Land Use Committee Approves Astoria Cove Project [Updated]

Approval came after negotiations increased the percentage of affordable housing.  On November 12, 2014 the City Council Land Use Committee voted 18-0 to approve the Astoria Cove development project, with modifications.  The vote was delayed several hours as negotiations between lead developer Alma Realty and Council Member Costa Constantinides continued into Wednesday afternoon over Astoria Cove’s housing affordability and other issues discussed in the initial hearing.


First World War-era Development Proposed As Historic District

Tudor Revival enclave consisting of 18 buildings to be considered as historic district. On October 28, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the Chester Court Historic District, formally entering its consideration as a landmarked historic district. The proposed district is comprised of 18 two-and-a-half-story rowhouses in two facing rows, located on a dead-end street built near the eastern edge of Prospect Park in 1914 & 1915.


Early 20th-Century Residential Hotel Designated

Sixteen-story 1907 hotel building is an early example of architecture incorporating light courts, originally devised to allow light and ventilation into tenements. On October 28, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate Mill Hotel No. 3, at 485 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, an individual City landmark. The hotel was completed in 1907, to designs by the architecture firm Copeland & Dole, a bicoastal firm with buildings throughout the country. The hotel was the third … <Read More>


Plans for Farm Colony Redevelopment Approved

Applicants presented design plans and greater detail, and revised plans for new clubhouse to better relate to historic buildings. On October 28, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve an application for binding and advisory reports for the redevelopment of the New York City Farm Colony-Seaview Hospital Historic District. The developers of the site are NFC associates, who plan to use the 45-acre site to create 350 units of housing for people aged … <Read More>


The Town and Village Synagogue Designated an Individual Landmark

Designation was modified to exclude rear portion of the lot, where 1889 annex stands, in what Chair called a “good compromise.” On October 28, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Congregation Tifereth Israel Town and Village Synagogue, at 334 East 14th Street in Manhattan, an individual City landmark. The synagogue was originally built as the First German Baptist Church in 1869, serving the German immigrant community of the East Village and Lower … <Read More>


Challenge to NYU Expansion Plan Overturned on Appeal

Coalition of local residents, Greenwich Village community organizations, and elected officials sought to prevent NYU’s development of two superblocks north of Houston Street. In 2012, the City Council voted to approve multiple actions to allow an expansion plan by New York University to develop two superblocks bounded by West 3rd Street, Houston Street, Mercer Street and LaGuardia place in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The project, projected to take 20 years to complete, would entail the construction … <Read More>