Simeon Bankoff: Taking the Context out of Contextual Zoning

In March 2015, the City Planning Commission announced a proposal called Zoning for Affordability and Quality, which broadly calls for three principal changes in the current citywide zoning resolution. The plan proposes to change and enlarge definitions of senior housing to include more types of housing providers than currently permitted. It also proposes to increase buildable space for senior housing in some instances. The proposal also seeks to lessen or some instances no longer mandate … <Read More>


Weisbrod Highlights East New York as Test for Affordable Housing

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.


West Harlem Rezoning Awaits Council Subcommittee Vote

Local community board generally supported 90-block rezoning, but requested that portion of West 145th Street be downzoned to protect existing HUD buildings. On October 3, 2012, the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee heard testimony on the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone 90 blocks in West Harlem. The rezoning would impact approximately 1,900 lots generally bounded by West 155th Street to the north, West 126th Street to the south, Bradhurst Avenue to the … <Read More>


Bedford-Stuyvesant North Rezoning Approved By Council’s Land Use Committee

140-block rezoning proposal included new commercial zoning district tailored for blocks with elevated rail lines. On October 4, 2012, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the Department of City Planning’s Bedford-Stuyvesant North Rezoning Plan. The contextual rezoning plan would impact a 140-block area generally bounded by Flushing Avenue to the north, Quincy Street to the south, Broadway to the east, and Classon Avenue to the west. The proposal also includes new regulations regarding … <Read More>


Williamsburg Mixed-Use Project Withstands Legal Challenge

City approved developer’s request to rezone 15 tax lots to facilitate the development of two, six-story buildings near site of Domino Sugar project. Bruce Terzano (through JBJ, LLC) sought City approval to build a two-building mixed-use project at the corner of Wythe Avenue and South 3rd Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. To facilitate his proposal, Terzano asked the City to expand a nearby MX-8 special mixed-use district to include 15 tax lots on the eastern … <Read More>


New Filings and Decisions Charts for June 2012 Uploaded

Every month CityLand publishes a comprehensive set of charts to track applications to, and decisions from, New York City’s land use agencies. Agencies covered include: Department of City Planning, City Planning Commission, City Council, Board of Standards & Appeals, and Landmarks Preservation Commission.

CityLand tracks these applications through the review process to a final decision. The majority of these decisions are available on the Center for New York City Law’s CityAdmin database (found at www.CityAdmin.org<Read More>