On Thursday, July 16, 2015, the Center for New York City Law and Center for Real Estate Studies at New York Law School hosted a panel on the East Midtown rezoning. The panel consisted of Dr. Michael Horodniceanu of the MTA, Chris Sameth of Kuafu Properties, Jeffrey Holmes of Woods Bagot Architects, Dirk Hrobsky of DTZ, and was moderated by Manhattan Chamber of Commerce chairman Ken Biberaj. The keynote speaker was City Councilmember Daniel Garodnick.
Crave Fishbar, located at 945 Second Ave. in Manhattan. Image courtesy of Crave Fishbar.
Land Use Committee approved zoning text amendment needed to allow restaurant to occupy the second floor of a mixed-use building. On February 13, 2014, the City Council’s Committee on Land Use unanimously approved 17-0 an application filed by 945 Realty Holdings, LLC to modify Section 32-421 of the Zoning Resolution to facilitate the placement of 1,280 sq. ft. of commercial restaurant use on the second story of a four-story building. The restaurant, Crave Fishbar, is located at 945 Second Avenue in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan. The building is a 40-ft. tall, four-story mixed-use building, of which the first floor is currently occupied by Crave Fishbar and the second floor is vacant. Crave Fishbar was previously located across the street from its current location until March 2008, when its building was damaged by a construction crane that collapsed on the building. The building has since been demolished. (more…)
Michael Gruen, President of the City Club of New York
Juan Rivero, City Club Governing Committee
A disarmingly simple plan for rezoning Manhattan’s office district running from Grand Central Terminal north to about 58th Street has been approved by the Planning Commission and will come to a Council vote around the time of the November election.
It has three key components: 1) The City almost doubles the allowable floor area for new buildings on large sites along the major thoroughfares; 2) it sells to the landowner the right to build the increased space at the estimated market value of development rights (a base price of $250 per square foot); and 3) it applies the proceeds to unspecified transportation and pedestrian circulation improvement projects likely, when selected, to be located at Grand Central. (more…)
Julie Menin, former Chairperson of Manhattan Community Board 1
For Manhattan to remain the vibrant center it is today we need a smart plan for long-term growth. The current land use process leaves communities fearful of being overrun by development that is poorly planned, harmful to communities, and undermines the character of our borough. This is why I have proposed a “Master Plan” for Manhattan to ensure that we grow our borough sensibly.
Cities across the United States are implementing Masters Plans, from booming west coast cities like San Francisco and Seattle to neighboring Newark. A Master Plan is a comprehensive document that outlines long-term neighborhood needs. Downtown Manhattan, for example, is short nearly 1,000 classroom seats, while East Harlem has only 0.3 acres of active open space per 1,000 residents and many of Manhattan’s neighborhoods are almost completely bereft of affordable housing.
Under a Master Plan, developers looking to build in these neighborhoods would be apprised of the community’s needs, bringing more certainty to a convoluted system and ensuring a community’s concerns are accounted for. (more…)
Hotel Mansfield
Turn-of-the-century residential hotels, which served rising professional class, among City’s newest landmarks. On June 12, 2012, Landmarks voted to designate two Midtown hotels constructed in the early 20th century as individual landmarks. The Beaux-Arts Hotel Mansfield is located at 12 West 44th Street, and the Renaissance Revival Martha Washington Hotel is located at 30 East 30th Street.
The 12-story Hotel Mansfield is on the same block as several other individual landmarks, including the Algonquin Hotel, the New York Yacht Club, the Harvard Club, and the former Yale Club. The firm of Renwick, Aspinwall and Owen designed the Hotel Mansfield, which was completed in 1902. The hotel catered to affluent single men and couples without children, who occupied rooms on a permanent and transient basis. The heavily ornamented building features a two-story rusticated limestone base, a balcony below a copper cornice, and a mansard roof with three large arched dormers. The building continues to function as a hotel. At a hearing on the designation in March (more…)
