Vornado’s 1,200-foot Penn Plaza tower approved

The City Council approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposed 15 Penn Plaza commercial tower across the street from Penn Station in Manhattan.

Opponents raised concerns about impact on Empire State Building, while the Council focused on Vornado’s participation in Minority- and Womenowned Business Enterprise program. On August 25, 2010, the City Council approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposal to construct a commercial tower rising approximately 1,200 feet on Seventh Avenue between West 32nd and 33rd Streets in … <Read More>


Addition to Battery Maritime Building modified

Proposed three-story and penthouse addition reduced by two stories. On July 27, 2010, Landmarks approved the City’s Economic Development Corporation and the Dermot Company’s application to reduce a previously approved rooftop addition for the landmarked Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street along Lower Manhattan’s waterfront. The original proposal called for a three-story glass addition plus a penthouse. It was approved by Landmarks in February 2008 and the City Council in March 2009. 6 CityLand <Read More>


Council Member Leroy Comrie Discusses His Role as Land Use Committee Chair

Council Member Leroy Comrie, Chair of the City Council’s Land Use Committee and representative of Queens’ 27th District, is not afraid to raise his voice or make his opinion known. For the most part, however, Comrie is known as a quiet, thoughtful, and fair-minded civic leader.

Comrie was born in Jersey City, but he was raised in the same southeast Queens community he now represents. His parents, Jamaican immigrants, helped spark Comrie’s interests in politics … <Read More>


Domino Sugar modified: plan sent back to CPC

Council restored office tower’s height cut by the City Planning Commission. On June 30, 2010, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved a modified version of CPC Resources Inc.’s proposal to build a mixed-use project at the Domino Sugar plant site along Williamsburg’s East River waterfront. The project site includes the plant’s 9.8-acre waterfront parcel north of the Williamsburg Bridge and south of Grand Ferry Park, and a 1.3-acre upland parcel across Kent Avenue between … <Read More>


Rezonings in three boroughs begin public review

Planning proposed contextual rezonings in Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. On May 24, 2010, the City Planning Commission certified the Department of City Planning’s contextual rezoning proposals for sections of Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. The Queens rezoning would impact a 418-block portion of northeast Queens and would be the City’s largest rezoning. The Bronx plan would rezone 75 blocks along the central Bronx’s Third Avenue and Tremont Avenue corridors. The Manhattan proposal, referred to … <Read More>


Conversion of dilapidated rowhouses approved

Revised plan included less visible additions and more conservative facade alterations. On April 13, 2010, Landmarks approved the Chetrit Group’s revised proposal to convert six dilapidated rowhouses into three, double-wide townhouses with rooftop additions at 110 through120 East 76th Street. Chetrit’s original proposal included a request to partially demolish two of the 1885-era rowhouses and convert the six buildings into three townhouses with two-story additions. The plan called for significant facade alterations, including new street-level … <Read More>