Battery Park’s Pier A renovation plan approved

Commissioners praised overall plan for long-dormant and dilapidated landmarked building, but requested modifications to its paint scheme. On February 16, 2010, Landmarks approved changes to a renovation plan for Pier A, an individual City landmark in Lower Manhattan’s Battery Park. In 1992, Landmarks issued a report approving Pier A’s renovation and adaptive reuse. The new plan included changes to the proposed paint scheme and to the doors and windows. The three-story, Beaux-Arts style Pier A … <Read More>


Penn Club designated

30 West 44th Street Image: CityLand

Beaux-Arts style building once housed Yale’s bachelor graduates,and is currently occupied by the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Club. On February 9, 2010, Landmarks voted unanimously to designate the former Yale Club at 30 West 44th Street as an individual City landmark. Marc Eidlitz & Son built the eleven-story Beaux-Arts style building in 1901. The firm of Tracy & Swartwout designed the structure to function as living, dining, and social … <Read More>


West Chelsea rooftop additions approved

Proposed rooftop additions for three former factory buildings at 515 through 521 West 26th Street in Chelsea. Image: Courtesy of Murdock Young Architects.

Commissioners found additions’ visibility appropriate for Chelsea and the nearby High Line. On February 9, 2010, Landmarks approved 513 West 26th Street LLC’s proposal to construct rooftop additions on three, conjoined former factory buildings at 515 through 521 West 26th Street in the West Chelsea Historic District. The brick factory buildings, built … <Read More>


NYU wins variance for six story building on Wash. Sq.

NYU’s proposed Center for Academic and Spiritual Life at 58 Washington Square South. Image: Courtesy of Machado and Silvetti Associates.

NYU claimed that academic center required taller street wall and larger floor plates in order to integrate with neighboring Kimmel Center. New York University applied to BSA for a variance to construct a six-story building, to be called the Center for Academic and Spiritual Life, at 58 Washington Square South in Manhattan. The 12,650 sq.ft. … <Read More>


Variance approved for six-story Tribeca building

Owner claimed that lot, which is occupied by a one-story building that could not be safely enlarged, was underutilized. 71 Laight Street LLC applied to BSA for a variance to build a six-story, eighteen-unit residential building with twelve accessory parking spaces at 412 Greenwich Street in Manhattan’s Tribeca North Historic District. The site is occupied by a one-story freight-loading structure built in 1956 and currently used for parking, which the owner would demolish in order … <Read More>


Hearing held to rezone one block of Queens Blvd.

Developer requested the rezoning in order to replace a one-story commercial structure with a twelve-story residential building. On February 24, 2010, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on Kew Point Associates LLC’s proposal to rezone an entire block bounded by Queens Boulevard, Kew Forest Lane, 78th Avenue, and Union Turnpike in Forest Hills, Queens. Portions of the block are currently zoned C4-2, C4-4, and R6. Kew Point requested that the Adjmientire block be rezoned to … <Read More>