Plan builds on several 2006 Queens downzonings. On July 29, 2009, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s 300-block rezoning proposal for the three west-central Queens neighborhoods of Middle Village, Maspeth, and Glendale. The plan seeks to decrease future out-of-character development and builds on several 2006 rezoning plans within the area.

Characterized by detached and semi-detached single- and two-family housing, the area’s R3-2, R4, and R5 zoning, which was largely unchanged since 1961, allowed for inconsistent development. The Council’s approval rezoned the area to a mix of contextual zoning districts — R3A, R4A, R4B, R4-1, R5B, and R5D — found to more closely match the neighborhood’s built character. Also rezoned were several manufacturing-zoned blocks within west-central Queens where Planning found illegal residential construction. The plan brings these blocks into compliance. (more…)

Local residents claimed that all open space on a multiple building zoning lot must be accessible to all occupants of the zoning lot. 808 Columbus Avenue LLC obtained a permit from Buildings to construct a 29-story, mixed-use building within Park West Village on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The new building would share a zoning lot with three 16-story residential buildings located on a superblock bounded by West 100th Street on the north, Columbus Avenue on the west, West 97th Street on the south, and Central Park West on the east. Local residents challenged the permit approval, but Buildings’ Manhattan Borough Commissioner upheld the permit. The residents appealed to BSA seeking to revoke the permit.

The residents claimed that open space requirements of the Zoning Resolution had been violated because some of the proposed building’s open space would not be accessible to residents living in the other three buildings within the zoning lot. The residents also claimed that the 56,000 sq. ft. Whole Foods supermarket slated for the first floor and cellar should have been classified as a variety or department store rather than a food store because of its proposed size, location, and delivery requirements. Variety stores could not exceed 10,000 sq. ft. and department stores were prohibited in the C1-5 district. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer argued that Buildings had recently classified a Costco store in Queens as a department store, and that, like Whole Foods, Costco primarily sold food and food-related items. The residents also asserted that an environmental review of the project’s potential impacts was required before Buildings could issue a permit. (more…)

Morningside Park will be City’s tenth scenic landmark. On July 15, 2008, Landmarks voted to designate Morningside Park a scenic landmark, the first since 1983. Designed by Central Park architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the park consists primarily of a stone cliff between 110th and 123rd Streets, separating the neighborhoods of Morningside Heights and Harlem. Built between 1867 and 1895, the 30-acre park also features curvilinear walks, a buttressed stone retaining wall, a pond, and a waterfall. At an April 10, 2007 hearing, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe expressed strong support for designation. 4 CityLand60 (May 15, 2007).

Morningside Park has undergone some substantial alterations in its history, including a playground installation by Robert Moses in the 1940s. In the 1960s, Columbia University planned to build a gymnasium in the park, a plan that was ultimately quashed by student and community protests. Neglected throughout much of the 20th century, the Parks Department undertook a large restoration project in 1989. (more…)

Commission approves iconic design for 518-foot mixed-use development in Harlem. On September 8, 2004, the City Planning Commission approved a 493,646-square-foot mixed-use development containing 230 hotel rooms, 100 residential units, office space, retail space, and a 369-space public parking garage. To achieve the size and design, the developer, 1800 Park Avenue LLC, sought a rezoning of the project site to allow the hotel and an increased floor area as well as two special permits to allow the parking garage and modify height and setback. Marriott International would lease the hotel component.

The project site, on the west side of Park Avenue at East 125th Street, is at a vital axis point of the Central and East Harlem neighborhoods and is immediately adjacent to the MTA MetroNorth 125th Street station. The area is primarily residential with mostly four to six-story residential buildings. The tallest building is 33-stories, located at 3rd Avenue and 123rd Street. (more…)

East Drive in Central Park. Image Credit: Google Maps.

On June 2, 2016, Peter Deutch was riding his bicycle North-bound on East Drive in Central Park, Manhattan. East Drive is a three-lane roadway in Central Park with the left lane reserved for pedestrians, the middle lane designated for cyclists, and the right lane for motor traffic. Deutch collided with a flatbed truck owned by Hellman Electric Corporation that was driving directly to his right in the motor traffic lane. Deutch fell under the truck’s wheels and sustained multiple injuries to his legs and left hip. (more…)