Zoning for Housing Opportunity Amendment Aims to Address City’s Housing Shortage

Still in its early stages, Mayor Adams’ proposed zoning text amendment aims to increase affordable housing in the city. On June 1, 2022, Mayor Adams announced his “City of Yes” plan consisting of three citywide zoning text amendments. One of these initiatives, “Zoning for Housing Opportunity,” addresses the city’s housing shortage. Although the text amendment has not yet been drafted, Mayor Adams listed four key housing proposals in his announcement.


Resident Fined $475 for Blocked Sprinkler

Loft-owner had a freestanding structure in their studio with a suspended ceiling that blocked access to sprinkler system. Marsha Pels owns a studio space at 99 Commercial Street in Greenpoint Brooklyn. In the middle of the studio the owner had a freestanding structure that contained a bed. On May 11, 2012, a fire department inspector observed that the freestanding structure had a suspended ceiling that was approximately 10 feet below the studio’s ceiling where sprinkler … <Read More>



Mayor Appoints Asim Rehman as Next OATH Commissioner

Rehman is the first Muslim-American to serve as OATH Commissioner. On March 29, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced Asim Rehman had been selected as the next Commissioner and Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). OATH serves as the City’s administrative law court, which handles the adjudication of issues referred by City agencies, summonses from City agencies, and other topics including but not limited to employee discipline, City-issued license <Read More>


Reducing Racial Bias Embedded in Land Use Codes

Even though the Supreme Court struck down race-based land use controls over a hundred years ago in Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917) it has long been known that zoning continues to create or increase racial and economic segregation. Today communities across the U.S. are reexamining their zoning regulations to create more equal, equitable, inclusive, and resilient communities by removing requirements, limitations, or prohibitions that disproportionately and negatively impact individuals based on race … <Read More>


Landmarks Approves New 13-Story Office Building in Madison Square North HD

The modified design received support from the majority of the Commissioners. On May 12, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness to construct a new 13-story office building on a vacant lot at 1162 Broadway, Manhattan. The vacant lot is located within the Madison Square North Historic District. In 2013, Landmarks originally approved the building’s construction and design for a new hotel but nothing was constructed. Morris Ajemi Architects, the … <Read More>