Rezoning proposed to prevent attached homes in area settled by freed slaves in 1827. On February 3, 2010, the City Council approved State Senator Andrew J. Lanza’s rezoning proposal for the Sandy Ground neighborhood of Staten Island. Sandy Ground, also known as Rossville, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as one of the country’s oldest communities established by freed slaves. The rezoning impacts 35 blocks generally bounded by the West … <Read More>
Sunset Park 197-a plan OK’d
The City Planning Commission had refused recommendation to relocate sanitation garage on the 52nd Street Pier. On December 21, 2009, the City Council approved Brooklyn Community Board 7’s comprehensive plan to improve the Sunset Park waterfront, known as “New Connections/ New Opportunities – Sunset Park 197-a Plan.” The waterfront is zoned primarily for manufacturing uses and fell into disrepair in the 1960s and 1970s. The City owns most of the waterfront property.
CB7 began the … <Read More>
Four-building affordable housing project approved
Developer requested rezoning in order to provide additional residential units. On February 3, 2010, the City Council approved Webster Commons LLC’s proposal to rezone a section of Webster Avenue in the Bronx from R6 to R7X to facilitate the development of a 393-unit affordable housing project. The rezoning impacts an unimproved portion of Webster Avenue 800 feet north of East Gun Hill Road and east of Woodlawn Cemetery. Webster Commons requested the up-zoning in order … <Read More>
Judge enjoins Brooklyn’s Broadway Triangle plan
State court judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the plan the day after full Council approval. On December 21, 2009, the City Council approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s rezoning plan for the Broadway Triangle Urban Renewal Area in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The plan includes rezoning nine blocks, primarily zoned for manufacturing, to R6A and R7A districts in order to facilitate the development of 1,851 residential units, 844 of which will be marketed … <Read More>
Michael B. Gerrard Discusses His Career and the Future of Climate Change Regulation
Michael B. Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law, traces his passion for environmental protection back to growing up in Charleston, West Virginia, a city dominated by major chemical manufacturing companies like Union Carbide and DuPont. As a child, he lived on the banks of the Kanawha River, where large amounts of toxic chemicals had polluted the water and air.
After graduating from Columbia University, Gerrard worked for a local environmental … <Read More>
East Side transfer station clears judicial hurdle
Sanitation proposed to reopen marine waste transfer station near Asphalt Green and Bobby Wagner Walk. After the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island closed in 2001, the Department of Sanitation contracted with privately-owned transfer stations, landfills, and waste-to-energy facilities to dispose of residential waste. Sanitation now delivers a large percentage of waste to transfer stations within the City, where tractor- trailers pick up the waste and drive it to landfills in other states.
In 2004, … <Read More>