Medicaid: 5 Million New Yorkers, $53 Billion and Growing

Fiscal year 2010 Medicaid spending by the fifty states, excluding administrative costs, exceeded $389 billion dollars.  New York State led the states in total spending at $52 billion dollars. Medicaid costs are now the largest driver of state and local spending in New York State. Recent changes in State law have helped reduce the local costs, but Medicaid continues to dominate State and local expenses.

Congress in 1965 established Medicaid under Title XIX of the <Read More>


Landmarking of Brinckerhoff Cemetery Proceeds to Council Vote Despite Owner’s Opposition [Update: Designation Approved By Full Council]

Owner of the vacant former cemetery site claimed she purchased the lot to build a home for herself, not knowing of the property’s history, and was not competently represented throughout the landmarking process. On December 6, 2012, the New York City Council’s Land Use Committee voted to recommend approval of the designation of the Brinckerhoff Cemetery as a New York City Landmark.  The property, at 69-65 182nd Street in the Fresh Meadows neighborhood of Queens, … <Read More>


Landmark status removed from vacant land

360 Third Avenue, Brooklyn. Image: Courtesy of LPC

Boundaries around landmarked building reduced to provide buffer for Whole Foods development. On January 24, 2012, Landmarks reduced the landmarked site boundaries of the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company Building at the corner of Third Avenue and 3rd Street near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. The dilapidated Coignet Building was built in 1872 as a freestanding building, and is believed to the City’s first … <Read More>


Redevelopment of St. Vincent’s Hospital site debated

Proposal for the former St. Vincent’s Hospital Complex. Image: Courtesy of FXFowle Architects.

Opponents concerned about project’s impact, lack of new full-service hospital, and use of park space. On November 30, 2011, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on Rudin Management Company Inc.’s proposal to redevelop the former St. Vincent’s Hospital complex into a 450-unit mixed-used project. The project site includes two parcels in the West Village. The East Site parcel comprises the … <Read More>


Admirals Row Plaza OK’d

Brooklyn Navy Yard proposal would add supermarket and additional light industrial space. On October 19, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation’s Admirals Row Plaza mixed-use project on the southeast edge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard at the corner of Navy and Nassau Streets in Brooklyn. The United States National Guard Bureau retained control over the six-acre project site after the City purchased the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The federally-owned site … <Read More>


Behind New York City Development, Land Use Attorney Jesse Masyr

Jesse Masyr

Attorney Jesse Masyr brings unique expertise from the public sector to help developers navigate the City’s public review process. CityLand spoke with Masyr at his Midtown office about his career in land use law.

Masyr, who grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, attended Tulane School of Law in New Orleans. Masyr majored in American history as an undergraduate at Harpur College (now SUNY Binghamton) and was fascinated by the antebellum period. Masyr figured that … <Read More>