Housing for formerly incarcerated women approved

Not-for-profit requested rezoning in order to develop affordable housing for formerly incarcerated women and their children. On September 16, 2010, the City Council approved Hour Children Inc.’s proposal to rezone a one-and-a-half block portion of Ravenswood, Queens to permit residential uses. The rezoning area is bounded by 36th Avenue to the north, 37th Avenue to the south, 11th Street to the east, and a line midway between 12th and 13th streets to the west. The … <Read More>


Culver El rezoning/housing project approved

Southern Brooklyn Community Organization’s proposed housing complex in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Image: Courtesy Bricolage Designs

Proposal would rezone manufacturing district and facilitate affordable housing on Culver El site. On August 25, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of City Planning and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Culver El Proposal. The proposal would rezone a seven-block portion of Borough Park, Brooklyn, generally bounded by 36th Street to the north, 39th Street to the … <Read More>


HPD’s Cornerstone Housing Program audited

Comptroller found that HPD was successful in ensuring that the primary housing goals of the Cornerstone Program were met. In 2000, HPD established the Cornerstone Program, a new construction initiative designed to expand private housing and increase the City’s affordable unit housing stock. The primary goals of the Cornerstone Program are two-fold: sell City-owned land, usually for a small fee, to encourage private residential development, and create affordable rental and homeownership units in specific neighborhoods. … <Read More>


Council OKs housing project along Gowanus Canal

Aerial view of Toll Brothers’ proposed development. Image:GreenbergFarrow.

Council approves waterfront project despite community’s concerns about affordable housing component. On March 11, 2009, the City Council approved Toll Brothers’ proposed development at 363-365 Bond Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The 525,309-sq.ft. development will provide 447 residential units, including 130 affordable units. The project, located on two blocks along the Gowanus Canal, bounded by Carroll, Second, and Bond Streets, includes two five-story buildings, a series of … <Read More>


Melrose housing project approved by Council

Council approves plan after HPD modifies affordable housing component. On December 18, 2008, the City Council modified the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s plan to build a mixed-use, mixed-income development in the Melrose section of the Bronx. The award-winning project, known as Via Verde/The Green Way, integrates sustainable design with affordable cooperative and rental housing. 5 CityLand 169 (Dec. 2008).

At the Council’s Planning, Disposition & Concessions Subcommittee hearing, Council Member Maria del Carmen … <Read More>


Local Law to preserve housing preempted

Affordable housing programs controlled by federal and state law. After multiple hearings on the declining number of affordable housing units, the City Council passed Local Law 79 of 2005 over a mayoral veto. The law gave tenants the right of first refusal to purchase their buildings when the owners sought to remove the properties from certain assisted rental housing programs. The law also allowed tenants who did not purchase their building to stay in their … <Read More>