Preservation of Section 8 properties will prevent conversion to market-rate housing. On August 15, 2018, the Housing Preservation and Development, the Housing Development Corporation, and the LIHC Investment Group announced the preservation of 669 units of project-based Section 8 housing in high-cost City neighborhoods where similar buildings have been converted to market-rate housing. (more…)

Mayor De Blasio at New York Law School. Image Credit: CityLand

Mayor and City Council celebrate progress in production of affordable housing units since the passage of mandatory affordable rules one year ago. March 22, 2017, marked the one year anniversary of the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. The program, which requires developers to include permanently affordable housing whenever a special permit or a rezoning significantly increases the underlying potential residential floor area, has received both praise and chastisement from advocates and Council Members. (more…)

Loew’s 175th Street Theater in Manhattan’s Washington Heights. Image Credit: LPC.

Six designations sent to full Council where they were ratified; three items held over for further deliberation. On February 27, 2017, City Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Maritime Uses heard testimony and voted on the items designated at the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s last meeting devoted to the backlog initiative. The designated properties were introduced to the Subcommittee by Landmarks’ Lisa Kersavage and Lauren George. The Subcommittee approved designations for six of the items, but laid over three items for further consideration in instances where the property owners objected to designation. The three items not advanced to the Land Use Committee and full Council were the Lakeman-Cortelyou House, the Loew’s 175th Street Theater, and the Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of Flushing.

Prior to hearing public testimony, Council Member Steven Matteo discussed the designation of the Lakeman-Cortleyou House in New Dorp, Staten Island. The House dates to the 17th century, with the oldest part of the building constructed of fieldstone, and possesses a gambrel roof. Commissioners at Landmarks were advised that designation would likely be overturned at the Council level, but nonetheless awarded the property landmarks status due to its antiquity and rarity. (more…)

Image Credit: Google Maps

Phipps Houses withdrew its application for its ten-story, Barnett Avenue development following a lack of community support. On September 20, 2016, Phipps Houses, the oldest and largest not-for-profit developer of affordable housing in New York City, withdrew its Barnett Avenue development proposal—the day before its scheduled public hearing in front of the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises. Phipps Houses had sought a zoning map change and two zoning text amendments to facilitate the construction of a new mixed-use development in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens. (more…)

Ross F. Moskowitz. Image Credit: Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, LLP.

At the CityLaw Breakfast on September 5, 2014, Carl Weisbrod laid out the De Blasio Administration’s housing policy. As was widely reported, the City will look to implement mandatory inclusionary housing on all City-sponsored rezonings. One of the first tests of this new policy is the privately sponsored Astoria Cove development in Queens, where an affordable component will likely be required if approved under ULURP. (more…)