City Honors Shirley Chisholm, First Black Woman to Serve in Congress, with Monument

Nominations sought to honor a woman committed to social reform and justice. On November 30, 2018, First Lady Chirlane McCray, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, and the Department of Cultural Affairs announced the selection of U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first black Congresswoman and the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination, for a City-funded monument at the Parkside entrance to Prospect Park. Rep. Chisholm’s monument will be the first monument under the She Built <Read More>


City Planning Hears Plans For New Development In Area Lacking Residential Space

New industrial modern loft building for Bronx area scarce with residential options. On March 14, 2018, the City Planning Commission held a hearing on the Willow Avenue Rezoning application. The applicant, Markland 745 LLC, seeks to develop a mixed-use, mostly residential building on Willow Avenue between East 133rd and East 134th Street in the Port Morris section of the Bronx. The property is currently occupied by a three-story commercial office building and a single-story warehouse. … <Read More>


5Pointz Artists Awarded $6.75 Million for Destroyed Artwork

After destruction of legendary 5Pointz artwork, artists receive substantial monetary award. On February 12, 2018, graffiti artists of the legendary 5Pointz site were awarded $6.75 million in damages for the wrongful and willful destruction of 45 works of art that once were displayed on the five-story buildings. The award comes after nearly five years of litigation between the graffiti artists and the owners of the 5Pointz buildings in Long Island City, Queens. To read CityLand’s … <Read More>


Staten Island Borough President wins street name dispute

Staten Island Borough President James Oddo imposed negative street names for new streets laid out in a development. In 2014, Mount Builders, a land developer, purchased land in Staten Island on which it planned to build 200 new houses on three newly created streets. The property that Mount Builders acquired was known as Mount Manresa, which was the location of the first Jesuit retreat house in the United States as well as park land graced … <Read More>


City Planning Holds Hearing on 11-Story Middle-Income Building in Bedford-Stuyvesant

Planning Commission holds hearing for new 11-story mixed-use building with 103 units in Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. On June 21, 2017, the New York City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application for multiple land use actions to facilitate the development of an 11-story mixed-use building consisting of 71,417 square feet of residential floor area and 13,236 square feet of retail floor area. The applicant, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, proposed that the … <Read More>


City Council Committee Searches for Green Roof Standards and Impetus

City Council’s good faith attempt to provide standards for green roofs falls short. On October 28, 2016, the City Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection held a hearing regarding Introduction 0835-2015, which would amend the building code to establish standards for the selection, installation and maintenance of plants for green roof systems. The proposed legislation would incorporate into the building code a manual by the American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM E 2400, which … <Read More>