Queens project approved when Council failed to act

Full Council rejects resolution but not project. Private developer College Point Holdings I LLC filed four linked applications for its plan to develop 100 units and 100 parking spaces within 26 attached buildings on a two-acre site in the College Point area of Queens. The applications included a rezoning application to alter the site from manufacturing zoning to residential zoning (M1-1 to R4) that allows as-of-right residential development. Also included were two special permits to … <Read More>


Committee approves controversial 400-space parking garage

Opponents raise congestion, asthma levels, and City policy as reasons to reduce parking garage. Despite calls by Hell’s Kitchen residents and Community Board 4 to reduce the requested parking spaces, the Land Use Committee sent the 400-space public parking garage plan of developer Glenwood Management Corp. to the full Council for a vote.

Glenwood applied for a special permit for the garage as part of its construction plan for a mixed-use building with 569 residential … <Read More>


Court intervenes to save landmark

Image: LPC.

State Supreme Court issues preliminary injunction against owner of 19th century landmark building. In 2005, Landmarks designated the Queen Anne-style Windermere Apartments, comprised of three buildings located on West 57th Street and Ninth Avenue. In September 2007, Landmarks noted that the historical and structural integrity of the buildings was at risk of being permanently compromised unless the owner, Toa Construction, took immediate action. In October 2007, Landmarks Chair Robert B. Tierney issued Toa … <Read More>


New Mixed-Use Bldg. in SoHo-Cast Iron HD Approved

Arpad Baksa-designed, six-story building to be located within corridor between historic Broome and Wooster Streets. On May 7, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved Rocksprings Management Company’s proposal to build a six-story, 12,498-square-foot residential building, with ground-floor retail, at 52 Wooster Street.

Currently, a ten-space parking lot occupies the site, which is located in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District on the corner of Broome and Wooster Streets. Surrounding the site are five- and six-story … <Read More>


Council considers 12 construction site safety bills

Unions, contractors, and developers call for public benefit corporation to replace DOB. On May 6, 2008, the City Council’s Housing and Buildings Committee heard testimony from the acting Commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, Robert LiMandri, and the public on a dozen proposed local laws aimed at improving safety at construction sites in the City.

Council Member Jessica Lappin sponsored Intro 760 that would give Buildings the power to order a … <Read More>


BSA allows construction despite rezoning

BSA rules that foundation work was sufficiently completed prior to rezoning. In June 2007, the Department of Buildings issued the owner of 74 Grand Avenue a permit to construct a five-story, 55,000-squarefoot residential building. The proposed building, to be located between Myrtle and Park Avenues in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, complied with the zoning requirements at the time. The next month, the City rezoned portions of Fort Greene from R6 to R6B, rendering … <Read More>