EDC expects to choose developer before Council vote. On August 27, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved a plan sponsored by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the NYC Economic Development Corporation to redevelop a six-acre site in East Harlem. The plan seeks to create 1.7 million sq.ft. of mixed use development on 5.5 acres, roughly bounded by East 125th and East 127th Streets between Second and Third Avenues. 3 CityLand 59 (Nov. 15, 2006).

At the Planning Commission’s July 23 public hearing, the District Manager of Community Board 11 and Anthony Borelli, Director of Land Use for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, expressed opposition based on EDC’s election to begin the ULURP process without first selecting a developer. 5 CityLand 105 (Aug. 15, 2008). They asserted that EDC’s decision to select a developer after the Community Board and the Borough President’s respective deadlines for comment expired will have stripped them of their opportunity to comment on the plan before it reached the Planning Commission. Borelli suggested that EDC be named Lead Agency instead of HPD. The change would trigger section 384(b)(4) of the City Charter, and would require the Manhattan Borough Board to approve the disposition of City-owned property to EDC; in effect, the community would have a chance to review the plan after EDC selected a developer. (more…)

Council approves Commission modification demapping two street portions but not a third. On September 24, 2008, the City Council approved GTJ Co., Inc.’s plan, as modified by the City Planning Commission, to rezone its property from C4-2 and R3-2 to C4-1, and demap portions of abutting mapped streets.

GTJ owns Lot 34 of Block 1082 and the entirety of Block 1083, where it operates a Budget Rent-a- Car business. The property is roughly bounded by 23rd and 24th Avenues between 87th and 89th Streets in Elmhurst, Queens, just south of Grand Central Parkway and LaGuardia Airport. (more…)

Lynn Kelly

Ever since Lynn Kelly was appointed President of the Coney Island Development Corporation [CIDC] last year, she knew that time was of the essence. Her mission: restore Coney Island to its former prominence, and do it quickly, or lose the opportunity forever.

Kelly, a former Deputy Director of the City’s Art Commission, joined the New York City Economic Development Corporation in 2001. Over the next six years, she managed a portfolio of development projects and land sales of more than $50 million. Appointed President of the CIDC by Mayor Bloomberg in April 2007, Kelly took on the responsibility of saving “the People’s Playground.” (more…)

Bronx developer claimed non-compliance with zoning law was minimal and should not impede vesting of rights. Developer GRA V LLC applied for an excavation and foundation permit from the Department of Buildings for construction of a 63- unit apartment building in a neighborhood of one- and two-family buildings within the Bronx’s Van Cortlandt Village. Despite an Administrative Code requirement that permit applications be accompanied by a lot diagram survey prepared by a licensed surveyor, the developer only included a Sanborn map signed and stamped by its architect. Buildings accepted the Sanborn map in lieu of the survey, relying on the architect’s seal, and issued the foundation permit to the developer.

Aware that the City was in the process of downzoning the neighborhood to restrict development to one- or two-family buildings, the developer moved quickly with construction, completing excavation and 85 percent of the foundation by the day the City Council approved the rezoning. After Buildings issued a stop-work order, the developer filed a request to continue work, arguing that it had acquired a vested right to continue. While Buildings did not initially oppose the developer’s request, a survey submitted by neighbors showed the developer’s Sanborn map was inaccurate. The developer submitted its own survey, confirming that the Sanborn map inaccurately marked the adjacent building’s footprint, failing to show it was set back 1.9 feet from the street line. As a result, the developer’s proposed structure, bound by the “narrow streets” zoning requirement not to build any closer to the street line than the nearest adjacent building, pierced the setback area at three small points. Following the submission, Buildings denied the request. (more…)

Opponents claim Hunter’s Point South will not adequately address lack of affordable housing in Queens. On August 13, 2008, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Hunter’s Point South Redevelopment Plan. The plan aims to create an affordable, middle-income community and waterfront park on 30 acres of Long Island City waterfront.

Originally owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the City purchased the site in 2006 and assigned the New York City Economic Development Corporation to create a plan that would increase the affordable housing stock in Queens. In 2007, EDC announced a plan that included low-, mid-, and high-rise residential areas, 11 acres of open space, ground-floor retail, and approximately 5,000 new housing units, 60 percent of which would be affordable to middle-income families.

At the Planning Commission’s public hearing, an EDC representative stated that, out of all the major U.S. cities, New York City has the smallest number of middle-income families, and that the EDC plan, the largest affordable housing project in the last 30 years, will allow the City to prevent more middle-income families from being priced-out of living in Queens. Helen M. Marshall, Borough President of Queens, testified that without more affordable housing, City workers, who provide vital services and “represent an important part of our tax base,” will continue to leave the City. According to Marshall, EDC’s plan can help reverse that trend. (more…)