Mayor de Blasio’s Land Use Appointments Carousel Continues

Mayor de Blasio has re-structured the City’s land use administrative hierarchy to further his affordable housing agenda. On July 22, 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio nominated Margery Perlmutter to serve as Chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals. This was the Mayor’s latest appointment  to City land-use positions, all of which will bear heavily on the Mayor’s expansive affordable housing agenda, a ten-year plan designed to preserve some 200,000 units of affordable housing.


Two new members appointed to commission

Michael Goldblum and Michael Devonshire replaced Stephen Byrns and Roberta Brandes Gratz. Architect Michael Goldblum and architectural conservator Michael Devonshire have replaced Commissioners Stephen Byrns and Roberta Brandes Gratz on the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Byrns joined Landmarks in 2004 and is a founding partner of BKSK Architects LLP. Gratz joined Landmarks in 2003 and will continue to serve the City as a member of the Sustainable Advisory Board for PlaNYC.

The City Council … <Read More>


Fred Bland approved as Landmarks commissioner

Architect will occupy Jan Pokorny’s seat. On September 4, 2008, the City Council Committee on Rules, Privileges & Elections approved Fred Bland as the newest member of Landmarks, filling a vacancy open since Jan Pokorny passed away on May 20th after serving on Landmarks for over a decade. Bland is an architect, currently a managing partner at Beyer Blinder Belle. Prominent projects by Bland include China’s Shanghai Cultural Plaza, the Mark Morris Dance Group … <Read More>


New Landmarks commissioner confirmed

Preservationist to replace Thomas Pike. On March 28, 2007, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the appointment of Diana Chapin to Landmarks. The Council also voted to approve the reappointments of Commissioners Pablo Vengoechea, Stephen Byrns, Joan Gerner, and Christopher Moore.

Diana Chapin, a member of the Municipal Art Society and the Landmarks Conservancy, is Executive Director of the Queens Library Foundation. She was a founding member of the Historic House Trust, a not-for-profit … <Read More>


DOT Celebrates Livingston Street Redesign for Improved Service

On January 10, 2024, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced the completion of Downtown Brooklyn’s Livingston Street redesign. The redesign has created close to a mile of new bus lanes and intersection redesign between Boerum Place to Flatbush Avenue. The purpose of this project is to encourage faster and more reliable bus service for those in the area while cracking down on illegal and unsafe parking. Bus routes on … <Read More>


DDC Announces Yvi McEvilly as Head of Agency’s Design-Build Unit

On December 7, 2023, the Department of Design and Construction announced the appointment of Yvi McEvilly as the new Assistant Commissioner for the agency’s Design-Build Unit. Her role will help expand the design-build program, which allows for a single entity to be responsible for both the design and construction of projects, avoiding the additional procurement process of approving separate vendors. With designers and builders on the same team from a project’s start, there is more <Read More>