Metropolitan Museum’s plaza renovation approved

Metropolitan Museum of Art’s plaza renovations. Image: Courtesy of OLIN

Opponents were concerned about how changes to plaza would impact views of the museum. On February 21, 2012, Landmarks issued a favorable advisory report on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s proposal to redesign its plaza along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The museum is an individual City landmark, while the plaza is considered part of Central Park, which is a scenic landmark. … <Read More>


Restaurant wins right to non-conforming use

Buildings had determined that legal non-conforming commercial use was discontinued for one condo despite presence of two other nonconforming businesses in building. The owner of a vacant commercial unit in the ground floor of a residential condominium at 25 Central Park West in Manhattan sought to occupy the space with an eating and drinking establishment. The building includes two other ground floor commercial condos. The vacant condo faces West 62nd Street and was occupied by … <Read More>


Commission rejects 10-story Upper East Side addition

Landmarks had approved three-story addition for existing five-story building in 2002. On November 22, 2011, Landmarks rejected Axia Realty’s proposal to build a ten-story addition on a five-story building at 40 East 72nd Street in the Upper East Side Historic District. The midblock site originally consisted of two 1881 rowhouses, which in 1928 were converted to a single, neo-classical apartment building. The building is adjacent to fifteen- and fourteenstory buildings. Landmarks in 2002 approved … <Read More>


Building Big – East Side Access for the LIRR

One hundred and forty feet below Grand Central Terminal sandhogs have excavated caverns spacious enough to dock a Carnival Cruise ship. The caverns will eventually support eight tracks and four platforms to handle Long Island Rail Road trains carrying upwards of 160,000 daily commuters to and from Manhattan’s East Side. This enormous construction project will cost over $8 billion when completed. It will redraw New York City’s commuter map by adding 7.75 miles of new … <Read More>


New manufacturing district created for Midtown

New zoning district created to protect existing commercial uses will also facilitate private developer’s mixed-use project. On September 21, 2011, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s proposal to create the new M1- 6D manufacturing zoning district. The Council also approved an accompanying proposal by Edison Properties to apply the new M1-6D district to the mid-block portions of two blocks bounded by West 28th and West 30th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues<Read More>


Changes to 125th Street’s sidewalk cafe rules proposed

125th street street cafe. Image: Courtesy of NYC Department of City Planning.

Amendment would tighten sidewalk cafe regulations within Harlem’s Special 125th Street District to address local congestion concerns. On June 7, 2011, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the Department of City Planning’s proposal to modify sidewalk cafe regulations within the Special 125th Street District in Harlem, Manhattan. The Special District comprises 24 blocks of East, Central, and West Harlem generally bounded by … <Read More>