BIDs receive over $3.1 million increase in annual spending. On November 28, 2007, the City Council passed a local law to increase the annual budget for 10 business improvement districts and one special assessment district. The increases will require property owners within these districts to pay more into their BID or SAD.
The Times Square Alliance received the largest increase at $768,000, bringing its annual budget to $10.4 million. Outside of Manhattan, the largest increase … <Read More>
Helmut Jahn-designed tower will include four-star hotel, condos, spa and fitness center. On November 15, 2007, the City Council voted to approve Time Equities Inc.’s five linked applications to construct a 725-foot-tall mixed-use tower at 50 West Street, directly north of the Battery Parking Garage and adjacent to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. The tower will contain ground-floor retail, 155 hotel rooms, and 290 condominiums. The project site will also contain a 6,821-square-foot urban plaza, … <Read More>
Bruce Schaller, DOT’s Deputy Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability, stands on the front-lines in the battle over the City’s congestion pricing plan. Hand-picked by Mayor Bloomberg a month after the City announced its intention to charge vehicles entering or leaving Manhattan below 86th Street, Mr. Schaller must present and implement a plan that satisfies City, state, and federal officials.
As a transportation consultant, he analyzed the impact of East River bridge tolls for the Straphanger … <Read More>
Residential building with ground floor retail to be built near Brooklyn Bridge. Landmarks issued a permit for a six-story apartment building in Lower Manhattan’s South Street Seaport Historic District on August 14, 2007. The building, designed by Morris Adjmi Architects, will feature an eight-story facade facing Front Street, and a six-story facade on Dover Street, with a one-story set back penthouse. According to the architects, zinc panels will evoke the feel of brick, the dominant … <Read More>
The temperature was in the 90s the day Simeon Bankoff met with City- Land. Mr. Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council, a prominent city preservationist organization founded in 1971 as part of the Municipal Art Society, and operating independently since 1986, had just returned from a demonstration on the steps of City Hall. While most would have wilted, the charming and voluble Mr. Bankoff animatedly discoursed for over an hour on the Historic … <Read More>
New users limited to community services. On May 30, 2007, the City Council approved DCAS’ plan to dispose of four FDNY firehouses that the City closed for budgetary reasons in 2003 and 2004. DCAS originally proposed to sell the four firehouses at public auction with no restrictions. This resulted in opposition by local community boards and Borough Presidents Scott Stringer and Marty Markowitz. Prior to the Planning Commission’s hearing, the Mayor’s office proposed the formation … <Read More>