Court finds City discriminated in housing project

Judge enjoined City’s redevelopment proposal for area straddling Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant. In December 2009, the City Council approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s redevelopment proposal for the Broadway Triangle Urban Renewal Area in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The seventeen-block urban renewal area was created in 1989 and is primarily located within Community District 1, with a six-block portion within Community District 3. CD 1 is predominately white with a large Hasidic community, and CD … <Read More>


Hudson Yards owners lose condemnation claim

Owners of M1-5 properties claimed their land should be valued as if zoned C6-4. The City acquired properties through eminent domain for the Hudson Yards Rezoning and Development Program. The project aimed to develop 38 blocks in Manhattan’s Far West Side and extend the No. 7 subway line south-westward from Times Square to Eleventh Avenue and West 34th Street. 2 CityLand 4 (Feb. 15, 2005). The affected owners’ properties were primarily located on 34th and … <Read More>


Columbia’s plan OK’d: High Court reversed App. Div.

Court of Appeals reversed First Department’s strongly worded opinion. In 2001, Columbia University contacted the City’s Economic Development Corporation in an effort to redevelop West Harlem as part of a campus expansion. Not long after, EDC issued a West Harlem Master Plan that stated that West Harlem could be redeveloped through rezoning. EDC, after it issued the master plan, hired a private firm to examine the neighborhood conditions of West Harlem. The study concluded that … <Read More>


Coney Island Redevelopment Clears Judicial Hurdle

Community group challenged City’s 47-acre Coney Island rezoning. In 2007, the City unveiled a comprehensive rezoning plan for the redevelopment of a 47-acre portion of Coney Island, Brooklyn. The plan sought to revitalize the iconic beachfront amusement area by transforming it into a year-round amusement and entertainment destination alongside new residential and retail uses. The proposal included rezoning nineteen blocks in order to permit new residential and hotel development around a 27-acre amusement and entertainment … <Read More>


Court dismisses Lower East Side lawsuit

Residents and community groups unsuccessfully challenged the City’s 111-block rezoning. In May 2008, the Department of City Planning proposed a 111-block rezoning in the East Village and Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan. The rezoning sought to preserve the area’s low- and mid-rise character by applying contextual zoning districts establishing maximum building heights and channeling new construction to areas suitable for development. The proposal included applying the City’s Inclusionary Housing Program provisions to certain zoning … <Read More>


Court upsets Columbia’s eminent domain option

Property owners challenge ESDC’s authority to use eminent domain on behalf of Columbia. Looking to expand in West Harlem, Columbia University teamed up with the City’s Economic Development Corporation in 2001 to redevelop the area. Not long after, EDC issued a West Harlem Master Plan. The plan stated that West Harlem could be redeveloped through rezoning, and did not mention any blighted conditions in Manhattanville. Columbia began purchasing property in the area in 2002 for … <Read More>