and lowered property values. Based on this study, the City in 1995 amended the zoning resolution to restrict the location of adult businesses in certain areas, banned the enlargement of existing adult uses, and prohibited … <Read More>
Court upholds City’s approval of Columbia’s plan
Mini-storage owners unsuccessfully challenged FEIS. Columbia University proposed an expansion plan that would allow it to construct a new 17- acre campus in the Manhattanville neighborhood of West Harlem. The plan would create academic building space, university housing, as well as a contiguous below-grade facility, or “bathtub,” to support campus functions. After the City Planning Commission determined that Columbia’s plan might have a significant impact on the environment, Columbia prepared a final environmental impact statement … <Read More>
City and Suburban’s landmarking upheld
Physical alterations ruled irrelevant when assessing historical and cultural significance of two light-court tenements. Between 1898 and 1915, the City and Suburban Homes Company First Avenue Estate was built in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood. It consists of 15 light-court tenements, which are residential buildings configured to maximize light and air, in contrast to the tenements of the period. In April 1990, Landmarks voted to designate the Estate as a landmark site, encompassing the entire … <Read More>
City sues to save landmarked apt. bldg.
Lawsuit intended to keep 19th century landmark from falling into a state of disrepair. In 2005, Landmarks designated the Windermere Apartments, three buildings located on West 57th Street and Ninth Avenue, in order to preserve its Queen Anne-style architecture and to recognize its storied history as a residence for young, self-supporting women entering the workforce in the mid-1800s. The owners claimed that the buildings were in an “unsafe condition” and did not warrant designation; preservation … <Read More>