Renovation of Fifth Avenue landmark blocked

Preliminary injunction issued after preservationists claim renovations exceeded proposal approved by Landmarks. In April 2011, Landmarks approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposal to renovate the Manufacturers Trust Company Building at 510 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Landmarks designated the Skidmore, Owens & Merrill-designed, glass and metal building as an individual City landmark in 1997. In February 2011, Landmarks designated the building’s first two floors as an interior landmark.

Shortly after the interior landmarking, Vornado proposed … <Read More>


Citizens Win Protection of Historic Tobacco Warehouse

Court ruled that the National Park Service unlawfully removed warehouse and adjacent building from park boundaries. In 2001, the National Park Service awarded to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation a federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant to help fund a cove restoration project in Empire Fulton Ferry Park in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The Park Service’s grant was contingent on the State Office of Parks agreeing that the restoration project … <Read More>


First Department sends adult zoning law back for trial

Adult businesses challenged constitutionality of 2001  amendments to City’s  zoning resolution. A Department of City Planning study concluded in 1994 that the  City’s adult entertainment businesses caused certain negative secondary effects, such as increased crime and decreased property values. In response to this study, the City amended the zoning resolution in 1995 to bar “adult establishments” from all residential zones and most commercial and manufacturing districts. Adult establishments were defined as commercial businesses whereby a … <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>


St. John the Divine project withstands EIS lawsuit

Court dismissed action because new environmental review would not restore scenic views. The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine leased part of its 11-acre campus to a developer, who built an 18-story residential building on West 110th Street at the corner of Cathedral Parkway and Morningside Drive. When local residents opposed the project, the developer agreed to make an honest effort to ensure that the building would qualify as an “80/20 building” under which … <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>