Council Member Gentile sent letter in support of developer’s appeal. On July 12, 2007, the Department of Buildings issued the owner of 1270 Bay Ridge Parkway, located between 12th and 13th Avenues, a permit to construct a three-story building that would include space for residential, commercial and community facility use. Less than two weeks later, on July 25, 2007, the City Council voted to rezone the Dyker Heights neighborhood, putting the proposed development out … <Read More>
Search Results for: BSA
BSA finds hardship for YMCA in former courthouse
YMCA sought to expand gym, install cardio center. YMCA of Greater New York sought a variance for its building at 69-02 64th Street from lot coverage and side yard requirements to facilitate its expansion. The building, a former courthouse characterized by a horseshoe-shape and a narrow central courtyard, is already out of compliance with lot coverage and side yard requirements for community facilities within an R5 zoning district. The expansion would fill in the open … <Read More>
BSA finds no hardship despite 26 year vacancy
Owner sought to convert cellar space on St. Marks Place to retail. The owner of an East Village residential building sought to amend an existing variance to allow retail use in a vacant cellar space. The space, a 1,000-square-foot portion of a cellar located at 8 St. Marks Place, is currently under a 1970 variance which allows office use, but prohibits any business signs on the exterior of the building other than a small, … <Read More>
Bronx affordable housing projects gain BSA approval
Developer claims proposed 140 units needed to meet funding requirements. The Doe Fund, Inc., a not-for- profit that provides job training and housing for New York City homeless, applied to BSA to construct two affordable housing projects on Webster Avenue in the Bronx. The lots’ commercial zoning prohibited residential development, triggering the need for a variance.
Under the Doe Fund’s plan, the eight-story 41,114-square-foot building proposed for 3349 Webster Avenue would contain 84 single-room occupancy … <Read More>
BSA rejects Buildings interpretation of Sliver Law
Residents prevail on claim that Manhattan building violated height limit. In 2006, the owner of 515 East Fifth Street self-certified a permit to add a sixth story and penthouse addition to the building. With construction underway, local residents and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer complained to the Department of Buildings that the penthouse violated the 60-foot height limit set by the zoning resolution’s Sliver Law, which limits building heights in certain districts to either the … <Read More>
First Department orders BSA to issue variance
Court affirmed power to overturn BSA even when it failed to consider all five variance factors. In 1999, George Pantelidis, owner of a townhouse in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, obtained a permit from the Department of Buildings to construct a glass-enclosed stairwell at the rear of his building. The stairwell allowed the Pantelidis family, who occupied the second and third floors of the five-story building, to move about their residence without using the public stairs.… <Read More>