Conceptual rendering of view of the New York Wheel and New York Harbor. Image Credit: NYCEDC.

Council gives go ahead for world’s largest Ferris wheel and outlet complex.  On October 30, 2013, City Council unanimously voted 45-0 to approve the construction of the largest Ferris Wheel in the western hemisphere, which along with other developments, is intended to transform Staten Island’s St. George Waterfront. The New York Wheel (the Wheel), designed and manufactured by Starneth, will be built just north of the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, and will provide panoramic views of New York Harbor and New York City. The Wheel will be 625-feet tall with a maximum capacity of 1,440 riders, and is projected to attract approximately 4.5 million visitors per year. The project will also include the development of a 95,000 gross sq. ft. Wheel Terminal building and a 340,000 sq. ft. retail complex, Empire Outlets. (more…)

View from the Riegelmann Boardwalk of the former Childs Restaurant Building at 3052-3078 West 21st Street, Brooklyn, a designated landmark and currently vacant. Image Credit: GKV Architects PC.

Project to restore historic Childs Restaurant and build an amphitheater drew overwhelming support. On October 23, 2013, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing for the Seaside Park and Community Arts Center (Seaside Project), located in Coney Island, Brooklyn. The goal of the project is to continue the City’s efforts to reinvigorate Coney Island by introducing a recreational and entertainment destination on the boardwalk. The project, proposed by Coney Island Holdings LLC, includes the construction of a new, publicly accessible open space and amphitheater, and the restoration and adaptive reuse of the former Childs Restaurant building as an indoor entertainment, banquet, and restaurant facility.

The Seaside Project site is generally bounded by Surf Avenue to the north, Riegelmann Boardwalk to the south, West 21st Street to the east, West 23rd Street to the west, and as well as the beds of Highland View Avenue and a portion of West 22nd Street. The Seaside amphitheater would serve as a venue for a variety of concerts, community events, and public gatherings, such as the Seaside Summer Concert Series. The amphitheater would be owned by the City under the jurisdiction of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and operated by a nonprofit entity under a 10 year lease with the City. The adjacent Childs Restaurant located at 3052-3078 West 21st Street would be restored and adaptively reused as an indoor entertainment, banquet, and restaurant facility with outdoor seating for approximately 440 diners. The Childs Restaurant would be open year-round. A publicly accessible open space extending to West 23rd Street would provide passive recreational opportunities. (more…)

MTA claimed that compensation for trade fixtures in building taken for transit project would constitute improper windfall payment. Three restaurant tenants in a three-story building at 194 Broadway in Lower Manhattan sought compensation for their trade fixtures after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority acquired the property through eminent domain for its Fulton Street Transit Center project. The three restaurants were separately incorporated, but were owned by the same individual who owned the building. 196 Bway TGI Inc., 196 Bway KFC Inc., and 196 Bway Food Court Inc. leased space in the building owned by DLR Properties LLC. Dennis Riese was the sole principal of DLR Properties and sole voting shareholder of the restaurant corporations  (more…)

Disposition of City-owned property will facilitate development of eightstory, 65-unit project for low-income seniors and special needs residents. On October 19, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to facilitate the construction of a 65-unit supportive housing project, known as El Rio Residence, in the West Farms section of the Bronx. Comunilife Inc., a non-profit health care agency, plans to develop the eight-story project on a 2,200 sq.ft. portion of a City-owned lot next to a building at 2064 Boston Road owned by Comunilife. The site is two blocks from the Bronx Zoo and the Bronx River Art Center. To facilitate the project, HPD requested permission to dispose of the property to Comunilife.

El Rio Residence would provide 29 affordable studio apartments for low-income seniors and 36 studios for seniors with mental illness. The project would include a 2,422 sq.ft. landscaped open space and a multipurpose room. Supportive services, including a communal kitchen and laundry room, would occupy the building’s ground floor.

Bronx Community Board 6 and Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. supported the proposal. No one opposed the proposal at the Commission’s October 5 public hearing, and the Commission unanimously approved the plan.

CPC: El Rio Residence (C 110365 HAX – UDAAP and dispo.) (Oct. 19, 2011) (Architect: Gran Kriegel Associates Architects + Planners).

Admirals Row Plaza. Image Courtesy of  GreenbergFarrow.

Mixed-use project at southeast corner of Brooklyn Navy Yard would include adaptive reuse of two historic buildings. On June 20, 2011, the City Planning Commission certified the Brooklyn Navy Yard Economic Development Corporation’s proposed mixed-use development, known as Admirals Row Plaza, on a federally owned site at the southeast edge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard at Navy and Nassau Streets in Brooklyn. The site is occupied by ten residences along Nassau Street built between 1850 and 1901 to house naval officers, and a large timber shed along Navy Street dating from the 1830s that stored ship-building materials. The buildings have been vacant for more than 20 years and are severely deteriorated.

The U.S. Army National Guard Bureau retained control of the six-acre site after the City purchased the rest of the Brooklyn Navy Yard complex in 1967. In 2007 the Bureau commenced the federal review process to transfer control of the property to the City, which plans to lease the site to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. (more…)