Lower East Side department store, closed since 1901, approved for designation after adjacent property removed from consideration. On December 6, 2012, the New York City Council’s Land Use Committee voted to approve the designation of the former Edward Ridley & Sons Department Store Buildings. They voted to approve the designation after its Council’s Subcommittee on Landmark’s, Public Siting & Maritime Uses hearing on December 4, 2012. Located at 315-317 Grand Street and 319-321 Grand … <Read More>
City Council Set to Decide on Reduced Downtown Brooklyn Parking Requirements
Proposal to revise residential and public parking rules faces scrutiny on its ability to encourage affordable housing. On November 26, 2012, the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee held a hearing to examine a proposal to amend the parking requirements for the Special Downtown Brooklyn District. The main goal of the proposal, submitted by the Department of City Planning (DCP), is the reduction of required parking sites within the District. The proposal attempts to … <Read More>
Williamsburg Domino Sugar Project Survives Appellate Court Challenge
Community coalition failed to stop 11-acre mixed-use development at Domino Sugar Refinery site along Williamsburg waterfront. CPC Resources proposed to develop a 2,200-unit mixed-use project on the Domino plant site. The 11.2-acre site includes two parcels of land. The first is located along the East River between Grand and South 5th Streets, bordered to the east by Kent Avenue. The second, smaller parcel is bounded by South 3rd and South 4th Streets and Wythe and … <Read More>
Landmarks Commission Unable to Agree Upon Brooklyn Heights Cinema Demolition and Construction Proposal
Ridgeton Poultry Inc. proposed to demolish heavily altered, mid-19th-century one-story building, and develop new five-story mixed-use structure. On November 27, 2012, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered a proposal for the demolition of a one-story building at 70 Henry Street in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, and the construction of a new mixed-use building on the property. The building, located on the corner of Orange and Henry Streets, is now occupied by the Brooklyn Heights … <Read More>
City Council Rejects Sale of City Property in Hopes for an African Burial Ground Museum [Update: Council Overrides Mayor’s Disapproval of Rejection of Sale]
Council Member Charles Barron lead the City Council’s rejection of 22 Reade Street sale in support of the site being used for a pending federally-funded African Burial Ground Museum. On November 13, 2012, the City Council unanimously rejected the disposition of city-owned property at 22 Reade Street and approved of the disposition of City-owned property at 49-51 Chambers Street. The City’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) proposed the sale of the properties in … <Read More>
Marine Midland Bank Building Enters Designation Process
Gordon Bunshaft-designed Mid-century Modernist office tower on trapezoidal site enters process towards designation. On November 20, 2012, Landmarks voted to calendar the Marine Midland Bank building, at 140 Broadway in Lower Manhattan’s Financial District, as potential individual City landmark. The building was designed by Gordon Bunshaft, partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Other individual landmarks in the City designed by Bunshaft include the Manufacturer’s Company Trust Building, and Modernist icon, the Lever House… <Read More>