Mayor’s Office Announces Governors Island Will Be Open Year-Round for the Public Starting in the Fall

The island has seen large growth in visitors over the past several years. On September 28, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Trust for Governors Island announced that Governors Island will now be open year-round to the public starting November 1st. Governors Island, a 172 acre island in New York Harbor, was previously only open seasonally from May to October. 


19th-Century Warehouse to Theater Conversion Wins Landmarks Endorsement

Commission heard testimony from those who opposed significant alterations to preserved ruin, and those who wished to see structure used as cultural space. On June 4, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to issue a favorable advisory report following a hearing on a proposal to convert the stabilized ruins of a tobacco warehouse into a theater and community facility space. The structure stands at 45 Water Street in the Empire Fulton Ferry Park within … <Read More>


Citizens Win Protection of Historic Tobacco Warehouse

Court ruled that the National Park Service unlawfully removed warehouse and adjacent building from park boundaries. In 2001, the National Park Service awarded to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation a federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant to help fund a cove restoration project in Empire Fulton Ferry Park in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The Park Service’s grant was contingent on the State Office of Parks agreeing that the restoration project … <Read More>


Townhouse Proposed for Vacant Rowhouse Lot

Project would fill gap in historic row near Brooklyn Bridge. On May 5, 2009, Landmarks heard testimony on a proposed new residential building at 9 Old Fulton Street in Brooklyn’s Fulton Ferry Historic District. The four-story-plus-penthouse structure would occupy a vacant lot in a row of 1830s Greek Revival rowhouses.

Calling the vacant lot a “missing tooth” in the street’s composition, the project’s architect, Walter Maffei, testified that the new building would match the height … <Read More>


Historic Dumbo Buildings to Become Residential

Plan calls for partial demolition and conversion of three buildings into residential units. Ironworks LLC proposed to convert three vacant buildings located along Old Fulton Street in Dumbo into residential units. Built in the early 1800s, the adjacent four-story brick buildings sit within the Fulton Ferry Historic District, less than 75 feet from the Brooklyn Bridge. Due to their manufacturing zoning, conversion to residential use triggered the need for a variance from BSA.

Ironworks’ plan … <Read More>


Kiosks and trailblazing signs approved for downtown

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 … <Read More>