Regional Plan Association event featured a variety of discussions on how the New York metropolitan region might face climate change, tackle transportation advancements. The Regional Plan Association, a non-profit urban research and advocacy organization, focuses on planning for economic competitiveness, quality of life, and long-term sustainability in the region that includes New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Orange counties, western Connecticut and northern New Jersey. On April 19, 2013, the Association held its 23rd Annual Assembly to discuss the challenges the region faces, and to plan a livable, sustainable, and economically strong future for the area. The Association recently commenced work on its regional plan, which will be the fourth since the organization’s inception in 1929. The plan will address climate change, deteriorating infrastructure, population increases in urban centers, and the lack of affordable housing, among other issues.

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The Rainbow Room. Credit: LPC

This article was originally published on 8/17/2012 (see below for update).

Rockefeller Center-owner Tishman Speyer endorsed designation, but said it would continue with plans to “revitalize” the currently unused nightclub and restaurant space. On September 11, 2012 Landmarks held a public hearing on the potential designation of the Rainbow Room on the 65th Floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza as an interior landmark. The Rainbow Room was designed by Associated Architects and opened in 1934. The iconic nightclub and restaurant space features 24 double-height windows, tiered seating around a dance floor, crystal chandeliers and sconces, and can accommodate 300 people. In 1987, architect Hugh Hardy oversaw the room’s renovation and restoration. The Rainbow Room has been closed to the public since 2009, when Tishman Speyer Properties evicted Cipriani Restaurants from the space. Landmarks calendared the space on August 14, 2012. (See CityLand‘s coverage here.)

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Former site of AT&T’s Bell Laboratories was converted to live-work space for artists. On October 25, 2011, Landmarks designated the Bell Telephone Laboratories Complex, now known as Westbeth Artists’ Housing, in the Far West Village as an individual City landmark.

The complex comprises five buildings on the block bounded by West, Bethune, Washington and Bank Streets. The complex was built between 1861 in 1926, and stands as a rare example of 19th century industrial architecture. AT&T’s Bell Telephone Laboratories used the complex as a research facility for nearly seventy years, until relocating to New Jersey in 1966. The complex’s primary architect was Cyrus Eidlitz, a Jewish- Austrian émigré and noted designer of industrial and institutional structures. The buildings are generally neo-Classical in style and clad in buff brick. In the early 1930s, the complex was altered to accommodate New York Central’s construction of its elevated railway, now known as the High Line, through the third floor of 51 Bethune Street.

In 1968 the National Endowment for the Arts, with funds provided by the J.M. Kaplan Fund, converted the complex into an artists’ colony with 383 live-work spaces, a gallery, and a performance space. Architect Richard Meier oversaw the conversion, which was his first major project. Meier lived in the complex, as did choreographer Merce Cunningham and photographer Diane Arbus, among other artists.  (more…)

Leslie Koch

Leslie Koch, president of The Trust for Governors Island, is responsible for the planning, redevelopment, and operation of 150 acres of Governors Island. Located 800 yards off the southern tip of Manhattan, the island is the newest addition to New York City’s real estate portfolio.

Koch, a native New Yorker, draws from her experience in both the private and public sectors in managing the island. After receiving a master’s degree in Public and Private Management from Yale University, she initially worked as a marketing executive for Microsoft. She then worked as CEO of the Fund for Public Schools where her leadership helped secure nearly $160 million of public and private funding for City education-related initiatives.

In 2003, the federal government sold the entire 172-acre island, except for the 22-acre national monument on the island’s northern side, to the people of New York State for one dollar. The Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) was formed as a City/State partnership to take over the day-to-day operations on the island. GIPEC was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation. In April 2006, Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg formally named Koch as president of GIPEC, citing her strong track record in successful public/private partnerships. (more…)

Ikea to build a 346,000-square-foot waterfront store in Red Hook. The City Planning Commission approved an application by Ikea Property, Inc., for the development of a 346,000-square-foot furniture store and three ancillary buildings on a 22-acre site along the Red Hook, Brooklyn waterfront. The store, Ikea’s first in New York City, will be its largest store in the United States. The Commission also approved 70,000 sq.ft. of retail and restaurant space and a 6.3-acre public esplanade/bikeway.

Red Hook is primarily zoned M3-1 for heavy manufacturing. Recently, the neighborhood has begun a slow revitalization with the opening of the Community Justice Center in 2000 and with increasing private renovations to its residential and neighborhood retail buildings. (more…)