Proposal is part of interagency effort to develop blueprint for managing the City’s shoreline. On April 8, 2010, the Department of City Planning held a public hearing on the Vision 2020 Comprehensive Waterfront Plan. Vision 2020 builds on the City’s original 1992 waterfront plan, and Planning is required by local law to submit a new waterfront report by December 31, 2010 and revise it every ten years thereafter.

The Vision 2020 plan is part of a broader City-wide initiative to establish a long-term blueprint for sustainable management of the City’s 578 miles of shoreline. Known as the Waterfront Vision and Enhancement Strategy, the plan also includes the City Waterfront Action Agenda, created by the Economic Development Corporation, to identify high-priority initiatives that could be implemented within the next three years. (more…)

IDA also approves tax -exempt bonds for 2 health care entities and 1 private school. On October 9, 2007, the New York City Industrial Development Agency voted to provide financial assistance to four entities.

IDA awarded the Bronx Parking Development Company $225 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the design, construction, and renovation of three new parking garages, two existing garages and six surface lots that would serve the new Yankee Stadium. According to IDA, the parking project will create approximately 555 construction and operational jobs. (more…)

DOB revokes Breezy Point resident’s building permit, thereby eliminating BSA appeal. On May 15, 2007, BSA dismissed a contentious case involving the construction of a new year-round home in Breezy Point, Queens, following the Department of Buildings’ revocation of the original permit.

In 2006, Thomas Carroll, a Breezy Point resident for over 50 years, received a permit to construct a new year-round home to replace his deteriorated bungalow. Carroll’s neighbor, Supreme Court Judge James Golia, succeeded in delaying construction several times by complaining to Buildings, obtaining a restraining order and finally filing an appeal to BSA alleging, among other things, that the size of the house violated zoning restrictions for rear and front yards, distance between buildings and parking requirements. Golia’s appeal centered on a claim that Carroll’s plot could not qualify as a separate zoning lot since Carroll did not own it “separately and individually” as required by the zoning resolution. Since the Breezy Point Cooperative owns all the plots in Breezy, BSA’s final decision could have impacted all plots and future building permit applications in the Far Rockaway community. (more…)

New users limited to community services. On May 30, 2007, the City Council approved DCAS’ plan to dispose of four FDNY firehouses that the City closed for budgetary reasons in 2003 and 2004. DCAS originally proposed to sell the four firehouses at public auction with no restrictions. This resulted in opposition by local community boards and Borough Presidents Scott Stringer and Marty Markowitz. Prior to the Planning Commission’s hearing, the Mayor’s office proposed the formation of community steering committees to determine the best use for each firehouse. The Planning Commission thereafter approved the DCAS plan without modifications, in deference to the steering committees’ future determinations. 4 CityLand 55 (May 15, 2007).

At the hearing before the City Council’s Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions & Concessions, its chair, Council Member Daniel Garodnick, opened the hearing by explaining that the subcommittee would add restrictions to each application. With the firehouses at 120 East 125th Street in Manhattan, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Queens, and Brooklyn’s 136 Wythe Street, the Council would limit the sale to a community service provider. With Brooklyn’s 299 DeGraw Street, the Council would prohibit its sale, limiting DCAS to a ten-year lease to a community service provider, with two five-year options to renew. (more…)

Adjacent neighbor challenges legality of new home construction on cooperative’s land. On March 20, 2007, BSA held a contentious public hearing on an appeal of demolition and new building permits to construct a single-family home in Breezy Point, Queens, located at the western end of the Rockaway Peninsula.

In the early 1900s, New Yorkers started building small, summer bungalows in Breezy Point on land owned by the state. In 1960, Breezy’s predominantly summer residents formed a cooperative to purchase the land from the Atlantic Improvement State Corporation. At the time, the Breezy Point Cooperative surveyed the land and its summer bungalows, leasing “plots” back to residents who paid yearly maintenance, security and other costs. Breezy now contains over 3,500 homes, and each year more residents convert their summer bungalows to year-round homes. (more…)