MAS’s Kent Barwick Reflects on Promoting a More Livable City

Kent Barwick has a stickball bat hiding in the corner of his office. He swears he does not use it, and who can argue with him? His office is in the Villard Houses in Midtown, and its courtyard is too small for a game. But physical boundaries aside, he would never have the time to show off his skills. Mr. Barwick, a graduate of Syracuse University and a Harvard University Loeb Fellow, is the current … <Read More>


Proposed DUMBO district set for landmark hearing

Proposed DUMBO Historic District. Map: LPC.

Rapidly gentrifying neighborhood starts process towards landmark status. On July 24, 2007, Landmarks calendared a 15-block area on Brooklyn’s waterfront adjacent to the Manhattan Bridge approach as a potential historic district. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, DUMBO developed as a primarily industrial area at a time when Brooklyn was counted among the country’s largest manufacturing centers. DUMBO’s East River location attracted a wide variety of industries, … <Read More>


Lycée Français and DoubleClick on IDA’s July Calendar

July public hearing notice lists $143 million in bond offerings and six straight leases. The New York City Industrial Development Agency, a component of the Economic Development Agency, held its monthly public hearing on July 19, 2007. The 14 project applications detailed in IDA’s public notice included over $143 million in bond offering and six straight leases.

The largest bond application on the July calendar was made by the Lycée Français de New York, an … <Read More>


Hearing approved for Domino Sugar building

Refinery buildings, just north of Williamsburg Bridge, were completed in 1884. On May 22, 2007, Landmarks voted to consider designation of the former Domino Sugar Processing Plant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Under consideration are three connected structures, the Pan House, Finishing House, and Filter House, which is the largest structure in the complex, standing 13 stories above the East River. Landmarks’ action did not include the nearby 1960s building hosting the yellow neon “Domino Sugar” sign.… <Read More>


EDC seeks developers to renovate Bush terminal

EDC to accept development proposals for this underused Brooklyn waterfront site. Photo: The New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Proposals due May 21, 2007. The New York City Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals on March 26, 2007 seeking developers to purchase and redevelop 130,000 sq.ft. of the Bush Terminal complex, located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The site, bound by 43rd and 47th Streets on the north and south and the 51st Street … <Read More>


City foils TransGas’s condemnation of park site

Court rules TransGas Energy’s condemnation is premature. TransGas Energy Systems proposed to construct a power plant along the East River waterfront in Williamsburg. It spent $1.5 million in March 2001 on an option to purchase the site, and, in 2002, filed for approval from the state Siting Board.

At Siting Board hearings, the City opposed the plan, testifying that it planned to rezone the entire Williamsburg neighborhood and create a waterfront park. In 2004, the … <Read More>