Top Ten Stories of 2012

Welcome to CityLand‘s first annual top ten stories of the year! We’ve selected the most popular and interesting stories in NYC land use news from our very first year as an online-only publication. We’ve been reporting on NYC land use for eight years and we’ll continue to provide in-depth coverage of the latest land use projects, cases, and legislation in 2013.  The CityLand staff thanks you for your support and wishes you a happy … <Read More>


Williamsburg Mixed-Use Project Withstands Legal Challenge

City approved developer’s request to rezone 15 tax lots to facilitate the development of two, six-story buildings near site of Domino Sugar project. Bruce Terzano (through JBJ, LLC) sought City approval to build a two-building mixed-use project at the corner of Wythe Avenue and South 3rd Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. To facilitate his proposal, Terzano asked the City to expand a nearby MX-8 special mixed-use district to include 15 tax lots on the eastern … <Read More>


HPD’s Carol Clark on Affordable Housing Development and Historic Preservation

Carol Clark, Assistant Commissioner for Land Use and Local Governmental Affairs with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, serves as one of the agency’s vital ambassadors to the City Council. The Council must review HPD’s affordable housing development initiatives that involve the disposition of City-owned properties or the grant of tax exemptions. Clark arrived at HPD ten years ago with an extensive background in architecture, historic preservation, planning, and real estate … <Read More>


Berry Street commercial overlay proposal modified

North Williamsburg restaurant requested rezoning in order to reestablish sidewalk cafe. On July 28, 2011, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified and approved Teddy’s Bar and Grill’s rezoning proposal for a portion of Berry Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Teddy’s is located at the corner of Berry and North 8th Street. Teddy’s originally proposed applying a C2-4 overlay from the northwest corner of North 7th Street to a mid-block point between North 9th and … <Read More>


Council Member Brad Lander on Current Initiatives Affecting Land Use in the City

Council Member Brad Lander, chair of the City Council’s Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses Subcommittee, draws from his experience as a public policy advocate when executing his duties.

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Lander in 1991 earned a liberal arts degree from the University of Chicago. He then earned a master’s degree in Social Anthropology at the University College London in the United Kingdom, where he worked with community groups to research how a … <Read More>


South Williamsburg development approved

Community board wanted developer to exclude bars from mixed-income housing project. On February 16, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved Bruce Terzano’s plan to redevelop the southeast corner of a block bounded by South 2nd and South 3rd Streets and Kent and Wythe Avenues in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The proposal included constructing a six-story building with 61 market-rate apartments and ground floor commercial space, and a smaller six-story building with eighteen affordable apartments.

To facilitate the … <Read More>