BAM to restore former Salvation Army building’s facade and construct six-story rear addition. On June 16, 2009, Landmarks approved the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s proposal to build a new theater by renovating and expanding a two-story building at 321 Ashland Place within the Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District. The site, occupied by the classically-inspired red brick building built by the Salvation Army in 1927, lies between BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House and the individually- landmarked Williamsburgh Savings Bank. The plan would restore and alter the facade, demolish the building’s rear extension, and construct a six-story building containing a 255-seat theater in its place.

At the hearing, BAM President Karen Brooks Hopkins testified that the academy was the oldest performing arts center in the City, and that the proposed project, along with other renovations in the past decade, would ensure that its mission continued into the 21st century. Hopkins stated that the new building would provide “an intimate performance space” unlike any other BAM facility, and added that BAM would partially devote the space to community and education programs. (more…)

When Andrew Dolkart, Director of Historic Preservation at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, was asked to characterize what it means to be a historic preservationist, he found the question difficult to answer. Upon further reflection, Dolkart described it as “a varied field” based on a value system that “honors the physical fabric of our communities.” Originally intending to pursue a PhD in art history, Dolkart turned to historic preservation, spurred by the works of Ada Louise Huxtable and the first AIA guide to New York City, because he “wanted to make a difference in the world.” The author of several books, including “Biography of a Tenement House in New York City,” and “Morningside Heights,” a comprehensive survey and history of the area’s architecture, Dolkart is also a familiar figure in front of New York City land use agencies, where one might find him advocating for a building’s landmark protection or opposing insensitive development and planning.

Once a theater major as an undergraduate at Colgate University, Dolkart channels his thespian inclinations into guided walking tours, a service he has provided for the past 30 years. Dolkart has seen the tours become increasingly popular, and include international tourists as well as locals. Dolkart finds the tours gratifying because people “notice the city in different ways,” and challenging because “you have to know what you’re talking about and present it in a dynamic way.” (more…)

Kenneth K. Fisher was born into a political family. The son of Harold Fisher, the former Chairman of the MTA, Fisher “didn’t grow up playing golf or tennis” but rather “handing out flyers” at every election for as long as he can remember. In fact, his earliest memories consist of “campaigning for Hugh Carey and John F. Kennedy.”

After attaining his law degree from Syracuse University, Fisher joined the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, a public benefit corporation created in 1975 to reduce oil consumption. From there, he joined his family’s law firm, Fisher and Fisher, where he stayed for 15 years. In 1991, voters in Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, and Williamsburg elected Fisher to represent them in City Council. After term limits forced Fisher out of office, he became Partner of Wolf Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen’s Environmental and Land Use Law practice group. (more…)

TransGas seeks to construct a 1,100 megawatt generating facility on land that the City intends to convert to a public park. In October 1999, Brooklyn Community Board 1 submitted plans to the Department of City Planning to rezone the Brooklyn East River waterfront in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. The rezoning was in response to the decline in manufacturing activity and the increase in residential demand in the area. The rezoning also envisioned a 28-acre park on the waterfront below Bushwick Inlet in Greenpoint. In March 2001, TransGas Energy Systems purchased an option to buy 1 North 12th Street, located within the site of the proposed park, as a site for a power plant. In May 2005, the City adopted the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Rezoning Plan. 2 CityLand 67 (June 15, 2005).

The City and TransGas then each embarked on condemnation proceedings for their respective, mutually exclusive, projects. In November 2006, Second Department ruled that TransGas lacked the authority to condemn property for its Brooklyn waterfront power plant absent approval from the New York State Board of Electric Generation Siting and the Environment. 3 CityLand 173 (Dec. 2006). (more…)

Council Member Reyna raised concerns over loss of light industrial space. On March 20, 2008, Gerald Goldman, the owner of a former factory building at 70 Wyckoff Avenue, filed a motion to withdraw his application to rezone a four-story, 62,000- square-foot commercial loft building for residential use.

Goldman had originally sought to rezone ten lots on Wyckoff Avenue between Suydam Street and Dekalb Avenue, from M1-1 to R6, in order to legalize 70 Wyckoff’s current use. Brooklyn Community Board 4, the Brooklyn Borough President, and the Planning Commission approved the application. (more…)