Contextual plan would impact 418 blocks in Auburndale, Oakland Gardens, and Hollis Hills. On August 11, 2010, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Department of City Planning’s contextual rezoning proposal for 418 blocks in three communities in northeast Queens. The plan comprises the Auburndale subarea which is generally bounded by Station Road to the north, the Long Island Expressway to the south, Francis Lewis Boulevard to the east, and Kissena Park to the … <Read More>
Vornado’s 1,200-foot Penn Plaza tower approved
- The City Council approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposed 15 Penn Plaza commercial tower across the street from Penn Station in Manhattan.
Opponents raised concerns about impact on Empire State Building, while the Council focused on Vornado’s participation in Minority- and Womenowned Business Enterprise program. On August 25, 2010, the City Council approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposal to construct a commercial tower rising approximately 1,200 feet on Seventh Avenue between West 32nd and 33rd Streets in … <Read More>
Conversion of Flushing’s municipal parking lot OK’d
After the City agreed to set aside $6 million for a small business assistance program, the Council approved the redevelopment of a 5.5- acre municipal parking lot. On July 29, 2010, the City Council approved two proposals related to the development of a large mixed-use project on a 5.5-acre municipal parking lot in downtown Flushing, Queens. The 1,101-space lot is bounded by 37th and 39th Avenues and Union and 138th Streets, and is also occupied … <Read More>
Commercial tower at 15 Penn Plaza approved
- Proposed site of 15 Penn Plaza. Image: CityLand
Proposal would replace Hotel Pennsylvania with 2.1 million sq.ft. tower and reopen Gimbels underground passageway. On July 14, 2010, the City Planning Commission approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposal to build a large commercial tower, known as 15 Penn Plaza, on Seventh Avenue between West 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan. The site is occupied by the Hotel Pennsylvania, which Vornado would demolish in order to build its … <Read More>
Seventeen-story, four-unit sliver tower approved
Buildings denied permit after deciding high-rise building would not comply with State law. In 1999, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development designated a five-story townhouse at 330 West 86th Street as an Urban Development Action Area Project (UDAAP). HPD then sold the property through its Asset Sale Program to the building’s tenants. Two years later, Robert Ricciardelli purchased the property with the intention of demolishing the townhouse and building a high-rise apartment building … <Read More>
After judicial remand, special permit granted for residence
Second Department ordered BSA to determine whether special permit findings were met. In 2005, Alexis Lyublinskiy obtained an alteration permit to enlarge his one-story home at 136 Norfolk Street in Manhattan Beach. Initial demolition and construction work did not match building plans, and Lyublinskiy eventually demolished all but one of the original building’s walls and built a two-story house.
Buildings issued a stop-workorder after discovering that the house did not conform to the approved plans. … <Read More>