BSA permits bldg. to exceed limits of new rezoning

Owner claimed soil cleanup and structural repair made smaller building infeasible. Prior to the City’s 183-block rezoning of North Brooklyn, Selik Realty sought BSA approval to convert a three-story manufacturing building on North 7th Street and Meeker Avenue in Williamsburg into residential units and to add four additional stories. When the site was rezoned in May 2005, residential use became permitted as of right, but Selik maintained its BSA application, seeking approval of a building … <Read More>


Council votes down rezoning for Bed-Stuy site

Citing a need for jobs, Council rejects proposal to rezone manufacturing site for 49 new housing units. On October 27,2005, the City Council overturned the Planning Commission’s approval of an application to rezone a vacant, 19,680-square foot site from manufacturing to residential to facilitate the development of 49 units of housing in Bedford -Stuyvesant.

The applicant, Middleland Inc., argued at the hearing before the Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises that the site was unique. … <Read More>


Far West Village rezoning approved

Council down-zoned lots with pending development. The Council rezoned 14 blocks of Greenwich Village west of Washington Street, replacing manufacturing and commercial zoning in the area with contextual zoning districts. The proposal came from the Planning Department after Far West Village residents complained of the growing number of large development proposals that followed construction of the Richard Meier-designed, 205-foot luxury residential towers along West Street.

In the proposal, the Planning Department designed contextual commercial zones … <Read More>


Far Rockaway rezoning allows larger and smaller homes

Developers and residents claimed rezoning was racially motivated. On September 15, 2005, the City Council approved a zoning map amendment to rezone a 21- block area encompassing Mott Creek and the West Lawrence section of Far Rockaway in Queens. The proposal was initiated by area residents concerned about their community’s over-development.

It called for the rezoning of an area bounded by Hicksville Road to the north, Beach 9th Street and Beach 6th Street to the … <Read More>


High Line/Chelsea Rezoning Gets Go Ahead

Rezoning crafted to transform High Line into elevated open space; no mandatory affordable housing requirement set, despite community’s request. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved the complicated rezoning and land acquisition plan for West Chelsea that has as its central goal the transformation of the High Line, an elevated rail line, into a 1.45-mile open space.

The approved rezoning impacts the area between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues from West 17th to West 30th … <Read More>


North Brooklyn Rezoning Gains Final Approval

Full Council approves Greenpoint- Williamsburg rezoning. On May 11, 2005, the full Council approved the rezoning plan for a two-mile area in the North Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Only Council Member Charles Barron voted against the plan to transform the primarily manufacturing-zoned area to large and small-scale residential. Council’s Land Use Committee had modified the rezoning proposal and sent it back to the Planning Commission, which approved the modifications.