Image Credit: NYC DOB.

Despite increase in developments, construction in New York City has leveled. On January 22, 2019, Department of Buildings Commissioner, Rick D. Chandler, released a report on the City’s construction in 2018. The most significant finding from the report was that the City’s construction activity has leveled off after its real estate and development boom. The number of construction permits Buildings issued decreased in 2018. In 2018, Buildings issued 165,908 construction permits while in 2017, they issued 168,243. This was the first decline in permits since 2009. Despite the decrease, 2018’s permit totals were the second highest on record. In response to the report’s findings, Commissioner Chandler states that the building boom “may have finally reached its peak.”

Rendering of 461 Alabama Avenue. Image Credit: NYC CPC

The new building will have 43 apartments for formerly homeless individuals. On January 9, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve an application for the development of a seven-story residential building at 461 Alabama Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. The City Planning Commission held a public hearing for the application on December 5, 2018. The applicant team consisted of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, CB Emmanuel Realty LLC, Services for the Underserved and Newman Design.

Dean Anthony W. Crowell, New York Law School & Lynn B. Kelly, New Yorkers for Parks, Executive Director invite you to join us for:

Open Space Dialogues: Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees

Wednesday, February 20, 2019 from 6-8PM

New York Law School

185 West Broadway, New York, New York 10013

Rendering of proposed senior living building. Image Credit: CPC.

City Council is next to consider the proposed development, which will bring 135 affordable units for seniors as well as a new 14-story residential building. On January 30, 2019, the City Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve proposed redevelopment of the former parkway hospital building in the Forest Hills section of Queens. The applicant, Auberge Grand Central, LLC, is seeking a rezoning of two lots located between the Grand Central Parkway Service Road and 112^th Street, and to have them designated as a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Area. The actions will facilitate the redevelopment of the former Forest Hills Parkway Hospital into a new eight-story senior housing building facing 113^th Street and a new 14-story residential building on the same block, facing Grand Central Parkway Service Road.

The First Hungarian Reformed Church. Image Credit: NYC LPC

The 103-year-old church still serves the same congregation. On January 22, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the First Hungarian Reformed Church for landmarks designation consideration. The church, located at 346 East 69^th Street between First and Second Avenues, was built in 1915 and designed by architect Emery Roth. The First Hungarian Reformed Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 31, 2000.

According to the Office of Special Enforcement, all of the units at 200 East 116th Street were converted into illegal short term rentals. Image Credit: Google Maps

The lawsuit claims that at least 130 apartments were converted into illegal short-term rentals. On January 14, 2019, the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement announced that it filed a lawsuit against several defendants for converting apartments in 35 residential buildings into illegal short-term rentals through websites like Airbnb. The defendants include Metropolitan Property Group (MPG), five current or former MPG employees and 18 associated corporate entities. The lawsuit was filed on January 14, 2019, in New York State Supreme Court.