Rendering of 1050 Pacific Street in Brooklyn. Image Credit: CPC.
The new building is intended to revitalize a largely vacant block along Pacific Street in Brooklyn. On May 2, 2019, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted to approve a rezoning of the western portion of a block bounded by Pacific Street to the north, Dean Street to the south, Franklin Avenue to the east, and Classon Avenue to the west in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The applicant proposed to rezone the area from a manufacturing district, M1-1, to a mixed-use residential and manufacturing district, M1-4/R7A. The rezoning will facilitate a new eight-story development at 1050 Pacific Street with 103 residential units and ground floor commercial space. The development is located a block away from 1010 Pacific Street and is also part of Brooklyn Community Board 8 and Department of City Planning’s M Crown study. (more…)
Rendering of proposed new nine-story building at the corner of Brook Avenue and East 156th Street in the Bronx. Image Credit: CPC/Dattner Architects.
The development seeks to activate the streetscape in the area by removing the existing dangerous condition posed by a long-abandoned railroad trench. On March 27, 2019, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and developer Phipps Houses that will bring 54 units of affordable housing to the Melrose neighborhood of the Bronx. The application calls for the disposition of City-owned property, a rezoning, the grant of a special permit and designation of the proposed development site as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, Option 1. The development site is located at the corner of East 156th Street and Brook Avenue, across from Via Verde, a relatively recent environmentally-conscious residential complex, also built by Phipps Houses. (more…)
Rendering of proposed buildings at 931 Carroll Street and 40 Crown Street. Image Credit: CP VI Crown Heights, LLC/NYC CPC.
If approved, the rezoning will make way for construction of over 500 new apartments in Crown Heights. On September 26, 2018, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on a rezoning application for Franklin Avenue in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The rezoning would allow construction of two new 16-story buildings at 40 Crown Street and 931 Carroll Street. Both buildings are a block east of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. (more…)
New York City Council Member Jumaane Williams. Image credit: NYCC/William Alatriste
City Council unanimously passed a landmark construction safety bill mandating worker training. On September 27, 2017, City Council voted 42-0 to pass Int. No. 1447-C, which will implement mandatory construction safety training standards citywide with equal accessibility. This bill was a controversial aspect of a package of construction safety bills, some of which were passed in May 2017. For CityLand’s prior coverage on this matter, click here.
This bill drew the most debate at the January 31st hearing on the construction bill package. For CityLand’s prior coverage on the hearing, click here. On September 20, 2017, this bill was discussed and approved at the Housing and Buildings Committee meeting. Council Member Jumaane Williams, Deputy Leader and Chair of Council’s Housing and Buildings Committee, sponsored the bill. Williams noted the bill was amended 3 times in response to feedback from all affected stakeholders. Williams ended the meeting by dedicating a moment to the construction workers who lost their lives due to conditions that triggered the need for this bill. (more…)
Map of Floodplain/Zoning Text Amendment Area. Image Credit: NYC City Planning Commission.
The Department of City Planning is seeking input on special flood resilience zoning from residents of the City’s floodplain. City Planning released a video explaining their flood resiliency goals. Resiliency is the “ability to withstand, recover, and emerge even stronger after a storm.” The City has adopted a multitude of approaches that, in combination, make the floodplain more resilient. The City is increasing emergency services, building breakwaters and wetlands to reduce the force of waves, building seawalls and bulkheads to block floodwaters from spreading inland, hardening utilities and infrastructure to prevent power outages, and making strides in resilient construction. Resilient construction of buildings is integrated in the City’s Building Code.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) defines flood risk, floodplains, and insurance rates. The City Department of Buildings enforces FEMA’s guidelines by adopting them into the City’s Building Code. The Building Code requires residential buildings to have space below the flood elevation line that allows water to enter and exit without causing damage. Commercial buildings must have ground floors impermeable to water entry. Buildings constructed using the more recent resiliency standards survived Hurricane Sandy with minimal damage. However, many buildings in the floodplain were built before the adoption of these Building Code regulations and the 1961 Zoning Resolution. (more…)
