Ribbon Cut for Major Astoria Playground Improvement

The $1 million project is the latest in a series of renovations of the Triborough Bridge Playgrounds. On July 16, 2019, the Parks Department announced the completion and opening of a new dog run and revamped basketball courts at Astoria’s Triborough Bridge Playground C with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Triborough Playground C is one of six in a family of playgrounds, located on Hoyt Avenue North and Hoyt Avenue South between 21st and 26th Streets, that … <Read More>


Bronx Playground Receives $8 Million Upgrade with Green Infrastructure

The playground provides new community amenities and improves the health of the Harlem River. On June 7, 2019, the Department of Parks and Recreation announced the completion of an $8 million upgrade to Saw Mill Playground in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. The playground is located on East 139th Street between Brook and Willis Avenues.


Landmarks Calendars Six LGBT Historic Sites for Consideration

The six buildings are up for consideration in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. On May 14, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a calendaring hearing for five buildings in Manhattan and one building in Staten Island to consider for future designation. The six sites – the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse, Women’s Liberation Center, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, the Caffe Cino, the James Baldwin Residence and the … <Read More>


Landmarks Calendars Five Buildings on Historic “Tin Pan Alley”

Proposed buildings were home to prominent sheet music publishers in the late 1800s and early 1900s. On March 12, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to add five buildings on West 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue to its calendar for consideration for landmark designation. The five buildings – 47 – 55 West 28th Street – represent a time when the street was known as “Tin Pan Alley” due to the noise … <Read More>


Challenge to Denial of Hardship Application Fails on Appeal

Developer claimed that Commissioners irrationally and prejudicially analyzed hardship application, and that designation amounted to an unconstitutional taking. In 1990, Landmarks designated the City and Suburban Homes Company, First Avenue Estate an individual City landmark. The block-sized development is bounded East 64th and 65th Streets and York and First Avenues. Built between 1819 and 1915, it was constructed to provide high-quality housing to low-income New Yorkers in an alternative to crowded, poorly ventilated tenement buildings. … <Read More>


Construction Begins On Renovation of Upper East Side Community Center

Senior center and youth center in NYCHA housing will have kitchen and bathrooms upgraded. On June 8, 2018, City Council Member Ben Kallos, together with the New York City Housing Authority, announced the start of renovations and upgrades for the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center. The Isaacs Center is located in Holmes Towers at 415 East 93rd Street. Construction is expected to be completed by February 2019 and full completion and use of the … <Read More>