11-story project approved for Greenwich and Eighth Aves.

Proximity to subway and historic district created uniqueness. Manhattan developer sought a variance to build an 11-story, mixed residential and commercial project on a 10,697-square-foot lot at 122 Greenwich Avenue at Eighth Avenue, arguing that the lot’s proximity to the Eighth Avenue subway line, its split zoning, the shallow depth, its location within the Greenwich Village Historic District, and its odd five-sided shape made an as-of-right building infeasible. The final 11-story undulating glass design necessitated … <Read More>


DeNiro hotel fails to qualify for brownfield tax credits

Construction of DeNiro’s luxury hotel at 377 Greenwich Street nears completion. Photo:Morgan Kunz.

Developers sought brownfield credits, but had excavated and remediated site before DEC denied claim. 377 Greenwich LLC, developers of a seven-story luxury hotel and restaurant at Greenwich and North Moore Streets, conducted soil tests on the site and discovered two 550-gallon unregistered underground storage tanks. The developers applied in 2004 to the state Department of Environmental Conservation to have the site recognized … <Read More>


Queens Hospital expansion approved by BSA

New York Hospital Queens will add 80 beds, a new entrance and expanded cardiology and surgery facilities. New York Hospital applied for rear-yard, setback and bulkhead variances as part of a large-scale modernization and expansion of its 6.4-acre facility at 56-45 Main Street in Flushing, Queens. The 439-bed, acute care teaching hospital, occupies two blocks along Booth Memorial Avenue, employs 3,000 people and receives approximately 400 patients and 250 visitors per day.

five-story, 97,219-square-foot addition … <Read More>


Apartments OK’ed in Chelsea manufacturing district

Developer reduced overall size, but increased street wall height. A Chelsea developer applied to BSA to construct an 11-story, 187-foot tall residential building with ground floor retail space on a manufacturing- zoned lot at Seventh Avenue and West 27th Street, arguing that the small, 1,683-square-foot lot size justified the use variance. The existing two-story building, containing Rosa’s Pizza and Manhattan’s Heros, would be demolished.

BSA objected to the height and size, stressing that the proposal … <Read More>


Columbia University’s science building approved

Fourteen-story science facility to be constructed at Broadway and West 120th. Columbia University sought a variance from BSA for a 14-story, 229-foot high, 163,052-square-foot science facility at 3030 Broadway and West 120th Street. The proposed science facility exceeded lot coverage, height and setback requirements.

At BSA, Columbia argued that its educational needs required a building with larger floor plates. In support, it submitted a consultant’s report that concluded that the university needed 28 new science … <Read More>


BSA upholds fuel storage in Western Union Building

Tribeca building’s 65 fuel tanks store more than 100,000 gallons. In 2002, the Department of Buildings issued violations to Hudson Telegraph Associates after inspectors found fifteen 275-gallon fuel storage tanks on six floors of the Western Union Building, an individual and interior City landmark located at 60 Hudson Street in Tribeca, Manhattan. The code only permits one 275-gallon tank on each story above the first floor. The 24-story, 1.2 million-square-foot Art Deco building houses telecommunications … <Read More>