City Council Holds Another Hearing on the Parks Capital Process

Other agencies still missing from Council’s hearing on Park’s capital process. On November 12, 2019, the City Council’s Committee on Parks, Committee on Contracts, and Subcommittee on Capital Budget held a joint oversight hearing titled “Improving the Efficiency of Parks Department Capital Projects.” The hearing was chaired respectively by Council Members Peter Koo, Ben Kallos and Vanessa L. Gibson. This hearing was held in order to create a dialogue about the state of the capital … <Read More>


Threatened Mansion Designated Two Weeks after Calendaring

Turn-of-the-century mansion, identified as part of Sunset Park survey, was calendared as a last-minute addition to agenda two weeks prior to hearing, followed immediately by designation. Landmarks voted to designate the Maurice T. Lewis House, at 404 55th Street in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, immediately following a public hearing on March 6, 2018. Landmarks had only added the item to its calendar two weeks prior, as a last-minute addition to the day’s agenda.


Addition to American Museum of Natural History on Columbus Avenue Side Approved

Approved addition, occupying a quarter acre of parkland, will increase connections for better museum circulation, provide additional space to store collection materials, and allow visitors to watch scientists at work. At its meeting on October 11, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to issue a binding report for the construction of an addition, and associated demolition, to the American Museum of Natural History, an individual landmark on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The addition, … <Read More>


History in the Making: The New York City Landmarks Law at 50

Speakers spoke of the different priorities of City government and other stakeholders, examined preservation strategies of municipalities nationwide, and considered changes in the legal landscape that could affect landmarking. On October 26, 2015, , Meenakshi Srinivasan, Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and Jerold Kayden, Professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, co-hosted an event titled “History in the Making: The New York City Landmarks Law at 50.” The event held at … <Read More>


Center for NYC Neighborhoods Hosts Panel on Affordable Homeownership

The keynote panel focused on the issues and challenges raised by affordable housing creation and preservation in New York City.  On September 30, 2015, the Center for NYC Neighborhoods held its conference on the Future of Affordable Homeownership in NYC.  The event was hosted at New York Law School and sponsored by NYLS, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, the Center for Real Estate Studies, the Center for New York City Law, and several other … <Read More>


Court Dismisses Action Against Willets Point Developers

Public trust doctrine did not apply to Willets Point West development project.  On August 15, 2014, the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan denied petitions for declarative and injunctive relief against the Willets Point Development Project in Queens.  The petitions were brought by a coalition led by New York State Senator Tony Avella, The City Club of New York, and New York City Park Advocates.  The petitioners argued that constructing a shopping … <Read More>