EDC plan elicits debate over affordable housing

Proposed Hunter’s Point South development. Image: FXFOWLE Architects, LLP, Tom Schaller.

Opponents claim Hunter’s Point South will not adequately address lack of affordable housing in Queens. On August 13, 2008, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Hunter’s Point South Redevelopment Plan. The plan aims to create an affordable, middle-income community and waterfront park on 30 acres of Long Island City waterfront.

Originally owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, … <Read More>


Proposed historic district would be Brooklyn’s largest

Prospect Heights Proposed Rezoning.

Neighborhood adjacent to Atlantic Yards characterized by 19th Century rowhouses. On July 15, 2008, Landmarks moved to calendar 21 blocks in Prospect Heights, the first step in designating a new historic district. With 870 buildings, the proposed district would be Brooklyn’s largest. Bordering Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards development, as well as Prospect Park, the area is characterized by residential 19th Century rowhouses, predominantly in Neo- Grec, Italianate, Second Empire, and … <Read More>


Rezoned owner allowed to complete construction

DOB stop-work order of no consequence in vested rights analysis. On April 25, 2007, the Department of Buildings issued a permit to the owner of 1447 Rosedale Avenue to construct a three-story, two-family home. Two weeks later the City Council approved a rezoning in Park Stratton which changed the zoning on the owner’s lot from R6 to R5, thereby rendering the proposed project out-of-compliance with maximum permitted floor area, parking, lot coverage, residential density, and … <Read More>


New plan for East Harlem remains controversial

Six-acre site in East Harlem proposed for development. Image courtesy of the New York City Economic Development Corp.

Community and Stringer criticize EDC for initiating land use process before selecting developer. On July 23, 2008, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on a plan to redevelop a six-acre site in East Harlem roughly bounded by East 125th and East 127th Streets between Second and Third Avenues. The plan before the Commission resulted from a controversial … <Read More>


Planning moves to protect Brooklyn neighborhood

At least 30 speakers testified on proposal backed by residents and local elected officials. On June 4, 2008, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Department of City Planning’s proposal to define an area of Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens as having “narrow streets” under the zoning law. The proposal would result in a lowering of the permitted building heights and densities, making as-of-right development consistent with neighborhood character. Currently zoned R6, with portions … <Read More>


Planning Comm. reduced Hudson Square plan

Further study needed before as-of-right residential conversions in West Village. The Planning Commission voted on June 4, 2008 to significantly reduce the area subject to the private rezoning application of KMG Greenwich LLC for Hudson Square in Manhattan. The vote followed a contentious public hearing before the Commission, where residents and elected officials called the rezoning piecemeal, and warned that it would result in a loss of needed businesses and jobs. 5 CityLand 56 (May … <Read More>