82-year-old Yankee Stadium and nearby public parks to be replaced by new stadium, park space and public parking. On April 5, 2006, City Council approved 11 Parks applications related to development of a new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, including disposition of three parcels of land to the Economic Development Corporation.

The new stadium site on East 161st Street is immediately north of Yankee Stadium’s current site. The proposal included 15.82 acres of new public park space and four new parking garages. The plan required map amendments to designate new parkland and eliminate portions of surrounding streets, as well as an action by the State legislature to eliminate 162nd Street. The plan also required two special permits for parking garages, a concession for new tennis facilities, and City acquisition of a leasehold interest in the new stadium to facilitate the financing of the project. The Yankees will fund the entire cost of the new stadium, spending over $800 million, while the City and State will provide $160 million and $70 million respectively on nearby infrastructure and additional improvements. (more…)

Developers and residents claimed rezoning was racially motivated. On September 15, 2005, the City Council approved a zoning map amendment to rezone a 21- block area encompassing Mott Creek and the West Lawrence section of Far Rockaway in Queens. The proposal was initiated by area residents concerned about their community’s over-development.

It called for the rezoning of an area bounded by Hicksville Road to the north, Beach 9th Street and Beach 6th Street to the west, Seagirt Avenue and the Far Rockaway Inlet to the south, and the Nassau County line to the east. Under the proposal, the area north of Seagirt Boulevard was rezoned from R3-1 to R4-1 to allow larger residential buildings and decrease the lot size requirement. South of Seagirt Boulevard was down-zoned from R5 to R4A and R3X. (more…)

Staten Island Council Member wins approval for down-zoning despite strong concerns of Commissioners Merolo and Phillips. Council Member Andrew J. Lanza, representative for District 51 on the south shore of Staten Island, sought two map amendments for the Eltingville and Tottenville sections of Staten Island, which would predominantly restrict new development to single-family homes

In Eltingville, Council Member Lanza sought to rezone 12 blocks bound by Richmond Avenue, Koch Boulevard, Hayes Avenue and Hylan Boulevard. The area, which had been down-zoned in 1997, would be rezoned from a R3A to R1-2, allowing only single-family homes as-of-right and requiring 40-foot-wide lots. The Tottenville rezoning would cover 65 blocks bound by Arthur Kill Road to the north, the Arthur Kill to the west, Raritian Bay to the south and Page Avenue to the east. The current R3A district would be changed to R1-2 and R3X to restrict a portion to single- family homes and require large lots for any two-family homes. Tottenville had been contextually rezoned in 1995, 1996 and 1997. (more…)

Owner converted manufacturing building into residential units. La Perst LLC, owner of a four-story building located at 260 Moore Street in an M1-2 manufacturing district of East Williamsburg, sought to legalize forty residential units in a previously vacant building that had been used for commercial and manufacturing purposes. The owner converted the building into residential units in 2003 contrary to the permissible manufacturing use under the zoning text.

In its application to BSA, La Perst represented that conversion was needed to create productive use of the premises because the building does not have the infrastructure or technology for any asof- right manufacturing facility. The building’s rental value had been greatly diminished, La Perst argued, because the building had been vandalized and occupied by squatters for the six years prior to its conversion into residential units. (more…)

New development potential of 26 million sq.ft. of office space and 13.6 million sq.ft. of residential; 24 acres of parks, a subway extension, and a new boulevard approved. On November 22, 2004, the Commission approved the Bloomberg Administration’s major urban planning initiative for Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, the area bounded by West 30th and West 43rd Streets, running from Seventh and Eighth Avenues to Twelfth Avenue.

The ten applications before the Commission would achieve a comprehensive redevelopment plan, the expansion of City services and a rezoning of the entire area. At the center of the plan for redevelopment is the transfer from the MTA to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services of the 30-acre, eastern portion of the Caemmerer Yard, spanning from West 30th to West 33rd Streets and from Tenth to Eleventh Avenues, for construction of a platform over the yard. (See C 040505 PQM.) The platform would facilitate future private development and the City’s construction of new parks. Further, the rail yard transfer would partially enable the No. 7 Flushing Line expansion, which is proposed to extend from Times Square to West 41st Street and Tenth Avenue, then south to West 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. (See C 040504 PQM.) (more…)