Tenants in loft law units sought rent regulation protection based on 2010 amendments. 59 Crosby Street in Manhattan was an interim multiple dwelling covered under the 1982 loft law. This law required an owner to convert an interim multiple dwelling building into legal residential premises and obtain a certificate of occupancy. The owners of 59 Crosby in 1984 purchased the rights and improvements to the fifth-floor interim multiple dwelling unit from the then-current tenant. In 1992 the owners purchased the rights and improvements to the second-floor interim multiple dwelling unit, also from the then-current tenants.   (more…)

Community groups expressed concern that 128-block rezoning would displace low-income residents. On September 30, 2009, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone 128 blocks of Brooklyn’s Sunset Park in order to address recent out-of-scale development inconsistent with the area’s predominantly residential character. The plan replaces the neighborhood’s R6 zoning with contextual zoning districts — R4A, R4-1, R6B, R6A, and R7A — that match the area’s context and also establish maximum height limits. The plan includes applying R6B zoning to portions of 121 residential side streets and rezoning 101 partial commercial blocks along Fourth and Seventh Avenues to R7A. To promote the construction of affordable housing, the City’s Inclusionary Housing Program will apply to the R7A district.

At the City Planning Commission’s July 1 hearing, representatives of the Sunset Park Alliance of Neighbors (SPAN) testified in opposition. They claimed that Planning did not properly consider the potential displacement of current residents. Residents argued that height limits along the avenues were too high and would block views of downtown Brooklyn. The Commission approved the plan without modifications, noting that it had been refined through a thorough public review. 6 CityLand 122 (Sept. 15, 2009). (more…)

City Planning’s proposal challenged by issues related to affordable housing and protecting Chinatown. On August 13, 2008, the City Planning Commission heard extensive testimony on a plan to rezone 111 blocks in the East Village and Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Department of City Planning began the public review process for the original proposal in May 2008, 5 CityLand 72 (June 15, 2008), and then later filed modifications after reviewing Community Board 3’s recommendations. The modifications apply the Inclusionary Housing Program to certain proposed R7A areas, replace a portion of a C6-2A zoning district with a C6-3A district along Chrystie Street, and eliminate a text change designed to encourage non-conforming commercial uses in the mid-block areas of proposed R8B districts.

At the hearing, Council Member Rosie Mendez testified that a plan was needed to stem over-development and stop the loss of affordable housing in her district. Mendez believes that the current plan, with some modifications and additions, can achieve the right balance of “development, preservation, and tenant protection.” David McWater, Susan Stetzer, and Dominic Pisciotta, all from Community Board 3, stressed the need to include the anti-harassment and anti-demolition restrictions that govern the Special Clinton District, and also requested that the City commit to ensuring that 30 percent of housing built under the new zoning be permanently affordable to households earning less than 80 percent of the area medium income. (more…)