Neighbors win claim of express easement to access beach along Long Island Sound. In 1928, Locust Point Estate subdivided a large parcel of land on the Throgs Neck peninsula in the Bronx into six residential parcels, and recorded a declaration granting to the new owners easements over six private roads including Casler Place, a dead-end street leading to a patch of beach on the shore of the Long Island Sound. Casler Place remained a private … <Read More>
Court finds City discriminated in housing project
Judge enjoined City’s redevelopment proposal for area straddling Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant. In December 2009, the City Council approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s redevelopment proposal for the Broadway Triangle Urban Renewal Area in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The seventeen-block urban renewal area was created in 1989 and is primarily located within Community District 1, with a six-block portion within Community District 3. CD 1 is predominately white with a large Hasidic community, and CD … <Read More>
Parks contests audit findings
Parks agreed to implement only some of the Comptroller’s 22 recommendations. The City’s Department of Parks and Recreation solicits and awards concessions to operate golf courses, tennis courts, restaurants, and food carts on City parkland. Parks oversees about 500 concessions, and generally follows the competitive sealed bids and competitive sealed proposals processes. Revenue from these concessions equal more than half of Parks’ budget for Parks programs and services. Concession revenues in Fiscal Years 2008, 2009, … <Read More>
City renews efforts to redevelop Kingsbridge Armory
- The Kingsbridge Armory at 195th Street and Jerome Avenue. Image: Cityland
Previous redevelopment proposal defeated after Bronx leaders objected to project’s impact on community and developer’s refusal to agree to living wage provision. On January 12, 2012, the Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals for the redevelopment of the long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx. The 575,000 sq.ft. landmarked building features an open hall with high ceilings and 180,000 … <Read More>
Landmark status removed from vacant land
- 360 Third Avenue, Brooklyn. Image: Courtesy of LPC
Boundaries around landmarked building reduced to provide buffer for Whole Foods development. On January 24, 2012, Landmarks reduced the landmarked site boundaries of the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company Building at the corner of Third Avenue and 3rd Street near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. The dilapidated Coignet Building was built in 1872 as a freestanding building, and is believed to the City’s first … <Read More>
Puck Building additions OK’d
Size and visibility of proposed rooftop additions reduced over course of several meetings. After multiple revisions, Landmarks unanimously approved Kushner Companies’ proposal to build rooftop additions on the Puck Building at 295 Lafayette Street in SoHo. The individual landmark occupies a full block on the south side of Houston Street and consists of two sections designed by architect Albert Wagner. The first section, built in 1886, rises to seven stories, and a nine-story rear … <Read More>