City Planning Holds Hearing on Skyscraper East Harlem Development [UPDATE: Application Found to be Appropriate]

UPDATE: On June 21, 2017, the City Planning Commission the application from the New York City Education Construction Fund and AvalonBay Communities to redevelop a city block in East Harlem to be appropriate. The proposed development would shift the Marx Brothers Playground to the center of the block and facilitate the construction of two buildings at either end. The eastern building would rise eight stories and contain two public high school relocated from other <Read More>


Preservation Consultant Gregory Dietrich on a Unique Path to a Unique Career

Gregory Dietrich, Principal of Gregory Dietrich Preservation Consulting, works as one of the small number of privately practicing historic preservation consultants. His vocation brings him into close contact with regulatory bodies, developers, land use agencies, advocacy groups, non-profit organizations and more.  This gives him a unique perspective, and requires a wide range of expertise he continues to broaden.  In conversation, his intellectual versatility becomes readily apparent, as he discussed his work, his background, and … <Read More>


New Meals on Wheels Facility Sent Back for Rethinking of Exterior Design

Commissioners found design choices made new facility in Seaview Hospital complex look like a suburban office park. On June 7, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered a proposal for a new Meals on Wheels facility in a vacant site at 460 Brielle Avenue in the Seaview Hospital section of the New York City Farm Colony-Seaview Hospital Historic District. The proposed new two-story building would be used as a Meals on Wheels facility serving the … <Read More>


Mayor de Blasio Names Faith Rose as New Public Design Commission Chair

Appointee previously served as Director of the Design Excellence program. On October 7, 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Faith Rose to serve as Executive Director of the Public Design Commission. Ms. Rose, a licensed architect and partner at O’Neill Rose Architects, earned her Masters of Architecture from Yale University and comes to the Commission from the Department of Design and Construction. As Director of the Department’s Design Excellence program, Ms. Rose oversaw … <Read More>


New Housing for the Special Clinton District

Council-approved developments in Special Clinton District will achieve 39 percent affordability across a range of Area Median Incomes. On June 26, 2014, the City Council unanimously voted 48-0 to approve applications which would facilitate the development of two new mixed-use buildings, the rehabilitation of another building, and creation of three new community gardens in the Special Clinton District in Manhattan. The joint applications were proposed by the Clinton Housing Development Company, the New York <Read More>


Appellate Court Affirms Special Permit for Hospital for Special Surgery

Resident opponents failed to block City Planning’s approval of Hospital for Special Surgery expansion. The Hospital for Special Surgery (HHS), located at 535 East 70th Street, proposed a major renovation and expansion of its existing facility located between East 70th  Street and East 72nd Street, and between York Avenue and  the FDR Drive in Manhattan.

On December 26, 2006, the City Planning Commission (CPC) issued a positive declaration and Lead Agency Determination along with an … <Read More>