Mini-storage owners unsuccessfully challenged FEIS. Columbia University proposed an expansion plan that would allow it to construct a new 17- acre campus in the Manhattanville neighborhood of West Harlem. The plan would create academic building space, university housing, as well as a contiguous below-grade facility, or “bathtub,” to support campus functions. After the City Planning Commission determined that Columbia’s plan might have a significant impact on the environment, Columbia prepared a final environmental impact statement … <Read More>
Search Results for: West Harlem, Manhattan
ESDC loses FOIL case on Columbia project’s files
Community groups gain access to withheld documents since Columbia University and ESDC hired same consultant. Columbia University hired AKRF, a prominent planning firm, to help gain agency approvals for its controversial expansion into Manhattanville. Two months later, the Empire State Development Corporation hired AKRF to conduct a blight study needed to determine if the use of eminent domain as part of Columbia’s plan was appropriate. Columbia paid AKRF’s consulting fees for preparing the blight study … <Read More>
Landmarks devotes meeting to potential designations
Landmarks provides forum for accord and controversy during numerous hearings. On June 24, 2008, Landmarks heard testimony on eight potential City landmarks, as well as one historic district extension. According to spokesperson Lisi de Bourbon, Landmarks grouped the designation hearings on one day to demonstrate certain themes and priorities like post-war architecture, public libraries, and the Commission’s recent review of architecture in the West Village.
The proposed extension of Queens’ Douglaston Historic to encompass 22 … <Read More>
Council negotiates modifications to 125th Street rezoning
Council Members Dickens and Jackson defend plan despite vocal opposition from local residents. On April 30, 2008, the City Council modified the Department of City Planning’s plan to rezone the 125th Street corridor, a 24-block area in the Harlem section of Manhattan.
The plan will rezone large portions of the east and west ends of the corridor to encourage arts, entertainment, and retail uses. The plan will also impose height limits, street wall continuity requirements, … <Read More>
125th Street rezoning moves forward
Angry local opposition jeered and escorted out by security. After a public review that included over 170 meetings with local residents, the Planning Commission voted to approve the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone the 125th Street corridor, which includes 124th and 126th Street.
Once a prestigious epicenter of African American culture, the 125th Street corridor has suffered from a lack of public and private investment since the 1960s. In recent years, however, renewed … <Read More>
Columbia University’s and CB9’s plans approved
Last minute effort to delay vote until disclosure of community benefit package was defeated. On December 19, 2007, the City Council voted to approve Columbia University’s and Manhattan Community Board 9’s development plans for West Harlem after the Planning Commission modified both plans the month before. The approval clears the way for Columbia to move forward with its campus expansion into the traditionally industrial neighborhood of Manhattanville.
Columbia’s plan called for a Special Manhattanville Mixed-Use … <Read More>