Prison Reform: The Monitor’s First Report in the Nunez Case

Recently the City got some good news about Rikers Island, a change from the bad news of recent years. On August 2, 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio, together with Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte, announced that for the first six months of 2016 the frequencies with which staff used serious force on inmates and inmates seriously assaulted staff dropped by nearly half over the past year. Overall uses of force and assault numbers were also down … <Read More>


Mayor de Blasio Releases Plans to Reform Procedures Used in Removing Restrictions on Formerly City-owned Property

The proposed reformations increase transparency and community involvement, and impose new safeguards to protect against systemic abuse. On July 8, 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a series of reformations to the procedures used in removing limitations on potential uses, or deed restrictions, from formerly City-owned property. The proposed reformations would require parcels to meet stricter criteria to be deemed eligible for their deeds to be modified, and they would increase the levels of transparency … <Read More>


Owner Loses Chimney Claim

Owner of building with a chimney sued the developer of an adjacent, taller building for the expense of bringing the chimney into Code compliance. West Chelsea Building LLC owns a 10-story building, located at 516 West 26th Street, Manhattan, with a chimney on the roof. Jack Guttman and others own an adjacent building at 543-545 West 25th Street. Between 2005 and 2007 the Guttman group converted its property into the Arts Tower Condominium … <Read More>


BSA Conditionally Approves Variance for Addition of Gymnasium and Play Roof to The Chapin School

In response to neighborhood concerns, the Board conditioned the zoning variance on several limitations meant to reduce the risk of excess noise and increase pedestrian safety. On October 16, 2016, the Board of Standards and Appeals approved with conditions a request by The Chapin School, Ltd. for a zoning variance to construct a three-story addition to its existing school, located at 100 East End Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.  The Chapin School, … <Read More>


Zoning for Quality and Affordability Program Sent to Community Boards for Public Review

The program would amend generation-old zoning regulations to encourage construction of efficient mixed-use buildings and affordable senior housing.  On September 21, 2015, the City Planning Commission issued a press release revealing two of the major programs to be implemented under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan.  The programs, which are currently making their way through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure process, are the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program and the Zoning for Quality <Read More>


Rent Stabilization: Preserving Low and Middle-Income Housing

Rent regulation is not a new issue for New York City. But the headlines in June 2015 were far larger and the reactions more contentious than at any time in recent memory. For the first time in its 46-year history, the Rent Guidelines Board decided that there would be no increase in rents for one-year renewals on rent-stabilized apartments; it also limited increases on two year renewals to two-percent. Not surprisingly, tenants hailed the decision … <Read More>