NYU superblock development as originally proposed. Image credit: NYU.
Court found no implied dedication of target parcels as parkland. In 2012, the City Council approved a plan by New York University to develop two “superblocks” bounded by West 3rd Street, Houston Street, Mercer Street, and LaGuardia Place in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan as part of an expansion plan for the campus. Assemblymember Deborah Glick, joined by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Historic Districts Council, and other local community groups challenged the approval in court arguing the Council’s approval improperly granted four community parks to NYU for the expansion in violation of the public trust doctrine.
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Bernard Marson testifies before the Board of Standards and Appeals. Image credit: BSA
Board found complying with Multiple Dwellings Law prohibited full development of zoned area. On May 19, 2015 the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to grant the applicant, BBD & D Inc, a permit to construct a penthouse at 237 East 72nd Street in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The penthouse unit will expand the current building from four stories in height to five.
On April 8, 2014 the Department of Buildings denied the applicant’s permit to construct the penthouse because the Multiple Dwellings Law prohibited increase in height or stories. On May 5, 2014 the applicant requested a special permit from the Board.
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498 Broome Street. Image credit: Umberto Squarcia Designs, Inc.
Permit will allow Use Group 2 residential on the third through sixth floors only. On March 9, 2015 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted to approve a modified special permit for the conversion of 498 Broome Street in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District of Manhattan to Use Group 2 residential. The approved permit restricts conversion of the building to Use Group 2 residential for only the third through sixth floors, and leaves the cellar, first, and second floors subject to the standing zoning regulation which permit Joint Live-Work Quarters for Artists. The permit as originally requested would have allowed Use Group 2 on portions of the first floor and all of the second through sixth floors.
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Howard Goldman speaks to the Board of Standards and Appeals. Image credit: BSA
BSA permitted construction on a lot covering a mapped but unbuilt portion of Fulton Street. On October 28, 2014 the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to grant the applicant, 92 Henry Fulton LLC, a bulk regulations waiver to allow construction of a proposed seventeen-story mixed residential and commercial building on a vacant lot. The lot is located at 92 Fulton Street in Manhattan’s Financial District, between William Street to the west and Gold Street to the east.
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BSA granted a two-year special permit to allow CrossFit NYC to operate in the cellar level of an existing 31-story mixed residential and commercial building. The building, located on the corner of Columbus Avenue and West 67th Street, Manhattan, is partially within a C4-7 zoning district and partially within an R8 zoning district. Neither zoning districts permit the use of physical culture establishments. The building owner and CrossFit NYC, the lessee, appealed to Board of Standards and Appeals for a special permit to allow the development of their gym in the cellar of the building. CrossFit NYC planned to use the gym to hold classes, instruction and programs for physical improvement, body building, weight reduction, and aerobics. (more…)
