Julie Menin, Manhattan’s CB 1 Chair, Talks About One of the City’s Fastest Growing Districts

Comprised of Battery Park City, the Financial District, South Street Seaport, and Tribeca, the neighborhoods of Manhattan Community Board 1 are in the midst of a period of tremendous growth and development. New apartment buildings are bringing thousands of new residents to the district. At the same time, large redevelopment projects, such as the World Trade Center, promise to return millions of square feet of office space along with expanded retail and cultural spaces. Under … <Read More>


$3.2 million tax exemption awarded Brooklyn developer

The Albee Street Mall on Gold Street will be razed to make way for one of the tallest buildings in downtown Brooklyn. Image courtesy of Greenberg Farrow.

Downtown Brooklyn mall to be demolished for large mixed-use retail, office, and residential center. On February 13, 2007, the New York City Industrial Development Agency, a component of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, approved financial assistance for the construction of a new 1.8-million-square-foot mixed-use development in … <Read More>


Street furniture franchise challenge rebuffed

Losing bidders challenged DOT’s selection of Spanish-based outdoor advertising franchisee. In May 2006, the City approved a 20-year franchise to Cemusa, Inc. to construct and maintain citywide street furniture, including bus shelters, news racks and pay toilets, on which Cemusa would be permitted to sell advertising space. Approval by the City’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee came after a DOT-initiated request for proposals, a DOT-review and award process, and a public hearing. 3 CityLand 129 … <Read More>


Council overturned on refusal to remove use restriction

Brooklyn developer still cannot build housing. Middleland Inc. sought to rezone three lots on DeKalb Avenue and Spencer Street in Brooklyn and remove a 1975 restriction recorded on the site that limited its use to accessory parking for an adjacent IBM plant, closed since 1993 and now occupied by a Home Depot. Middleland planned to construct housing on its site.

Despite the Planning Commission’s approval, the City Council rejected both of Middleland’s requests, citing the … <Read More>


Landmarks rejects Madison Avenue tower by vote of 9-1

Developer invited to submit another design. Following a lengthy presentation by real estate developer Aby Rosen’s team, Landmarks indicated its clear unwillingness to approve the 26-story tower addition proposed to top the Parke-Bernet building at 980 Madison Avenue within the Upper East Side Historic District.

The project architect Lord Norman Foster started the January 16th presentation with a photograph of the original 1949 Parke-Bernet building and its appearance now, after a 1950s alteration added another … <Read More>


Plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park Withstands Challenge

Citizens group challenged inclusion of private residential development. In 2002, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki created the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation as a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation and charged it with the responsibility to design and build a proposed park on Port Authority land along Brooklyn’s East River waterfront. The 2002 agreement required that no less than 80 percent of the acreage be park space, all revenue generated from commercial uses … <Read More>