City Planning Hears Application for Major Development Across the Street from Essex Crossing

New development on Lower East Side set to transform the entire Broome Street corridor. On December 4, 2019, the City Planning Commission heard an application by Go Broome LLC and the Chinatown Planning Council HDFC to rezone and develop a large-scale, mixed-use development on the Lower East Side. The proposed development includes mixed-income housing, affordable senior housing, program and office space for the Chinese American Planning Council, congregation space for the landmarked Beth Hamedrash Hagodol … <Read More>


Appellate Division Upholds City’s Sale of Bronx Waterfront Property

A Bronx not-for-profit sues City over the sale of waterfront property to a private developer. The City sold Pier 5 to a private developer to facilitate the construction of the Bronx Point development. Pier 5 is a 4.4 acre plot of land bounded by Mill Pond Park to the North, the 149th Street Bridge to the South, the Major Deegan Expressway to the East and the Harlem River to the West. The development anticipates … <Read More>


Council Subcommittees Hear Four Proposed Bills on Increasing Transparency in Land Use

The four proposed bills would provide the community and elected officials with the tools to make informed decisions about developments in their neighborhoods. On September 26, 2019, the City Council’s Land Use and Governmental Operations Committees held a hearing on four proposed bills that will increase transparency regarding new developments in the City, specifically with the transfer of development rights and testimony at the Board of Standards and Appeals. The four bills are a response … <Read More>


CityLaw Profile: Caroline Harris – A Woman’s Journey to Land Use

Caroline Harris’s career as a land use attorney stems from an early interest in urban affairs and planning.  Harris was born in New York City and grew up in Peter Cooper Village. As a student at the then all-female Hunter College High School, she started the first student volunteer program for Head Start, earning Mayor Lindsay’s award for “Distinguished Volunteer Supervision.”  Harris spent five months in Israel before entering Trinity College, where she majored in … <Read More>



City Planning Approves Application for Development on Former Peninsula Hospital Site

Edgemere Commons receives mixed reaction from the Rockaway community. On September 25, 2019, City Planning unanimously approved the Rockaway Limited Partnership’s application to redevelop an existing superblock in the Edgemere neighborhood of Far Rockaway, Queens.  The site, which formerly housed Peninsula Hospital, is a paved over, impermeable surface lot located north of Rockaway Beach Boulevard, south of Beach Channel Drive east of Beach 53rd Street and west of Beach 50th Street. The development … <Read More>