The proposed height provision had, as approved by the Planning Commission, been applicable citywide. On February 28, 2007, the City Council approved the four linked applications for the mixed-use development of West 60th Street Associates, LLC with significant modifications to the developer’s proposed citywide zoning change on bulk.

West 60th originally proposed a zoning text amendment that would allow developers of general, large-scale developments located in certain commercial districts to modify the height factor calculation, a bulk measurement, if it resulted in better site plans and open space. As approved by the Planning Commission, the new bulk waiver special permit would apply to ten community districts in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. 4 CityLand 4 (Feb. 15, 2007). (more…)

Losing bidders challenged DOT’s selection of Spanish-based outdoor advertising franchisee. In May 2006, the City approved a 20-year franchise to Cemusa, Inc. to construct and maintain citywide street furniture, including bus shelters, news racks and pay toilets, on which Cemusa would be permitted to sell advertising space. Approval by the City’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee came after a DOT-initiated request for proposals, a DOT-review and award process, and a public hearing. 3 CityLand 129 (Sept. 15, 2006).

Losing bidders NBC Decaux and Clear Channel challenged the City’s approval, claiming that DOT improperly communicated with Cemusa two months before its decision, leading to Cemusa’s bid edging out the competition, and Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff colluded with City officials to offer franchise criteria that favored Cemusa due to its ability to provide worldwide ad space for the 2012 Olympic bid. The parties also alleged that DOT improperly computed Cemusa’s plan for scrolling ad space by counting it as guaranteed revenue even though it was unclear whether the City would allow scrolling ads. Finally, NBC and Clear Channel argued that Cemusa was not the most experienced bidder and that Cemusa’s bid did not represent measurable cash values required by the RFP, since it offered worldwide ad space in lieu of cash. (more…)

Community claimed the FEIS flawed, the project was a nuisance and a Bronx facility would be more economical. In June 2005, Sanitation obtained final City approval for construction of a marine transfer station on the site of an inactive waste transfer station at East 91st Street and the East River. The approval was part of a citywide proposal to make each borough responsible for the export of its own waste. Sanitation’s proposal to reactivate the site, which it closed in 1999, faced severe opposition and the City Council voted it down, forcing Mayor Bloomberg to veto the denial. 2 CityLand 86 (July 15, 2005); 2 CityLand 52 (May 15, 2006).

Local residents, business owners and ACORN, a national community organization, challenged the City’s approval, alleging that the City illegally segmented the environmental review by not studying impacts on final freight destinations, failed to consider the transfer station’s impacts when operating at maximum capacity within the FEIS, and clashed with the City’s own policies to create a residential district around East 91st Street. The residents also alleged that the marine transfer station’s noise, odor and air pollution impacts would create a public and private nuisance. The residents argued that, if the City relaxed its policy of making each borough self-reliant, it would be more economical to use an existing truck-to-rail waste transfer station operated by a private company in the Bronx. (more…)

Times Square garage permitted to open up to public and increase capacity to 386 spaces. Owners of the Viacom Building, located at 1515 Broadway between West 44th and West 45th Streets in Times Square, applied to City Planning in 2005 to convert the building’s existing 225-space accessory parking garage into a public parking garage and to increase its capacity by 161 spaces and 19 reservoir spaces. The garage would be fully attended and access would remain on West 44th Street. No new construction would be needed to increase the garage’s capacity to a total of 386 spaces.

The 54-story Viacom Building contains over 1.7 million square feet of floor area used primarily as office space. It also contains MTV’s television studios, the 1,700-seat Minskoff Theater and the 2,100-seat Nokia Times Square, formerly the Loew’s Astor Plaza movie theater. The existing garage was originally authorized as an accessory parking garage for tenants. (more…)

Unique Bronx neighborhood down-zoned. On December 8, 2005, the City Council rezoned 39 blocks in Olinville, Bronx and, in a separate action, created a new R5A district which can be applied citywide. The Planning Department initiated the rezoning proposal in response to Bronx Community Board 12’s and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.’s concerns over the increasing replacement of Olinville’s single-family homes with new, significantly out-of-character, high-density apartments.

When first developed in the early 19th century, Olinville was known for its tapestry mills, which were later replaced with modest single-family homes as Olinville became an early residential suburb of the city. Although the area primarily has one and two-family homes, current zoning allows for high-density apartment buildings.

The proposal down-zoned 962 lots, and seeks to retain low-density development and prevent commercial use on residential side streets in an area bounded by East 219th Street and Gun Hill Road, White Plains Road and Boston Road, Burke and Adee Avenues, and Bronx Boulevard. Under the approved proposal, new residential construction will be limited to lower density development consistent with the existing neighborhood character. (more…)