Chelsea’s former Maritime Union to be 316-room hotel

Unique construction plan of 1964 building created hardship. BSA approved the plan by Hampshire Hotels and Resorts to convert the 162,123-square-foot former National Maritime Union building, located along West 17th and West 16th Streets near Ninth Avenue in Chelsea, into a 316-room hotel. The existing building, built under a 1964 variance approval, most recently housed a transitional youth shelter run by the Covenant House.

Located on an odd-shaped, 11- sided lot, the existing building contains … <Read More>

BSA grants permit to controversial health care facility

Opposition included FDNY, S.I. Boro. Pres., Council member and Community Board. On August 14, 2007, BSA granted a special permit to Gregory Montalbano, allowing proconstruction to move forward for a two-story, 5,565-square-foot orthopedics doctors’ office at 82 Lamberts Lane in Staten Island. The site’s residential zoning limited medical offices to 1,500 sq.ft. absent BSA approval. The two-story facility would employ eight people and operate on weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Montalbano would demolish … <Read More>

BSA affirms DOB policy on roof cell phone antennas

Vallone and Astoria residents argued that DOB lacked authority to grant cell phone equipment permits. In 2005, Omnipoint Communications received a Department of Buildings permit to install cellular phone antennas and equipment cabinets on the roof of an Astoria, Queens building. Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr. and Astoria residents appealed the permit to BSA, arguing that Buildings lacked the authority to approve the cell phone equipment. According to Vallone, approval required a special permit … <Read More>

CPC approves 51-block Westside plan

Inclusionary housing bonus proposed for Broadway above West 97th. Alarmed by the construction of two apartment buildings exceeding 30 stories on Broadway between West 99th and West 100th Streets, Upper West Side residents asked the City to consider rezoning the area and setting stricter height limits. This started a two-year collaborative planning effort by City Planning, HPD, Landmarks, the Manhattan Borough President’s office and local residents. The efforts focused on a 51-block rezoning plan for … <Read More>

New Hunts Point BID approved

Plan encompasses 134 businesses. On August 8, 2007, the Planning Commission approved an application by the Department of Small Business Services to create the Southern Boulevard Business Improvement District for 134 businesses and 59 property owners, encompassing 792 residential units, in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx.

The proposed BID will allow an annual assessment on businesses and residents to enhance sanitation, security and marketing. The $200,000 first-year budget will come from small assessments … <Read More>

City Planning proposes plan for Sunnyside Gardens

Under proposal, Landmarks would be solely responsible for all permits to alter Sunnyside Gardens’ buildings. On August 20, 2007, the Planning Commission sent a proposal to Queens Community Board 2 and Borough President Helen Marshall that would make Landmarks solely responsible for all permits to alter buildings in Sunnyside Gardens, a planned community of single-family homes and apartments built in the 1920s.

Landmarks had voted in June 2007 to designate a 600-building historic district covering … <Read More>