Renovations will allow for better utilization of space, according to applicants, while preservationists expressed concerns about fragility of early-20th-century Baroque theater. On November 24, 2015, Landmarks approved an application to raise the Palace Theater, an interior landmark, 29 feet within its current footprint, as well as conduct restoration work and other associated renovations. The original building in which the theater stood was demolished, and a new hotel built over and around the theater … <Read More>
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At Final Backlog Hearing, Testimony Considered on Manhattan Items
The proposed designation of the former Yuengling Brewery Site in East Harlem proved contentious, dividing preservationists and those who wished to see site developed. On November 12, 2015 the Landmarks Preservation Commission held the final of four special hearings organized to address the backlog of items added to the Commission’s calendar before 2001, but never brought to a vote on designation. The final hearing consisted of items in Manhattan, occupying Community Boards six through twelve. … <Read More>
A Pastor’s Plea Against Landmarking His Church
I presently serve as pastor, of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. The church, formerly St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church, 7558 Amboy Road in Tottenville, Staten Island, has been in existence for 156 years and has seen so many changes over the years that, to my mind, it truly does not meet the criteria of “historic landmark.” But the larger issue isn’t really about St. Paul’s UMC specifically, but about the nature of … <Read More>
Taxis: Yellow, Green and Black: Competition & Evolution
On a daily basis I am reminded that seemingly everyone loves to talk about taxis. Last year between the Daily News, the Post and Times, there were over 2,000 articles mentioning taxis, which transport about a million people a day – yet only about 3,000 articles mentioning subways which transport six-million people a day. Travelers and New Yorkers are clearly disproportionally obsessed with taxis.
Assuming that what people ask me is representative of what’s on … <Read More>
Variance Approved For Metropolitan College’s Bronx Campus
College sited educational facilities in an M1-1 zone. On June 24, 2014, the Board of Standards and Appeals granted a use variance to Metropolitan College of New York, a non-profit educational institution headquartered at 431 Canal Street in Manhattan, to use the entire second floor of a new building at 459 East 149th Street at the corner of Brook Avenue in the Bronx for educational purposes. The site is in the shape of a … <Read More>
New York State’s New System for Tracking Prescription Drugs
On June 19, 2012, one lone gunman entered a small pharmacy in Medford, Long Island. Seven gunshots later, four people lay dead—killed at close range without signs of resistance. Three days later, David Laffer and his wife, Melinda Brady, were arrested. Laffer was charged with first-degree murder. Melinda Brady, driver of the getaway car, was charged with third-degree robbery.