New development on current vacant lot will include eight affordable units and ground floor commercial space. On September 5, 2018, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) for the acquisition of property at 599 Courtlandt Street in the Melrose section of the Bronx. The property is located between East 150th and East 151st Streets. The applicants plan to build a … <Read More>
Search Results for: General Project Plan Review
Blocked Brooklyn Bridge View Claim Defeated
Development corporation constructed buildings in Brooklyn Bridge Park that blocked view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn Promenade. In 2005 Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation and Empire State Development Corporation adopted a general project plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park that included the development of a hotel, restaurant, and residential units upland of Brooklyn’s Pier 1. Community members demanded during the initial environmental review that the new buildings not block the view of the Brooklyn … <Read More>
A Better Path for East Midtown
Early in January 2017 the City of New York began the official public approval process for a proposal to rezone East Midtown Manhattan. The proposal was based in part on a report by the East Midtown Steering Committee co-chaired by the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and the District 4 Council Member Daniel Garodnick.
The new 2017 proposal is the third proposal for rezoning East Midtown. In 2013 the Bloomberg Administration proposed to rezone East … <Read More>
City Council to Consider New Oversight Controls on BSA
Ten bills will be aired for public opinion to place restrictions on and revamp the processes of the Board of Standards and Appeals. On December 6, 2016, Council Member Ben Kallos introduced five new bills regarding the oversight and operations of the Board of Standards and Appeals at the City Council’s stated meeting. The Board of Standards and Appeals, which was originally created to be an independent board tasked with granting “relief” from the zoning … <Read More>
Prison Reform: The Monitor’s First Report in the Nunez Case
Recently the City got some good news about Rikers Island, a change from the bad news of recent years. On August 2, 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio, together with Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte, announced that for the first six months of 2016 the frequencies with which staff used serious force on inmates and inmates seriously assaulted staff dropped by nearly half over the past year. Overall uses of force and assault numbers were also down … <Read More>
Report Identifies Flaws in DOB’s Auditing of Professionally Certified Applications
Comptroller’s audit found that Buildings generally implemented adequate controls over construction permit applications, but issued three recommendations to ensure public safety. On June 17, 2016, the Officer of the Comptroller Scott Stringer released a report of an audit conducted on the Department of Buildings’ processing of construction permits. The audit determined that Buildings’ controls for the processing of application were implemented consistently, that there were appropriate separation of duties, and an adequate application tracking system. … <Read More>