NY Law School Commentary on Talk by Tom Prendergast, Chair of NY MTA

MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast faces a huge challenge as the MTA needs a new round of capital funding starting in 2015. At the CityLaw Breakfast on November 21, 2014 Chairman Prendergast laid out a well-thought out five year plan designed to maintain the system, modernize it, make it more resilient and extend it geographically. The price tag: $32 billion. In the intensive competition for public money, elected leaders find funds in that range only when … <Read More>


CityLand Recognizes New York City’s Labor History

Labor Day commemorates the history of the labor movement and the social and economic gains of workers in the United States.   New York City has been a location for many significant milestones of labor history.  We here at CityLand document the changes in New York City land use, but we would be remiss to ignore that behind every land use change is the hard labor of American workers, from demolition to construction and all points … <Read More>


Elected Officials Oppose Salvation Army’s Plan to Sell Williams Memorial Residence

Elected officials join senior residents to protest sale and relocation of Upper West senior home to Harlem.  On June 18, 2014, elected officials and senior residents held a rally outside the Williams Memorial Residence, a 15-story independent senior living facility, located at 720 West End Avenue, in Manhattan. The rally, attended by nearly 200 people, was held in protest of the Salvation Army’s plan to sell the property, which it has owned and … <Read More>


Opposition and Support Voiced for Proposed Bed-Stuy Historic District

Potential district is characterized by late 19th-century masonry residential structures. The Landmarks Preservation Commission held a well-attended hearing on the potential designation of the Bedford Historic District in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant community on January 15, 2013. The proposed district would be comprised of approximately 800 buildings, roughly bounded by Bedford and Tompkins Avenues from west to east, and Monroe and Fulton Streets from north to south. The area was mostly developed during the period between 1870 … <Read More>


Landmarks Request Proposal Revisions for Firehouse to Cultural Center Conversion

Commissioners suggested retaining former firehouse’s garage door and rethinking mural sizes for planned cultural center. On November 13, 2012, Landmarks considered a proposal by the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI), to make modifications to the individually landmarked Fire Hook and Ladder Company No. 14 at 120 East 125th Street in Harlem. The Romanesque Revival firehouse, designed by Napoleon LeBrun & Sons and completed in 1889, was designated in 1997.  The firehouse was closed … <Read More>


New Filings and Decisions Charts for June 2012 Uploaded

Every month CityLand publishes a comprehensive set of charts to track applications to, and decisions from, New York City’s land use agencies. Agencies covered include: Department of City Planning, City Planning Commission, City Council, Board of Standards & Appeals, and Landmarks Preservation Commission.

CityLand tracks these applications through the review process to a final decision. The majority of these decisions are available on the Center for New York City Law’s CityAdmin database (found at www.CityAdmin.org<Read More>