BIDs receive over $3.1 million increase in annual spending. On November 28, 2007, the City Council passed a local law to increase the annual budget for 10 business improvement districts and one special assessment district. The increases will require property owners within these districts to pay more into their BID or SAD.
The Times Square Alliance received the largest increase at $768,000, bringing its annual budget to $10.4 million. Outside of Manhattan, the largest increase went to the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership, located in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, which received a $100,000 increase, raising its annual budget to $350,000. (more…)
Neighborhood had originally been surveyed for designation in the 1970s. At its September 19th meeting, Landmarks held a hearing on the proposed Proposed Crown Heights North Historic District. The district, on land that was once part of the Lefferts family’s large holdings, had originally been surveyed in the 1970s along with the Fort Greene and Park Slope historic districts. An upper-class suburb in the 1870s, several free-standing Victorian homes still remain in the neighborhood. Following the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, developers built residential Neo-Grecian row houses to accommodate the expanding community. Near the turn of the century, Queen Anne and Neo- Romanesque styles began to predominate, which then gave way to the Renaissance Revival style. In the 1920s, Crown Heights became a haven for immigrant communities, and apartment buildings in the Tudor, Art-Deco, and Mediterranean styles were added. The district incorporates the individually landmarked Imperial Apartments. The proposal was calendared in June 2006. 3 CityLand 93 (July 15, 2006).
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who grew up in Crown Heights, spoke at the hearing in favor of designation. He noted that it was the first hearing on a proposed Brooklyn Historic district since Vinegar Hill, designated in 1997, and that he hoped to attend more hearings on Brooklyn designations. City Council Members Letitia James and Albert Vann also urged designation, with James promising to preserve affordable housing within the district. (more…)
Signs requested by MetroTech BID and local businesses. Landmarks issued a binding report approving MetroTech BID’s proposal to install “way finding signage” throughout downtown Brooklyn. The proposal developed more than three years ago from a general consensus among MetroTech and downtown Brooklyn business groups that there was a lack of signage in downtown Brooklyn to assist pedestrians in finding key destinations. Initially using its own funds, and later obtaining capital funding from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and the City Council, MetroTech is now working with the Economic Development Corporation to further its proposal.
MetroTech’s plan to install kiosks and pole-mounted signs throughout downtown Brooklyn impacted six historic districts: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn Heights, Clinton Hill, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, and Fulton Ferry. The kiosks will be approximately sevenfeet tall and two-feet wide and placed at major pedestrian traffic locations, such as subway and bus stops. They will display a map directory on one side and a detailed, area-wide map on the other. Directional signs, approximately two-feet square, will be mounted on poles approximately 11-feet tall and will complete the signage system by providing directions to specific locations. (more…)
Commission approved 34-acre transfer to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. The Department of Small Business Services and DCAS proposed to acquire and transfer an additional 34 acres to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation to be added to the 262-acre area currently under its management. A majority of the area to be transferred, 28 acres, contains the former U.S. Navy’s Hospital Annex. The remaining six acres, currently owned by the U.S. National Guard, contain Admirals Row, eleven former officer’s homes that were constructed between 1 864-190l.
At the Commission’s public hearing, David Lowin, Vice President of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, estimated that 99 percent of the current area under its management is fully leased for light industrial and commercial uses, adding over 4,500 jobs to the New York City area. Although specific plans for the added 34 acres have not been finalized, Lowin explained that its use would be limited to light industrial. (more…)
