Search Results for: Government Transparency

Department of City Planning Updates Website

City Planning revamps website for the first time since 2012; hopes to foster public engagement.  On January 29, 2016, the Department of City Planning announced its new and revised website. The new site has a more attractive user interface, improved site navigation and revised content that better presents the Department’s priorities, work program and processes.

City Planning Director Carl Weisbrod said, “As the world moves more and more online, having an accessible and informative website … <Read More>

Proposed Changes to Landmarks Law Garner Interest, Stir Controversy

Landmarks Chair testified that changes could be better promulgated through agency rule-making rather than by legislative fiat. On September 9, 2015 the City Council held a hearing on two potential bills that would alter the Landmarks Law section of the Administrative Code. The hearing drew a crowd that filled the main Council chamber, with over 100 people filling out forms to testify on the proposals.

19th-Century Warehouse to Theater Conversion Wins Landmarks Endorsement

Commission heard testimony from those who opposed significant alterations to preserved ruin, and those who wished to see structure used as cultural space. On June 4, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to issue a favorable advisory report following a hearing on a proposal to convert the stabilized ruins of a tobacco warehouse into a theater and community facility space. The structure stands at 45 Water Street in the Empire Fulton Ferry Park within … <Read More>

2013 Election Special: Campaign Finance Board Executive Director Amy Loprest

The dramatic suicide of Queens Borough President Donald Manes in 1986 shocked the City. Manes was under investigation in the Parking Violations Bureau ticket collection scandal when he drove a knife through his heart while talking on the phone with his psychiatrist. It was out of this scandal-plagued era that the City’s Campaign Finance Board was born. A joint City-State Commission to combat corruption organized by Mayor Ed Koch and Governor Mario Cuomo recommended public … <Read More>

Council Member Stephen Levin: Bringing the City Council to the People

District 33 – Brooklyn Heights, Greenpoint, parts of Williamsburg, Park Slope, Boerum Hill

Council Member Stephen Levin grew up just outside of New York City, in Plainfield, New Jersey. He knew he wanted to be in Brooklyn even while he was attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. To get there though, he dabbled with various jobs including working as a waiter (he was fired), a book store clerk, and an artist’s assistant. About a … <Read More>

Robert B. Tierney on the Pursuit of Preservation

Robert B. Tierney comes from a background of law and government rather than architecture, but his experience and training serve him well in his current position as Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. His love for learning about the City’s fascinating history and built environment, which he describes as a hobby and passion pursued for over 40 years, has allowed him to approach designation from a well-versed position, while his expertise in navigating through City … <Read More>