City amended law to obstruct loopholes. In 1993, adult establishments had proliferated within the city, growing from only nine in 1965 to 177 in 1993. A 1993 Planning Department study, precipitated by this increase, concluded that adult uses produced secondary negative impacts like increased crime, property value depreciation and a reduction in commercial activity in areas where the uses were heavily concentrated. This study became the basis of a 1995 citywide zoning amendment that prohibited adult establishments within residential districts and within 500 feet of schools and churches.

The 1995 zoning restrictions defined adult uses as a commercial enterprise that used a substantial portion of its business for adult content, but failed to explicitly define “substantial portion.” Buildings interpreted “substantial portion” as a business that devoted at least 40 percent of its floor area to adult uses. Adult use businesses then reconfigured their floor area to circumvent the 60/40 rule. (more…)

New district created to curb development of Queens “McMansions.” On March 14, 2005, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the Bloomberg administration’s largest proposed down-zoning to date and a new citywide zoning district to be applied first to Bayside, a Queens neighborhood characterized predominantly by single-family detached homes. The approved 350-block down-zoning of Bayside, commenced at the urging of Council Member Tony Avella and local residents, seeks to end the rising development in Bayside of semi-detached homes, apartment buildings and oversized single-family homes referred to by the community as “McMansions.”

The Planning Department proposed to down-zone an area bounded generally by Francis Lewis Boulevard and Clearview Expressway to the west, the Cross Island Parkway to the east, 24th and 26th Avenues to the north and, on the south, by the Long Island Expressway. (more…)

Environmental study and site choice for Brooklyn garage upheld. The City filed a condemnation action in October 2003 for three lots comprising a 2.46-acre site bounded by Park, Nostrand and Flushing Avenues and Warsoff Place in Clinton Hill, to be used for the eventual construction of a new Sanitation truck storage garage to serve Brooklyn Community District 3.

The site had been subject to a June 2000 application by Sanitation and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services for site selection and acquisition approval for a 70- space Sanitation truck garage, a permitted use in the site’s M1-2 zoning. After receiving the approval of both Community Board 3 and the Borough President, the Planning Commission approved the site selection and acquisition on December 5, 2001. (more…)

New development potential of 26 million sq.ft. of office space and 13.6 million sq.ft. of residential; 24 acres of parks, a subway extension, and a new boulevard approved. On November 22, 2004, the Commission approved the Bloomberg Administration’s major urban planning initiative for Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, the area bounded by West 30th and West 43rd Streets, running from Seventh and Eighth Avenues to Twelfth Avenue.

The ten applications before the Commission would achieve a comprehensive redevelopment plan, the expansion of City services and a rezoning of the entire area. At the center of the plan for redevelopment is the transfer from the MTA to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services of the 30-acre, eastern portion of the Caemmerer Yard, spanning from West 30th to West 33rd Streets and from Tenth to Eleventh Avenues, for construction of a platform over the yard. (See C 040505 PQM.) The platform would facilitate future private development and the City’s construction of new parks. Further, the rail yard transfer would partially enable the No. 7 Flushing Line expansion, which is proposed to extend from Times Square to West 41st Street and Tenth Avenue, then south to West 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. (See C 040504 PQM.) (more…)

Development will contain 38 units of senior housing, office space, and 54 tenant parking spaces. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services obtained approval to dispose of a 47,108 sq.ft. site located at 240-02 North Conduit Avenue, currently providing 40 parking spaces for Rosedale LIRR commuters, to the New York City Economic Development Corporation for a new mixed-use development. EDC will transfer the site to Stone Ridge Homes, Inc., which will develop a three-story, 16,402 sq.ft. office building and a two-story, 38-unit senior housing home. DCAS stated that the lost LIRR parking spaces could be accommodated on an adjacent City parking lot, which is temporarily in use as a staging area for the Rosedale Station improvements.

At the November 30, 2004 City Council Subcommittee hearing, Council Member James Sanders Jr. stated that his concern over the senior housing facility’s proximity to JFK airport had been addressed by the developer’s commitment to soundproof the housing units and, consequently, he dropped his opposition. The full Council approved on December 7, 2004. (more…)