DUMBO BID approved

BID will encompass 366 properties and address sanitation, security and marketing needs. The Planning Commission unanimously approved an application by the Department of Small Business Services to create a DUMBO Business Improvement District. The proposed BID would encompass 366 properties containing 575 existing businesses bounded by DUMBO’s York, Old Fulton, Gold, and Bridge Streets and extending to the East River.

Under the proposed BID, businesses and industrial uses would be assessed $.05 per-square-foot and $.004 … <Read More>


Sanitation’s four marine transfer stations approved

Council unable to override Mayor’s veto. The proposed sites of three marine waste transfer stations were approved after the City Council failed to get sufficient votes to override Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto.

The Department of Sanitation had sought separate site selection approvals through ULURP applications to construct four new marine transfer stations. The four transfer stations were a component of Mayor Bloomberg’s 20-year Solid Waste Management Plan, which at the time of the applications was … <Read More>


Signs ok’ed for Rockefeller Center’s new observation deck

Full Council approved zoning amendment granting special authority to Planning Commission Chair. On June 23, 2005, the City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the zoning resolution allowing the Chair of the Planning Commission to authorize the use of illuminated signs in lots occupied by a landmark. The amended zoning resolution applied only to the Fifth Avenue Subdistrict of the Special Midtown District, and impacts the New York Public Library, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. … <Read More>


General Motors Plaza renovations approved

Redesign will feature a glass cube in the center of the plaza and a more accessible public space. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved a text amendment to the Special Midtown District allowing renovations to the General Motors building plaza, located at 767 Fifth Avenue between East 59th and East 58th Streets. The text amendment was necessary to alter the street wall and retail continuity requirements, which require that larger developments be built … <Read More>


High Line/Chelsea Rezoning Gets Go Ahead

Rezoning crafted to transform High Line into elevated open space; no mandatory affordable housing requirement set, despite community’s request. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved the complicated rezoning and land acquisition plan for West Chelsea that has as its central goal the transformation of the High Line, an elevated rail line, into a 1.45-mile open space.

The approved rezoning impacts the area between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues from West 17th to West 30th … <Read More>


Extension granted to construct 3-family home

Permit grandfathered due to completed excavation and substantial progress made on foundation. On May 10, 2005, BSA granted a permit extension, which allowed work to continue on the development of a 3,037-square-foot, three-story, three-family dwelling located at 1420 Balcom Avenue in Schuylerville, Bronx that exceeded the zoning requirements set by a 2004 rezoning of the area.

On September 28, 2004, the City Council approved a 295-block rezoning in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx … <Read More>