Water filtration plant survives two lawsuits. In a 1997 settlement agreement with the federal government, the Department of Environmental Protection agreed to build a filtration plant for the Croton Reservoir. DEP selected 23 acres in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx to build the plant. In 200 1 , the Court of Appeals ruled that extended construction on park land required State approval. 7 CityLaw 41 (200 1 ). I n 2003, the state legislature gave the required authorization to construct the plant in the park. In July 2004, DEP completed a supplemental environmental impact statement, and on September 28, 2004, the City Council approved the plant location and construction.

The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park claimed that the approval violated a zoning resolution requirement that no building permit be issued on former public park land without the Planning Commission’s creation of a new zoning district. The City argued that it had made a determination to override the zoning resolution requirements because the benefits of siting the plant at that location were important, the project was approved for water filtration use only and, designating a zoning district would serve no purpose.

Vacant illegal unit added by a previous owner. Buildings charged Jose Hernandez for maintaining an illegally converted third unit in a two-family dwelling. The cellar of Hernandez’s building was converted prior to his ownership into a separate living unit – including a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen area with a gas line – in violation of the Administrative Code. At the hearing, Hernandez acknowledged the existence of the third unit, but argued that the unit pre-existed his ownership and, since the unit was vacant and used only for storage, no use violation occurred. Rejecting both arguments, the ALJ fined Hernandez $800 for the illegal conversion and $50 per day for 45 days or until the condition was mitigated.

On appeal, the Environmental Control Board affirmed, ruling that a violation occurred whether or not anyone was living in the unit because the cellar was designed as a separate unit. The Board found that the Code made it a violation to not only add the illegal unit, but to keep it.

Owner denied access lift, sidewalk excavation and a new passageway. The owner of 313 315 West 91 st Street, two Renaissance- style rowhouses designed by Charles True and built in 1897, sought a permit to excavate the sidewalk along the western end of 315 West 91 st Street to create a passageway. The buildings, two of a series of seven historic mansions, are located within the Riverside Drive-West End Historic District designated by Landmarks in 1989. Within the passageway, the owner proposed to build a new stairway, an access lift and a glass and cement mortar stairway railing.

Landmarks denied the application, finding that a passageway was not a historic feature present in any of the mansions comprising the historic district and the proposed access-lift design would detract from the integrity and architectural character of 315 West 91 st’s b owed- frontage. In making the determination, Landmarks . stated that the West 91 st rowhouses were comprised of four distinct designs that varied in a unique pattern down the street. The subject buildings differed in design, with 315 West 91 st having a full bow-fronted facade, while 313 West 91 st has a projecting bay. The owner’s proposed changes to the full bow-fronted facade at 315 West 91 st were too significant to approve.

Landmarks designates a Queens single-family cobblestone building. Supported by the owner and at the urging of Council Member Tony Avella, Landmarks designated the single-family home at 35-34 Bell Boulevard in Bayside, Queens, noting its construction entirely of rugged, uncut cobblestones as its most distinguishing feature. Built in 1905- 1906, 35-34 Bell Boulevard is a Colonial Revival-Style home influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement. It was part of a subdivision of the last 1 00 acres of the Abraham Bell farm, in Bayside, where cobblestone walls had been used to mark the farms’ boundaries.

4 St. Mark’s Place, Manhattan. On October 19, 2004, Landmarks designated, as an individual landmark, the 1831 East Village federal style town house, which in 1833 became the home of Col. Alexander Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton.

The Hamilton-Holly House, a residential and retail town house at 4 St. Mark’s Place in the East Village, is notable for its distinctive 26-foot width and 3- 1 12 story height as well as its varied history for housing several East Village theatrical groups. The designation was recommended by several preservation groups and supported by State Senator Thomas Duane, State Assembly member Deborah Glick and Council Member Margarita Lopez.

Residential building to be built at Wooster and Wes t Broadway. Arun Bhatia sought a third amendment to the design approved by a 1 990 Landmarks permit, which allowed the new construction on one of the few undeveloped sites in SoHo of a six-story hotel with a two story penthouse. The site, 137- 139 Wooster Street, is a block-through lot between Prince and West Houston and is within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The application followed two previously approved amendments, which sought to change the approved hotel use to dwellings and also sought changes in design.

The latest application proposed changes to the Wooster and West Broadway facades, maintaining the original proposal’s overall massing and volume, The revised Wooster Street facade is comprised of a predominantly gray-green painted metal and glass facade framed by tan brick piers, with a storefront at the ground floor, and a two-story metal clad set-back penthouse. The revised West Broadway facade is faced with tan brick, and contains punched window openings, a metal and glass storefront, and a two-story metal clad set-back penthouse. As initially approved, the depth of the windows on both facades was less pronounced, and the renderings indicated a grayer color palette.