One Park Avenue. Image Credit: Google Maps

City Tax Appeals Tribunal determined transfer was not eligible for special reduced rate. One Park Avenue Mezz Partners LLC, a subsidiary of industry giant Vornado Realty Trust, held a 100 percent equity interest in a commercial building located at One Park Avenue in Manhattan. In March 2011, while looking to refinance the building, Vornado had that equity interest transferred in full to two new subsidiary real estate investment trusts. The compensation was roughly $5.6 million ($2.25 million in cash and $3.375 million in the form of ownership stakes in the grantee trusts).

Image Credit: NYCHA.

NYCHA put the tenant on probation after the tenant’s dog attacked the NYCHA employee. In April 2015, Lerone Washington’s English bulldog, Onyx, jumped and bit NYCHA’s employee who was delivering a hotplate to Washington’s apartment.  A few weeks later NYCHA informed Washington that it considered terminating Washinton’s lease due to his having an unauthorized and dangerous dog in the apartment. Although Washington attempted to register Onyx as a service pet, NYCHA ordered Washington to remove Onyx from the apartment immediately and placed Washington on probation for one year.

Rending of the development along Broome Street Image Credit: City Planning

New development on Lower East Side set to transform the entire Broome Street corridor. On December 4, 2019, the City Planning Commission heard an application by Go Broome LLC and the Chinatown Planning Council HDFC to rezone and develop a large-scale, mixed-use development on the Lower East Side. The proposed development includes mixed-income housing, affordable senior housing, program and office space for the Chinese American Planning Council, congregation space for the landmarked Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue, and commercial retail space.

Welcome to CityLand‘s eighth annual top ten stories of the year! We have selected a range of our most popular and prominent stories concerning New York City land use in 2019. Our 2019 coverage was highlighted by articles concerning land use approvals for large scale projects, affordable housing proposals, and projects that faced pushback from local communities who were concerned about infrastructure, access to transportation and local resources, and affordable housing. We at CityLand are excited to continue providing in-depth coverage of the latest land use projects, cases, and legislation in 2020 and look forward to seeing what the year will bring. Thank you for all of your support and have a happy new year!

Zoning Application Portal Search Features Image Credit: City Planning

City Planning continues to improve online platforms to involve and inform community. On December 17, 2019, the Department of City Planning announced two updates to the Zoning Application Portal (“ZAP”). The first update will allow Community Boards, Borough Presidents and Borough Boards to digitally calendar public hearings for land use items. The second update permits Community Boards and Borough Presidents to instantaneously upload their recommendations to the online portal. These two features are intended to “smooth out” and “speed up” the process of calendaring hearings and filing recommendations by centralizing the information on a single website.

Rendering of Proposed Development Image Credit: City Planning

The proposed zoning actions seek not only to facilitate the development but also bring block’s current uses in conformance. On December 4, 2019, the City Planning Commission heard an application by Mega LLC and the Pancyprian Association of American to rezone and redevelop an entire block in Astoria, Queens. The applicants proposed two eight-story buildings connected at the ground floor level with a green space between the buildings. The development includes affordable housing components and the creation of a new theater for the Pancyprian Association.  Nora Martins from Akerman LLP and Emanuel Kokinakis from Mega LLC presented the application.