Council Member Brad Lander, chair of the City Council’s Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses Subcommittee, draws from his experience as a public policy advocate when executing his duties.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Lander in 1991 earned a liberal arts degree from the University of Chicago. He then earned a master’s degree in Social Anthropology at the University College London in the United Kingdom, where he worked with community groups to research how a … <Read More>
Plan seeks to protect Victorian homes and pre-war apartment buildings. The City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposal for the Flatbush neighborhoods south of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. The plan impacts 180 blocks generally bounded by Prospect Park to the north, Bedford Avenue to the east, Coney Island Avenue to the west, and Brooklyn College to the south. The rezoning area includes the Prospect Park South, Ditmas Park, Albermarle- Kenmore Terraces, and Fiske … <Read More>
Planning’s recommendation to downzone bungalow area opposed. On May 6, 2009, the City Planning Commission listened to extensive testimony on the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposal for Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach. The plan would impact 54 blocks generally bounded by Shore Parkway, Brighton Beach Avenue, Ocean Parkway, and Corbin Place.
The proposed rezoning area … <Read More>
Commission approves community-initiated rezoning to curb out-of-character development and encourage retail use along Caton Avenue. On February 4, 2009, the City Planning Commission approved a five-block rezoning in Brooklyn, just west of the Parade Grounds at Prospect Park. The rezoning area, generally bounded by Caton Place to the north, Ocean Parkway to the west, … <Read More>
When asked to recall projects throughout his 35-year career, land use attorney Paul Selver’s discussion becomes a vivid narrative of how the economy translates into New York City’s physical changes. Selver sees 1977 as the point when developers started looking ahead for the first time; the 1981 to 1988 development boom coincided with the economy’s exuberance and ended with the stock market crash. To Selver, his current projects, like a six-block rezoning in Coney Island, … <Read More>
BSA okays hotel only after reduction of 18,000 sq.ft. After four proposals and five public hearings, BSA approved development of a 48-foot tall, four-story transient hotel in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. The site of the hotel, at 806/814 Coney Island Avenue, is comprised of five contiguous lots totaling 32,153 sq.ft., split by commercial (C8-2) and residential (R5) districts and currently contains a one-story garage. The owner required a variance to permit the hotel’s proposed size in … <Read More>