Hobbled by a bad back and recently returned from vacation, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s General Counsel Mark Silberman sat down with CityLand to talk about his role at the Commission and Landmarks’ role in the City. He brings a perspective on the broader role of historic preservation nationally and in our culture.
A young environmentalist. Raised in Illinois and a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, Silberman began his career in government … <Read More>
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>
Proposed three-story and penthouse addition reduced by two stories. On July 27, 2010, Landmarks approved the City’s Economic Development Corporation and the Dermot Company’s application to reduce a previously approved rooftop addition for the landmarked Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street along Lower Manhattan’s waterfront. The original proposal called for a three-story glass addition plus a penthouse. It was approved by Landmarks in February 2008 and the City Council in March 2009. 6 CityLand … <Read More>
Council Member Leroy Comrie, Chair of the City Council’s Land Use Committee and representative of Queens’ 27th District, is not afraid to raise his voice or make his opinion known. For the most part, however, Comrie is known as a quiet, thoughtful, and fair-minded civic leader.
Comrie was born in Jersey City, but he was raised in the same southeast Queens community he now represents. His parents, Jamaican immigrants, helped spark Comrie’s interests in politics … <Read More>
Council restored office tower’s height cut by the City Planning Commission. On June 30, 2010, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved a modified version of CPC Resources Inc.’s proposal to build a mixed-use project at the Domino Sugar plant site along Williamsburg’s East River waterfront. The project site includes the plant’s 9.8-acre waterfront parcel north of the Williamsburg Bridge and south of Grand Ferry Park, and a 1.3-acre upland parcel across Kent Avenue between … <Read More>
Planning proposed contextual rezonings in Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. On May 24, 2010, the City Planning Commission certified the Department of City Planning’s contextual rezoning proposals for sections of Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. The Queens rezoning would impact a 418-block portion of northeast Queens and would be the City’s largest rezoning. The Bronx plan would rezone 75 blocks along the central Bronx’s Third Avenue and Tremont Avenue corridors. The Manhattan proposal, referred to … <Read More>