Gym Approved for West 67th Street Building

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 … <Read More>


New Plan Proposed for Partially-Constructed Building

New design would alter massing to use property for residential use instead of a hotel. On November 19, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on a new proposal for a through-block lot at 25 Great Jones Street in the NoHo Historic District Extension, with the other façade facing Bond Street. The lot is currently occupied by a partially constructed thirteen-story structure that was permitted before the designation process for the extension began. … <Read More>


Building’s Refusal to Permit Advertising Sign on Eagle Electric Building Upheld.

Eagle claimed huge sign visible from Queensboro Bridge was not an accessory sign.  The Eagle Electric Manufacturing Company, in 1936, constructed a 1,950 square foot sign on the rooftop of its plant located at 23-10 Queens Plaza South, Queens. The plant is located in the M1-9/R9 Special Long Island City Mixed Use zoning district and within 200 feet of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Eagle ceased operations in 2000; the plant where the sign is … <Read More>


Numerous Local Residents Oppose Proposed TriBeCa Development of Vacant Lots

Plan would see the construction of two connected mixed-use buildings on triangular-shaped lots, currently used for parking, on Sixth Avenue extension. On November 12, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the proposal for two adjacent irregularly shaped lots on 100 Franklin Street in the TriBeCa East Historic District.  DDG Partners is seeking to develop the property with two conjoined structures that would include ground-floor retail and residential use on the upper floors. … <Read More>


BSA Approves Ohel Chabad Lubavitch Variances Over Community Opposition

BSA approval contingent upon several conditions, and restrictions of the hours of operation and access to gravesites. The Congregation Ohel Chabad Lubavitch owns the property at 226-10 Francis Lewis Boulevard, Queens adjacent to the Montefiore Cemetery where the Lubavitch spiritual leader Rebbe Menachem M. Schneerson and his predecessor Rebbe Yosef J. Schneerson are buried. Daily visitors numbering in the several hundreds use the property to access the graves of the Lubavitch leaders.  In 1994 … <Read More>


Heavy Lifting: The Regulation of Health Establishments Under the Zoning Resolution

Zoning Therapy

For 34 years the City has required a special permit for physical culture or health establishments. This requirement burdens owners and operators of health clubs, gyms, spas and studios, even where such uses would otherwise be permitted as-of-right. With the elimination of the now-unlawful adult physical culture establishments, the purpose and usefulness of the remaining regulations place an unnecessary burden on legitimate small businesses and should be modified or eliminated entirely.

During the … <Read More>