Rent regulation is not a new issue for New York City. But the headlines in June 2015 were far larger and the reactions more contentious than at any time in recent memory. For the first time in its 46-year history, the Rent Guidelines Board decided that there would be no increase in rents for one-year renewals on rent-stabilized apartments; it also limited increases on two year renewals to two-percent. Not surprisingly, tenants hailed the decision … <Read More>
New Hotel, Partially within Historic District, Approved after Revisions
Six-story-plus-penthouse hotel approved after applicants changed the brick used in the cladding, and added masonry to large window openings. On September 8, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a proposal demolishing an existing building at 456 Greenwich Street in Manhattan, and constructing a new hotel, with ground-floor retail uses. The lot to be developed lies partially within the Tribeca North Historic District, with the western portion of the site lying outside of the landmarked … <Read More>
NYCHA Announces First Infill Locations: Plans to Build 1,000 New Housing Units
Boerum Hill, Upper East Side developments to be developed under NextGeneration Neighborhoods program. On September 10, 2015, the New York City Housing Authority announced that it will launch its NextGeneration Neighborhoods program at its Wyckoff Gardens and Holmes Towers sites, which are located in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn and the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, respectively. NextGen Neighborhoods, a NextGen NYCHA program, aims to build new residential units—50% affordable and 50% market-rate—on … <Read More>
CityLaw Profile – City Council Zoning Chair Donovan Richards on Improving Sustainability
Donovan Richards was elected to the City Council from the 31st District in February 2013. When you speak with City Council member Donovan Richards, two things become readily apparent: an encyclopedic knowledge of the needs of his Southeast Queens Council district and the drive to pursue solutions for each of those needs simultaneously.
CityLaw Breakfasts Kick Off the New Academic Year
To a packed house on Friday, August 28, 2015, at 8:30 a.m., Dean Anthony Crowell called to order the 127th CityLaw Breakfast. The morning’s speaker was Carl Weisbrod, Chairman of the City Planning Commission, and the topic was affordable housing. Friday mornings in late August are not ideal for a business breakfast. Nevertheless, more than 200 people attended. They enjoyed the coffee, fruit and muffins, but they came because CityLaw Breakfasts play … <Read More>
Proposed Changes to Landmarks Law Garner Interest, Stir Controversy
Landmarks Chair testified that changes could be better promulgated through agency rule-making rather than by legislative fiat. On September 9, 2015 the City Council held a hearing on two potential bills that would alter the Landmarks Law section of the Administrative Code. The hearing drew a crowd that filled the main Council chamber, with over 100 people filling out forms to testify on the proposals.