Con Edison Meets Hurricane Sandy’s Challenge

Every four hours around the clock, beginning Tuesday, October 30, 2012, workers from every part of Consolidated Edison’s territory reported to senior management on the status, needs and plans to restore service to Con Edison customers. The reports came in to Con Edison’s Emergency Response Center set up in the nineteenth floor auditorium at Con Edison’s headquarters at 4 Irving Place.

The first reports were sketchy assessments: what was happening and where. As the storm … <Read More>


Brinckerhoff Cemetery in Queens Landmarked Despite Owner’s Objections

Despite the lack of visible grave markers, Queens cemetery found to contain sufficient historical and archaeological significance to merit designation. On August 14, 2012, Landmarks designated the Brinckerhoff Cemetery at 69-65 182nd Street in the Fresh Meadows section of Queens as an individual City landmark. From 1730 to 1872, the site served as a cemetery for the then-rural community, including the prominent Dutch families who settled the area. A 1919 survey identified 77 gravestones … <Read More>


Governors Island signage and landscaping approved

Proposed welcome walls on Governors Island. Image: Courtesy of West 8.

Portions of Trust for Governors Island’s redevelopment plan falling within historic district needed Landmarks approval. On February 7, 2012, Landmarks issued a binding report approving portions of the Trust for Governors Island’s plan for the recreational redevelopment of the 172-acre Governors Island. Landmarks in July 2011 approved the Trust’s proposal to demolish six non-historic structures and landscape an area near the Yankee Pier public … <Read More>


Metropolitan Museum’s plaza renovation approved

Metropolitan Museum of Art’s plaza renovations. Image: Courtesy of OLIN

Opponents were concerned about how changes to plaza would impact views of the museum. On February 21, 2012, Landmarks issued a favorable advisory report on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s proposal to redesign its plaza along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The museum is an individual City landmark, while the plaza is considered part of Central Park, which is a scenic landmark. … <Read More>


Admirals Row Plaza OK’d

Brooklyn Navy Yard proposal would add supermarket and additional light industrial space. On October 19, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation’s Admirals Row Plaza mixed-use project on the southeast edge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard at the corner of Navy and Nassau Streets in Brooklyn. The United States National Guard Bureau retained control over the six-acre project site after the City purchased the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The federally-owned site … <Read More>


Large rezoning in northeast Queens modified

Contextual rezoning of 418 blocks in Auburndale, Oakland Gardens, and Hollis Hills modified to address concerns of private co-op. On October 27, 2010, the City Council modified the Department of City Planning’s 418-block rezoning of three communities in northeast Queens. The contextual rezoning impacted the Auburndale subarea, which is generally bounded by Station Road to the north, the Long Island Expressway to the south, Francis Lewis Boulevard to the east, and Kissena Park to … <Read More>