Search Results for: City Commitments

Vornado’s 1,200-foot Penn Plaza tower approved

The City Council approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposed 15 Penn Plaza commercial tower across the street from Penn Station in Manhattan.

Opponents raised concerns about impact on Empire State Building, while the Council focused on Vornado’s participation in Minority- and Womenowned Business Enterprise program. On August 25, 2010, the City Council approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposal to construct a commercial tower rising approximately 1,200 feet on Seventh Avenue between West 32nd and 33rd Streets in … <Read More>

Council Member Leroy Comrie Discusses His Role as Land Use Committee Chair

Council Member Leroy Comrie, Chair of the City Council’s Land Use Committee and representative of Queens’ 27th District, is not afraid to raise his voice or make his opinion known. For the most part, however, Comrie is known as a quiet, thoughtful, and fair-minded civic leader.

Comrie was born in Jersey City, but he was raised in the same southeast Queens community he now represents. His parents, Jamaican immigrants, helped spark Comrie’s interests in politics … <Read More>

Affordable housing approved in West Chelsea

Image: Courtesy GF 55 Partners

The City agreed to build mixed-income housing project prior to 2005 West Chelsea rezoning. On June 29, 2010, the City Council approved, at the request of the New York City Housing Authority, a text amendment that would facilitate the development of a 22-story mixed-income affordable housing project on the site of the Housing Authority-controlled Elliott-Chelsea Houses at the northwest corner of West 25th Street and Ninth Avenue in Chelsea. … <Read More>

West Park church designated

Opponents argued designation would prevent congregation from restoring the deteriorating building. On May 12, 2010, the City Council approved Landmarks’ designation of the West Park Presbyterian Church at 165 West 86th Street in Manhattan. The red sandstone-clad building is considered one of the City’s best examples of Romanesque Revival-style religious structures. Landmarks unanimously designated the building in January 2010 despite opposition from West Park leaders and its congregation, who claimed that designation would prevent the … <Read More>

Curb cut and parking regulations approved

Planning proposed amendment to address community concerns about inappropriate curb cuts and front yard parking spaces in residential areas. On April 14, 2010, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s Residential Streetscape Preservation text amendment. The amendment contains a host of changes, including applying stricter parking regulations in low-density residential districts, and establishing curb cut regulations in medium- and high-density districts that previously had none. It strengthens front yard planting requirements in low-density … <Read More>

Large Clinton mixed-use development approved

Two Trees’ project near Clinton Park approved. Image: Two Trees Management

Council limits certain uses to Two Trees’ site block. On May 20, 2009, the City Council approved Two Trees Management Company’s plan to build a 1.3 million sq.ft., S-shaped tower at 770 Eleventh Avenue in the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. The Enrique Norten-designed tower would rise in steps from approximately seven stories at Eleventh Avenue and West 54th Street to 32 stories at … <Read More>