Claim alleges that the City improperly skipped land use approvals in Randall’s Island agreement on private school use. Parents of public school students and community residents from East Harlem filed an article 78 petition in Supreme Court on June 14, 2007, seeking to void the City’s approval of a concession agreement between 20 private schools and the Randall’s Island Sports Foundation. The petition asks the court to invalidate the agreement and force the City to … <Read More>
Search Results for: Planning Commission
Council ordered to grant sidewalk cafe application
Council’s denial of permit based only on community opposition overturned. Jack Bistro, a restaurant at 80 University Place in Manhattan, applied for a sidewalk cafe permit to add outdoor seating. After a public hearing, DCA recommended approval. Community Board 2, which received the application from DCA for comment, recommended denial, citing the community’s “longstanding tradition” against outdoor seating along University Place.
When the application went to City Council, opponents reiterated that the community was against … <Read More>
Council overturned on refusal to remove use restriction
Brooklyn developer still cannot build housing. Middleland Inc. sought to rezone three lots on DeKalb Avenue and Spencer Street in Brooklyn and remove a 1975 restriction recorded on the site that limited its use to accessory parking for an adjacent IBM plant, closed since 1993 and now occupied by a Home Depot. Middleland planned to construct housing on its site.
Despite the Planning Commission’s approval, the City Council rejected both of Middleland’s requests, citing the … <Read More>
City foils TransGas’s condemnation of park site
Court rules TransGas Energy’s condemnation is premature. TransGas Energy Systems proposed to construct a power plant along the East River waterfront in Williamsburg. It spent $1.5 million in March 2001 on an option to purchase the site, and, in 2002, filed for approval from the state Siting Board.
At Siting Board hearings, the City opposed the plan, testifying that it planned to rezone the entire Williamsburg neighborhood and create a waterfront park. In 2004, the … <Read More>
Court affirms approval of Brooklyn Sanitation garage
Property owners and neighboring residential buildings sued to stop Sanitation garage. The Second Department affirmed the lower court decision of Justice Abraham Gerges dismissing claims brought by property owners, nearby businesses and residents objecting to the condemnation of land in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn for construction of a Sanitation truck garage. 1 CityLand 48 (Dec. 2004).
The court found the parties’ claims untimely since their challenges to the condemnation were entirely based on the land use … <Read More>
Court rejects challenge to Hudson Yards condemnation
Easements for No. 7 line challenged. In October 2005, the MTA and the Planning Commission issued the final determination and findings, approving the extension of the No. 7 line from Times Square to 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. The final determination approved the acquisition by eminent domain of property and easements and the related zoning for that property.
Five landowners, including Milstein Brothers 42nd Street and Mercedes-Benz Manhattan, filed petitions under the eminent domain law … <Read More>