Every month CityLand creates a comprehensive set of charts to track land use applications undergoing public review. This includes new applications filed with the Department of City Planning and the Board of Standards & Appeals, applications certified into the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, and applications before the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
We track these applications throughout the review process and until a final decision has been made by the competent City Agency. The majority of these decisions are available on the Center for New York City Law’s CityAdmin database (found at www.CityAdmin.org). When possible, we have provided a link within our Filings and Decisions chart to provide easy access to the relevant documents (i.e. application materials or a final decision).
New Filings and Decisions chart May 2012
Citywide rule change would streamline review process for changes to building storefronts under Landmarks’ jurisdiction. On February 23, 2012, Landmarks published in the City Record a proposed amendment to the City rules that would streamline the review process for proposed alterations to the storefronts of land-marked buildings. Currently the majority of applications for changes to storefronts need to be reviewed by Landmarks’ commissioners. The Citywide rule change would permit Landmarks’ staff to approve applications for alterations to a building’s storefront if the changes are based on historic prototypes within the specific historic district for buildings of similar age, type, and style. The new rules would also permit staff-level approval for security gates, and HVAC equipment.
The proposal follows the City Council’s review of Landmarks’ designation of the Borough Hall Historic District. Landmarks agreed during the hearing to expedite the creation of the proposed rule change. 9 City- Land 1 (Feb. 15, 2012). Landmarks calendared the rule change on February 7, 2012, and will hold a hearing on the change on March 27, 2012.
City Record, Feb. 23, 2012 at 395.
Neighbors win claim of express easement to access beach along Long Island Sound. In 1928, Locust Point Estate subdivided a large parcel of land on the Throgs Neck peninsula in the Bronx into six residential parcels, and recorded a declaration granting to the new owners easements over six private roads including Casler Place, a dead-end street leading to a patch of beach on the shore of the Long Island Sound. Casler Place remained a private road until 1986 when the City dedicated all but the eastern end of the block as a public street. (more…)
- Proposed alternative fueling station in Hunts Point. Image: Courtesy of Atlantis Management Group WXY Architecture.
Public facility within Hunts Point Food Distribution Center would provide alternative fuel pumps and maintenance bays to retrofit and convert conventional fuel engines. On November 30, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and the Department of Small Business Services’ proposal to allow the Atlantis Management Group to redevelop a City-owned lot within the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center into the City’s first public alternative fueling facility. Atlantis Management will lease and redevelop the 18,000 sq.ft. brownfield site located at the corner of Halleck Street and Food Center Drive. The lot is surrounded by the Fulton Fish Market, Hunts Point Co-op Meat Market, and Baldor Specialty Foods. (more…)
Opposition claimed that costs associated with designation would be too burdensome. The City Council approved Landmarks’ designation of the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District in Brooklyn. The district includes 21 buildings along Court, Montague, Remsen, Joralemon, and Livingston Streets.
Business groups and property owners, including the owners of 186 Remsen Street and the residents of 75 Livingston Street, opposed the district. At Landmarks’ public hearing in February 2011, they argued that some buildings in the district lacked architectural significance, and expressed concern about the financial impact of land-marking. Local Council Member Stephen Levin and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz supported the district, but asked Landmarks to consider removing 75 Livingston from its boundaries. In September 2011, Landmarks designated the district as originally proposed. 8 CityLand 142 (Oct. 15, 2011). (more…)
