Behind New York City Development, Land Use Attorney Jesse Masyr

Jesse Masyr

Attorney Jesse Masyr brings unique expertise from the public sector to help developers navigate the City’s public review process. CityLand spoke with Masyr at his Midtown office about his career in land use law.

Masyr, who grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, attended Tulane School of Law in New Orleans. Masyr majored in American history as an undergraduate at Harpur College (now SUNY Binghamton) and was fascinated by the antebellum period. Masyr figured that … <Read More>


Prominent Art Deco skyscraper designated

Image: Courtesy LPC

Architects of 59-story 500 Fifth Avenue building also designed Empire State Building. On December 14, 2010, Landmarks designated the 500 Fifth Avenue Building as an individual City landmark. The building’s architects, Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, also designed the Empire State Building, and both buildings share similar Art Deco motifs. Built in 1931 on a small 100 by 208 feet lot on the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 42nd Street, the 59- … <Read More>


Daniel R. Garodnick on serving the City and his district

Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick, the recently re-elected representative for Manhattan’s 4th District and chair of the subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions & Concessions, takes pride in being born and raised in the district he represents. Garodnick grew up in a rent-stabilized apartment in the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village community and still lives in that neighborhood with his wife. His district also includes parts of the Upper East Side, Midtown, and Murray Hill.

After graduating from … <Read More>


Council modifies zoning of MTA’s Western Rail Yard

Proposed development of the MTA’s Western Rail Yard site, including eight mixed-use towers, as envisioned by the Related Companies. Image: Courtesy of Related Companies.

The Council’s Land Use Committee approved the proposal after the developer agreed to provide permanently affordable on-site housing. On December 14, 2009, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified and approved Goldman Sachs and Related Companies’ proposal to develop the Western Rail Yard site on the far west side of Midtown, … <Read More>


Robin Stout on the Future of the Moynihan Station Project

I n 2005, Robin Stout was appointed President of the Moynihan Station Development Corporation, the Empire State Development Corporation’s subsidiary charged with transforming the James A. Farley Post Office Building into a new train hall named for the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Stout, a Columbia Law School graduate, spent nine years at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP before joining the ESDC as Senior Counsel to the 42nd Street Development Project in 1990. Transforming … <Read More>


Council Member Jessica Lappin on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Site Safety

Council Member Jessica Lappin represents Community District 5 in Manhattan, which includes parts of Midtown and the Upper East Side. She also chairs the Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses. A New York native and graduate of Stuyvesant High School and Georgetown University, Lappin was raised in a landmarked house in Gramercy Park. Well-regarded by preservation advocates, she has garnered accolades from the Friends of the Upper East Side and the Historic … <Read More>