2225 46th Street. Image credit: GoogleMaps
Owner who was required to build a protective fence during demolition could not get adjoining property owners to give access to property needed to build the fence. North 7-8 Investors, LLC, the owner of a warehouse located at 2225 46th Street in Astoria, Queens, sought to demolish the warehouse and construct a new building. Under the City Administrative Code the warehouse owner must during demolition erect a perimeter fence to protect adjoining buildings. The fence in this instance would encroach into the back yards of eighteen adjoining properties. When the owner of the warehouse and the owners of the adjoining properties failed to reach an agreement on access to install the fence, the warehouse owner filed a petition in the Supreme Court for an order granting a license to enter the adjoining properties to perform the work. (more…)
Ross Sandler, Center for New York City Law Director
The election of Donald Trump deeply impacted students at New York Law School. The School sponsored public meetings at which several students described their personal and family fears about the new administration. Other students were far more hopeful, but they carefully respected the views of their fellow students. The students as a whole are newly energized. A new political generation is emerging.
These changes in the electoral environment have occurred just as the City of New York begins its municipal election cycle with the mayoral election set for November 7, 2017. The Center for New York City Law will play its special role during the year as an open forum and transparent window into the workings of municipal government. In anticipation of the election, during fall of 2016 the Center for New York City Law sponsored programs on the City’s readiness to address the Zika virus threat, reforms at Rikers Island, the changes in stop and frisk at the NYPD, and the role of the Public Advocate. Upcoming on December 16th the Center will host a program on the care of the City’s homeless population.
For the past 21 years the Center for New York City Law has provided tens of thousands of people with unbiased coverage of land use and administrative decisions. I ask that you consider financially supporting the Center for New York City Law as part of your yearend contributions. The Center for New York City Law needs financial gifts of $100, $200 or $500 to continue its important work. Your donation will be listed on our Financial Supporters page and the donation will insure that the Center for New York City Law’s publications, events and research web site will continue to flourish.
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NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer. Image credit: Office of the New York City Comptroller
On June 30, 2016, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office released a Report on the Department of Buildings’ issuance of licenses to site safety professionals. There are two types of site safety professional licenses: site safety manager and site safety coordinator. City law requires that a site safety manager be onsite to oversee all work of any project to demolish or construct buildings 15 stories or more in height, and a site safety coordinator to oversee such work on a structure that is 10 to 14 stories high.
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Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky. Image Credit: TLC.
Taxi service in Manhattan has taken on a different look the past few years as the ubiquitous Crown Victoria cabs were gradually replaced by a variety of mostly smaller, sleeker and more efficient vehicles. There’s a new color too, green cabs are now popping up in the outer boroughs of the City. Taxi & Limousine Commissioner David Yassky has been at the helm of the changing taxi service landscape, and at times it has been a rough ride.
Commissioner Yassky is used to bruising battles. He cut his government teeth working on Capitol Hill for Senator Chuck Schumer on such controversial bills as an assault weapons ban and the violence against women’s act. “You can work for Congress for 30 years and never see anything that you worked on actually become law,” said Yassky, “but if you’re working for someone like Chuck Schumer then you can have a role to play.”
Yassky grew up in Rockville Centre on Long Island. In 2001 he won a seat in the City Council from Brooklyn representing an area that was undergoing extensive re-development and reuse: Williamsburg, Boerum Hill, DUMBO, Greenpoint, and Park Slope. After losing a close race for Comptroller in 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2010 appointed Yassky as TLC Commissioner. Yassky’s biggest priority has been expanding taxi service outside of Manhattan. “For Brooklynites, hailing a cab has meant flagging down an illegal taxi for decades,” said Yassky, referring to black car and livery service, which must be pre-arranged. (more…)
The Odeon’s unenclosed sidewalk cafe, 145 W. Broadway, Manhattan. Image Credit: CityLand.
Community boards fight City Council on shortened sidewalk cafe review period. On May 7, 2013, the City Council’s Committee on Consumer Affairs held a joint hearing with the Land Use Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee to discuss proposed amendments to sidewalk cafe regulations. Introductions 875-2012, 876-A-2012, and 1039-2013 seek to expand sidewalk cafe hours and streamline the sidewalk cafe licensing and registration process.
Sidewalk cafes are licensed and monitored by the City’s Department of Consumer Affairs. In order to operate a sidewalk cafe, owners must first submit various documentation and fees to the DCA. Certain public safety regulations must be met and documented at this time, such as whether the proposed cafe will be on a sidewalk that is at least 12 feet wide. Applicants go through a multi-step approval and review process in order to be granted a revocable consent before a sidewalk cafe license will be issued. DCA controls and facilitates the process, sending the revocable consent petition to various City entities for discrete review periods. The petition is first sent to the City’s Department of City Planning, Department of Environmental Protection, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission (if applicable). From there, the petition is sent to the local community board, then back to DCA, and then on to the City Council. Each entity is entitled to hold its own public hearing on the petition and recommend approval, approval with modifications, or denial. Finally, the petition is sent to the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services for review and approval. When a revocable consent is granted, DCA will issue the sidewalk cafe a license to operate. (more…)
