Queens homeowner sought to legalize lot split to allow sale to proceed. Pei Yu Zhong proposed to split her 11,475-square-foot lot, containing a one-family house, garage and swimming pool, into two developable lots and construct a new home to replace the pool and garage. After receiving a preliminarytax lot from the Department of Finance and a subdivision approval from Buildings, Zhong applied for a new building permit in January 2003. While Buildings was completing its … <Read More>
Search Results for: Article 78
Whitney Museum gets variance for addition
Whitney Museum’s programmatic needs warrant variances for height, floor area, and retail space. On July 25, 2006, BSA granted variances to the Whitney Museum of American Art in the Upper East Side Historic District, Manhattan. The additions, including a nine-story, 178-foot Renzo Piano-designed tower required variances for height, setback, floor area, and frontage.
On May 24, 2005, Landmarks approved the museum enlargement and issued a permit on January 5, 2006. 2 CityLand 73 (June 15, … <Read More>
Permit denied to developer who cheated on demolition
Developer caught on video demolishing building with mechanical excavator and without a permit. In July 2005, Isaac Katan, of Global Development, received demolition permits to dismantle the building at 182 15th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn to make way for a new 62-unit, 11-story residential building. Buildings issued a stop-work order and then rescinded, stopping Katan’s work for almost a month from October 4th to November 11th. On November 16th, the City Council rezoned Park … <Read More>
Variance for Red Hook condos sent back to BSA
BSA’s reliance on a single-use feasibility study deemed insufficient. In 2003, BSA granted a variance to 160 Imlay Street Real Estate LLC to convert a vacant, 220,000-square-foot Red Hook industrial building into 150 luxury residential condominiums with ground floor retail. When members of the Red Hook- Gowanus Chamber of Commerce filed an article 78 petition challenging the variance, the City asked the court to dismiss the proceeding since the Chamber failed to add Imlay as … <Read More>
Court upholds LMDC on review of memorial design
9/11 victims’ families sought to preserve North Tower’s footprint. Family members of victims of the World Trade Center attack formed a coalition to represent and express their views on the plans for a memorial at the site. In January 2004 the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation selected a memorial design, which included the preservation of some portions of the North Tower’s slab floor, most commonly referred to as “the footprint.” In March 2004, after the site … <Read More>
Condemnation challenge time barred
Owner must file four months from Council’s action; challenge cannot be raised as a defense. In September 2003, DEP started the process to condemn a 12,500- square-foot lot at 142 Grand Street in Manhattan as part of the City’s construction of the Third Water Tunnel. The largest capital project in the City’s history, the Third Water Tunnel construction will enable the City to close and repair the City’s two functioning water tunnels for the first … <Read More>