Additional hearing on park status set for August 2007. State Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell, IV and Upper East Side residents opposed the City’s plan to reopen the marine transfer station at East 91st Street in Manhattan as part of the Bloomberg administration’s Solid Waste Management Plan. The parties filed an article 78 petition, alleging that the environmental impact statement for the entire waste management plan was insufficient since it failed to adequately assess the construction … <Read More>
BSA overturned on Queens vested rights case
Buildings made initial error in not issuing building permit. In 2003, Hamida Realty sought plan approval from the Department of Buildings for two, three-family homes on two adjacent lots that would share a foundation and a common wall. Buildings approved the plans, but Hamida waited over a year to apply for permits. When it applied, Buildings granted the permit for one building, but held the second permit, erroneously requiring Hamida to submit a site safety … <Read More>
BSA and DOB overturned on East Village dorm
Local school affiliation not a requisite for building permit. In 1998, Gregg Singer purchased the lot at 609 East 9th Street from the City subject to a deed restriction that the site could only be used for a community facility. Singer then applied to the Department of Buildings to construct a new 19-story dormitory and demolish the P.S. 64 building that occupied the site. Since Singer’s plan showed full kitchens in each unit, Buildings asked … <Read More>
IDA’s June Calendar
$85 million in bond offerings on the calendar for IDA’s June public hearing. The New York City Industrial Development Agency, a component of the Economic Development Corporation, held its monthly public hearing on June 7, 2007. Eighteen projects were on the notice of public hearing, including bond offerings totaling $85 million and seven straight-leases.
Among the 18 projects on the calendar was a straight-lease to News America Publishing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert … <Read More>
New cat habitats for Central Park and Prospect Park Zoos
Amur and Snow Leopards headed to New York City. Landmarks issued permits to allow the Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the Central Park and Prospect Park Zoos, to add new exhibits. Within the Central Park Zoo, a Snow Leopard habitat will replace an existing River Otter habitat in the zoo’s western section. The plan calls for construction of a 2,300-square-foot, wood-clad holding center adjacent to an open-air leopard enclosure and viewing pavilions also clad in … <Read More>
Domino Sugar designation receives great support
Developer testified to the great cost of converting buildings to housing. On June 26, 2007, Landmarks held its first hearing on the potential designation of three 1884 buildings within the former Domino Sugar Processing Plant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The plan received overwhelming support.
Among those in support included representatives from the development team that plans to convert the plant to a mixed-use complex containing 2,200 units of housing, 660 of which would be reserved for … <Read More>