Bridge spanning Harlem River to be built adjacent to outdated bridge. DOT sought a City Map amendment to delineate a new bridge easement and bridge corridor facilitating construction of the Willis Avenue Bridge replacement, connecting First Avenue and East 125th Street in Manhattan with Willis Avenue and East 132nd Street in the Bronx. The replacement bridge will be located directly adjacent to and south of the existing bridge and will also require landfill removal along the Bronx waterfront.

The existing swing-span bridge, over one hundred years old, fails to meet current structural and seismic requirements or geometric design standards and has sharp, curving, substandard entrance ramps that slow traffic flow. Major changes to the existing bridge’s alignment would be needed to meet current standards. (more…)

82-year-old Yankee Stadium and nearby public parks to be replaced by new stadium, park space and public parking. On April 5, 2006, City Council approved 11 Parks applications related to development of a new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, including disposition of three parcels of land to the Economic Development Corporation.

The new stadium site on East 161st Street is immediately north of Yankee Stadium’s current site. The proposal included 15.82 acres of new public park space and four new parking garages. The plan required map amendments to designate new parkland and eliminate portions of surrounding streets, as well as an action by the State legislature to eliminate 162nd Street. The plan also required two special permits for parking garages, a concession for new tennis facilities, and City acquisition of a leasehold interest in the new stadium to facilitate the financing of the project. The Yankees will fund the entire cost of the new stadium, spending over $800 million, while the City and State will provide $160 million and $70 million respectively on nearby infrastructure and additional improvements. (more…)

Unique Bronx neighborhood down-zoned. On December 8, 2005, the City Council rezoned 39 blocks in Olinville, Bronx and, in a separate action, created a new R5A district which can be applied citywide. The Planning Department initiated the rezoning proposal in response to Bronx Community Board 12’s and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.’s concerns over the increasing replacement of Olinville’s single-family homes with new, significantly out-of-character, high-density apartments.

When first developed in the early 19th century, Olinville was known for its tapestry mills, which were later replaced with modest single-family homes as Olinville became an early residential suburb of the city. Although the area primarily has one and two-family homes, current zoning allows for high-density apartment buildings.

The proposal down-zoned 962 lots, and seeks to retain low-density development and prevent commercial use on residential side streets in an area bounded by East 219th Street and Gun Hill Road, White Plains Road and Boston Road, Burke and Adee Avenues, and Bronx Boulevard. Under the approved proposal, new residential construction will be limited to lower density development consistent with the existing neighborhood character. (more…)

Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn housing projects approved; sent to Council. On April 27 and May 11, 2005, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development obtained the Planning Commission’s approval of seven affordable housing projects, totaling 668 units, to be developed in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Three of the Bronx projects, including the 194-unit Prospect Avenue Tower in Melrose, the 102-unit East Clarke Place project in High Bridge, and the 63-unit Jacob’s Place project in Mount Hope, will include housing for formally homeless and units for very low-income individuals and families. Four of the projects include a commercial component or a community facility use. In total, HPD applied for 591 affordable housing units in the Bronx, 56 in Brooklyn and 21 in Manhattan. In each of the seven applications, HPD applied for the designation of a UDAAP, which, if approved by the City Council, will provide the projects with state tax exemptions. (more…)

129-lot area rezoned to permit residential, live-work and retail. The Planning Commission approved the proposed rezoning of a 129-lot area of Port Morris in the South Bronx that altered the area’s manufacturing zoning to mixed-use, facilitating increased live-work, residential and small commercial business development. The proposed new zoning builds on a 1997 zoning action that established the Port Morris Special Mixed-Use District – the city’s first mixed-use district – within a five-block area of Port Morris to permit diverse as-of-right uses, facilitate legalization of illegal conversions and support the continued expansion of Bruckner Boulevard’s string of antique shops. In the eight years following the 1997 rezoning, 185 new residential units were developed in the five-block area.

The new zoning would extend the mixed-use district to an 11- block area generally bounded by Park Avenue on the west, Willow Avenue on the east, the Major Deegan Expressway on the north and south to the Harlem River and the Harlem River Yards. The Department found that illegal conversions were prevalent in the area and over 40 percent of the lots were vacant, nderutilized or contained abandoned manufacturing structures. Three separate mixed-use zones (M1-2/R6A, M1-3/R8 and M1-5/R8) would be created to allow a large range of uses – residential, community facility and small commercial – while also restricting the height and size of development to more closely match the area’s existing scale. (more…)