Adapted from remarks given by former NYPD Commissioner Bratton at a CityLaw Breakfast on October 7, 2016.
I would like to talk to you about the practice of policing over the last fifty years, not only in this city, but this country. New York City can rightfully claim to be the safest large city in America and, I would argue, probably one of the safest large cities in the world. And it’s something that didn’t … <Read More>
The project was approved by City Planning despite opposition from the Community Board, Borough President, and the local Council Member. On October 20, 2014 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will hold hearings on the proposed Astoria Cove mixed-use development project. The project, designed by Alma Realty, is the first project subject to Mayor de Blasio’s mandatory inclusionary zoning housing requirement. Despite the requirement, the project has faced opposition from community … <Read More>
Large Greenpoint Developments, if approved, would produce over 1,400 housing units. On October 30, 2013, the City Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve two major mixed-use developments in Greenpoint, Brooklyn: Greenpoint Landing and 77 Commercial Street. Both projects would allow the City to fulfill commitments to affordable housing and public open space that it made during the 2005 Greenpoint-Williamsburg Rezoning. The 2005 Rezoning of nearly 200 blocks authorized the transformation of Greenpoint’s low-density manufacturing … <Read More>
BSA approval contingent upon several conditions, and restrictions of the hours of operation and access to gravesites. The Congregation Ohel Chabad Lubavitch owns the property at 226-10 Francis Lewis Boulevard, Queens adjacent to the Montefiore Cemetery where the Lubavitch spiritual leader Rebbe Menachem M. Schneerson and his predecessor Rebbe Yosef J. Schneerson are buried. Daily visitors numbering in the several hundreds use the property to access the graves of the Lubavitch leaders. In 1994 … <Read More>
The Bloomberg administration will be remembered for, among other initiatives, a major reallocation of public street space for new and innovative uses. Cars and trucks have been joined by a host of new users, most recently by the long anticipated bike share program. Citibike is a worthy experiment.
The City’s Department of Transportation chased vehicular traffic from portions of Times Square, Herald Square and Madison Square and rededicated the space to movable chairs, tables and … <Read More>
Parking in Manhattan is a controversial subject. The Department of City Planning weighed in on the topic when, in December 2011, it released a study of parking within Manhattan’s core business districts. City Planning reported that there are fewer off-street parking spaces than there were years ago. In 1978 the Manhattan core had 127,000 off-street public parking spaces; in 2010 there were only 103,000.
The reduction in spaces resulted in part from environmental policies that … <Read More>