Search Results for: Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn

DOT’s Schaller on Making Congestion Pricing a Reality

Bruce Schaller, DOT’s Deputy Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability, stands on the front-lines in the battle over the City’s congestion pricing plan. Hand-picked by Mayor Bloomberg a month after the City announced its intention to charge vehicles entering or leaving Manhattan below 86th Street, Mr. Schaller must present and implement a plan that satisfies City, state, and federal officials.

As a transportation consultant, he analyzed the impact of East River bridge tolls for the Straphanger … <Read More>

HDC’s Simeon Bankoff Talks About Life on the Preservation Front Lines

The temperature was in the 90s the day Simeon Bankoff met with City- Land. Mr. Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council, a prominent city preservationist organization founded in 1971 as part of the Municipal Art Society, and operating independently since 1986, had just returned from a demonstration on the steps of City Hall. While most would have wilted, the charming and voluble Mr. Bankoff animatedly discoursed for over an hour on the Historic … <Read More>

Lycée Français and DoubleClick on IDA’s July Calendar

July public hearing notice lists $143 million in bond offerings and six straight leases. The New York City Industrial Development Agency, a component of the Economic Development Agency, held its monthly public hearing on July 19, 2007. The 14 project applications detailed in IDA’s public notice included over $143 million in bond offering and six straight leases.

The largest bond application on the July calendar was made by the Lycée Français de New York, an … <Read More>

Council adds restrictions to sale of four firehouses

New users limited to community services. On May 30, 2007, the City Council approved DCAS’ plan to dispose of four FDNY firehouses that the City closed for budgetary reasons in 2003 and 2004. DCAS originally proposed to sell the four firehouses at public auction with no restrictions. This resulted in opposition by local community boards and Borough Presidents Scott Stringer and Marty Markowitz. Prior to the Planning Commission’s hearing, the Mayor’s office proposed the formation … <Read More>

Sale of 4 closed FDNY firehouses sparks controversy

Mayor’s Office agrees to create community committees to find new users. On April 9, 2007, the Planning Commission approved four applications by DCAS to sell four closed firehouses in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. The plan sparked controversy with residents, community boards, Borough Presidents Scott Stringer and Marty Markowitz, and Council Members Bill de Blasio and David Yassky, who argued that their districts needed increased FDNY services and, if the firehouses remained closed, only a community … <Read More>

Hearings held on nine Robert Moses projects

Depression-era pools and play centers considered for individual designation. In the 1930s, under the guidance of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, the City built dozens of parks and swimming pools using federal Works Progress Administration funds. In the summer of 1936 alone, the City opened eleven large pool-oriented play centers.

On January 31, 2007, Landmarks heard public testimony on the proposed designation of nine of these WPA play centers, including the Bronx … <Read More>