IPSIG Agreements: A Vehicle to Rehabilitate Vendors

IPSIG_final_(small)Under ordinary circumstances the City may not enter into a contract with a vendor when the City finds that the vendor is not responsible because of tax, criminal, financial, ethical or performance reasons. It may not always be in the City’s interests, however, to refuse to deal with the vendor. One option available to the City that allows the City to continue to do business with such a vendor is an Independent Private Sector Inspector … <Read More>


Variance Granted To Enlarge Private School

Columbia Grammar and Preparatory permitted to establish new building for a middle-school program over community opposition. On October 7, 2014 the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to grant a variance to Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School for the enlargement of an existing school building. The building is located at 5 West 93rd Street in Manhattan’s Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District, between Central Park West to the west and Columbus Avenue to … <Read More>


City Council to Hold Hearings on Controversial Astoria Cove Proposal

The project was approved by City Planning despite opposition from the Community Board, Borough President, and the local Council Member. On October 20, 2014 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will hold hearings on the proposed Astoria Cove mixed-use development project. The project, designed by Alma Realty, is the first project subject to Mayor de Blasio’s mandatory inclusionary zoning housing requirement. Despite the requirement, the project has faced opposition from community … <Read More>


Council Member Works to Combat Illegal Home Conversions

Pending legislation would make it easier to impose civil penalties for illegal conversions. In recent months, City Council Member Vincent Gentile has introduced two bills to address the issue of illegal home conversions in New York City. According to Ann Falutico, Zoning Committee Chair for Brooklyn Community Board 10, a study of 311 statistics show that since 2010, over 1,000 complaints for illegal home conversions came from communities within the Council Member’s district, Bay … <Read More>


Joe Rose, Former City Planning Chairman on Weisbrod CityLaw Breakfast Discussion

Carl Weisbrod’s discussion of the de Blasio administration’s planning and zoning agenda was noteworthy both for its affirmation of continuity in New York City government’s leadership in the effort to create affordable housing and also in announcing a radical departure from the approach of previous administrations. When Chairman Weisbrod speaks, people should listen.


Council Committee Approves Proposal for Large, 1,234-unit Residential Development in Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood

Latest Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen proposal raised concerns about impact on the City’s infrastructure. On April 1, 2014, the City Council Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises heard TF Cornerstone’s application to construct a mixed-use building at 606 West 57th Street between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenue in the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood in Manhattan. The approximately 1.2 million sq. ft. mixed-use development would create approximately 1,027 market-rate rental units and 207 affordable units. The development will … <Read More>