DEP to acquire 3.3 acres and three easements to establish stormwater runoff areas in Staten Island. In February the Planning Commission approved two actions associated with stormwater runoff systems in the Arden Heights, Annadale, Eltingville, Woodrow and Prince’s Bay neighborhoods of Staten Island, some of the last remaining areas in the city without established stormwater sewer systems.

DEP sought to acquire three easements, totaling .2 acres, in Prince’s Bay and Woodrow and in the second application sought a 3.3- acre acquisition for stormwater conveyance and storage for the Arden Heights, Annadale, and Eltingville neighborhoods. DEP noted in its applications that the original storm and sanitary sewer plan for Staten Island was prepared in 1961; however, it was never fully implemented and became obsolete. A 1989 study recommended that wetlands be used for stormwater management while also providing natural open space. Implementation of this plan began in 1993 with the City’s acquisition of selected wetlands and stream basins. (more…)

129-lot area rezoned to permit residential, live-work and retail. The Planning Commission approved the proposed rezoning of a 129-lot area of Port Morris in the South Bronx that altered the area’s manufacturing zoning to mixed-use, facilitating increased live-work, residential and small commercial business development. The proposed new zoning builds on a 1997 zoning action that established the Port Morris Special Mixed-Use District – the city’s first mixed-use district – within a five-block area of Port Morris to permit diverse as-of-right uses, facilitate legalization of illegal conversions and support the continued expansion of Bruckner Boulevard’s string of antique shops. In the eight years following the 1997 rezoning, 185 new residential units were developed in the five-block area.

The new zoning would extend the mixed-use district to an 11- block area generally bounded by Park Avenue on the west, Willow Avenue on the east, the Major Deegan Expressway on the north and south to the Harlem River and the Harlem River Yards. The Department found that illegal conversions were prevalent in the area and over 40 percent of the lots were vacant, nderutilized or contained abandoned manufacturing structures. Three separate mixed-use zones (M1-2/R6A, M1-3/R8 and M1-5/R8) would be created to allow a large range of uses – residential, community facility and small commercial – while also restricting the height and size of development to more closely match the area’s existing scale. (more…)

John Jay faced the largest space deficit in the CUNY system. On January 5, 2005, the Planning Commission approved the 513,500 sq.ft. expansion plan for John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which, with its link to John Jay’s Haaren Hall along Tenth Avenue between West 58th and West 59th Streets, will create a unified urban campus occupying the full city block from Tenth to Eleventh Avenues between West 58th and West 59th Streets.

In addition to John Jay’s Haaren Hall along Tenth Avenue, the 160,700 sq.ft. city block contains a 320,000 sq.ft. warehouse, housing a newspaper distribution center, a general contractor’s office and two parking lots, and a below-grade rail line for Amtrak’s Empire Line. The manufacturing building would be demolished and a small 6,580 sq.ft. development platform constructed over the Amtrak rail line for the expansion. (more…)

Changes will increase the protection and affordability of low-income housing and lower the commercial square footage. The Council approved all ten Hudson Yards land use actions after extended negotiations with the Bloomberg Administration on modifications to the rezoning text as well as the financing mechanism. The Council’s modifications were aimed primarily at lowering the overall development potential of commercial uses, increasing the potential for residential uses, lowering density along the Tenth Avenue corridor and altering the inclusionary affordable housing text.

The development potential for commercial uses was reduced from 26 million sq.ft. to 24.3 million sq.ft. The Council reduced the permitted floor area from 15 FAR to 13 along the west side of Tenth Avenue, unless a project included community facility space. Height controls were modified in Hell’s Kitchen, adjacent to the Lincoln Tunnel approaches, to limit the height to 180 ft. (more…)

Two 24-story towers and a mixed-use building approved for two large City-owned parcels. On February 2, 2005, the City Council unanimously approved the joint application of the Dermot Company and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for a 609,000 sq.ft., three-building development in the Clinton district of Manhattan on two large City-owned parcels. The two sites span from West 51st to West 53rd Streets at the mid-block between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues and partially front Tenth Avenue. The parcels contain a portion of the functioning, open-air Amtrak rail cut, which will be covered with a development platform.

Dermot Company, chosen in 2003 by HPD, will construct a 24- story, 324-foot residential tower with 325 units, a health club, and retail space on the 22,900 sq.ft. south parcel. Two buildings will be built on the 47,061 sq.ft. north parcel: a 325-unit, 24-story residential tower will be built in the mid-block and a lower, 111-foot mixed-use building will front Tenth Avenue and West 53rd Street. The lower building will have retail and four not-for-profit theaters at street level with residential townhouses above. Six buildings will be demolished, including an existing not-for-profit theater. (more…)