City wins adult use case

City amended law to obstruct loopholes. In 1993, adult establishments had proliferated within the city, growing from only nine in 1965 to 177 in 1993. A 1993 Planning Department study, precipitated by this increase, concluded that adult uses produced secondary negative impacts like increased crime, property value depreciation and a reduction in commercial activity in areas where the uses were heavily concentrated. This study became the basis of a 1995 citywide zoning amendment that prohibited … <Read More>


Variance for mixed-use building approved

15-unit residential building with commercial space approved for manufacturing district. The owner of 214 25th Street, a 12,617-squarefoot lot in an M1-1D district of Sunset Park, Brooklyn with two vacant, low-rise manufacturing buildings, sought a variance to convert and enlarge one of the structures into a 15-unit, 20,656-square-foot residential building.

The owner argued that manufacturing uses were infeasible due to the buildings’ small size, cost to retrofit, lack of street access, narrow interior spaces and … <Read More>


Housing project will have cinema and retail space

249-unit,mixed-use project will have multi-colored, patterned facade. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development sought approval for a 15-lot disposition in Central Harlem for construction of the Kalahari, a two-building, 249-unit affordable housing project with ground floor retail, restaurant, theater, and community group space. The 54,184-square-foot site, fronting West 115th and 116th Streets, was originally proposed for development in 2003, but HPD withdrew the application several days before the Council’s vote due to concerns raised … <Read More>


Council down-zones 68 blocks in Queens

Springfield Gardens residents petitioned City to initiate down-zoning. On April 12, 2005, the City Council down-zoned 68 blocks of Springfield Gardens, Queens, completing a three-year process initiated by a local community group, the United Neighbors Civic Association.

Concerned about the proliferation of multi-family apartment buildings replacing small, single-family homes, members of United Neighbors canvassed Springfield Gardens with a petition requesting that the City down-zone the neighborhood to hinder future demolition. Acting on the request, the … <Read More>


SoHo residential building approved

Eighty residential units, ground-floor retail and parking garage to replace SoHo parking lot. The developer Albert Laboz sought Landmarks approval for the construction of a nine-story, 110 ft. metal and glass building at 311 West Broadway in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District on a through-block lot with frontage on both Wooster Street and West Broadway. The building, designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects to replace the existing at-grade parking lot, included eight stories along … <Read More>


New zoning district approved for Bayside

New district created to curb development of Queens “McMansions.” On March 14, 2005, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the Bloomberg administration’s largest proposed down-zoning to date and a new citywide zoning district to be applied first to Bayside, a Queens neighborhood characterized predominantly by single-family detached homes. The approved 350-block down-zoning of Bayside, commenced at the urging of Council Member Tony Avella and local residents, seeks to end the rising development in Bayside of semi-detached … <Read More>