Rule amendment would expand staff-level approval authority for some types of window and sign alterations. On March 1, 2011, Landmarks held a public hearing on proposed amendments to the rules pertaining to construction work on properties under Landmarks’ jurisdiction. Landmarks proposed the changes to streamline the application review process, codify current practices and policies, and address inconsistencies. Chair Robert B. Tierney stated that the proposal was partially intended to remove from the calendar issues that have consistently been decided based on similar circumstances and to make the City’s preservation law as “simple [and] transparent as possible.

The rules include permitting staff-level approval of modifications to certain visible windows, more staff-level approval of storefront signage, and expedited review of cellar and basement work provided it would not involve excavation. The new rules would no longer allow staff-level approval of modifications to non-visible windows on the top floors of rowhouses, keeping with comments from Commissioners regarding the significance of historic rowhouses. The changes would require staff to consider applications for rear or roof additions in the context of aggregate enlargements to the buildings, including approved and grandfathered additions. The definition of mechanical equipment would be broadened to include solar panels, wind turbines, and micro turbines, in order to ease the approval of green technologies. (more…)

EDC awarded $9 million contract to BillyBey Ferry Company to provide new ferry service to Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens starting in Spring 2011. On February 2, 2011, the City’s Economic Development Corporation awarded BillyBey Ferry Company a three-year $9 million contract to provide expanded ferry service along the East River. Billybey, operating under the NY Waterways brand, will make seven regular stops connecting riders to Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. The stops will include: Pier 11 in lower Manhattan, Fulton Ferry Landing in DUMBO, South Williamsburg’s Schaefer Landing, North Williamsburg between North Fifth and North Sixth Streets, India Avenue in Greenpoint, Hunter’s Point South in Long Island City, and East 34th Street in Manhattan The service will also stop at Pier 6 in Brooklyn during summer weekends and Governors Island on summer Fridays.

The ferries will run every twenty minutes during weekday peak hours, every thirty minutes during off-peak summer hours, and every hour during off-peak winter hours. Fares will be $3 for up to three stops, and $5.50 for more than three stops. There will be a free bus line from the East 34th Street ferry landing during peak hours that will make stops along the 34th Street corridor. The MTA’s M34 bus will provide service during off-peak hours. (more…)

Kenneth J. Knuckles

Kenneth J. Knuckles, vice chair of the City Planning Commission and CEO and president of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, has worn many hats during his career; a community advocate, student of architecture, lawyer, deputy borough president, public servant, and business leader. After serving in the United States Army, Knuckles in 1968 joined the Architects’ Renewal Committee of Harlem (ARCH). The Committee pursued two principal goals: advocating for urban renewal and socialequity in Harlem, and encouraging minorities to study architecture and urban planning. As a member of ARCH, Knuckles advocated for the defeat of Columbia University’s 1968 proposal to build a massive gym in Morningside Park that would have included separate entrances for students and the Harlem community. The following year, Knuckles enrolled in the University of Michigan’s architecture program.

Knuckles eventually realized that the socio-political/planning issues he had been exposed to both at ARCH and Michigan would be better understood through a legal education. After earning a degree in architecture, Knuckles enrolled in the Howard University School of Law where he was exposed to the regulatory mechanisms that govern land use. Knuckles returned to the City and began his legal career as counsel to the Department of Personnel and later the City Civil Service Commission where he worked on disciplinary appeals. In 1985, he joined the Department of Housing Preservation and Development as an assistant commissioner under Mayor Edward Koch. (more…)

Coney Island Theater

Interwar buildings recall Coney Island’s era as a family-friendly destination. Landmarks unanimously designated the Coney Island Theater at 1301 Surf Avenue and the Childs Restaurant Building at 1208 Surf Avenue as individual City landmarks. Landmarks held public hearings on both buildings in March 2010, and designated the Coney Island Theater on December 14, 2010 and the Childs Restaurant Building on January 11, 2011. Both buildings are within the area recently rezoned as part of the City’s Coney Island redevelopment plan. 6 CityLand 104 (Aug. 15, 2009).

The firm of Reilly & Hall built the Coney Island Theater in 1925. The seven-story neo-Renaissance Revival building was leased to Loew’s theater chain, which retained control of the theater until 1964. Later occupants included a live theatre, a burlesque revue, a gay bar, and a bingo hall. The building is currently vacant. According to Landmarks, the theater’s elegant design was meant to convey legitimacy to a place that was transforming from a “seedy” area into a wholesome, family-oriented destination. (more…)

Brian Cook

Brian Cook, Director of Land Use for Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, first developed an interest in land use while pursuing a degree in Metropolitan Studies from New York University. Cook stayed on to pursue a master’s degree in Public Policy with the hopes of learning how international governments shape land use policy. During his studies, however, Cook says he was “fascinated” by a course that centered on New York City’s Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP), and this led him to focus on land use at the local level. Cook secured an internship with former Borough President C. Virginia Fields. The internship developed into a job as Fields’s public policy advisor, and when Stringer took over, Cook was reassigned as a dedicated urban planner. Last July, Stringer appointed Cook to be his Director of Land Use following the departure of former director Anthony Borelli.

Adding value to ULURP. Within the land use context, Cook describes Stringer’s office as the balance between local community concerns and borough-wide obligations. By applying technical expertise, the office strives to harmonize development with neighborhood issues, always considering how to create “true benefits” for the community when reviewing a project. (more…)