Image Credit: HPD

The agency received over 98,000 unique complaints about heat or hot water last season. On October 1, 2020, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced the start of the 2020 – 2021 heat season, in which all residential building owners are required to maintain specific indoor temperatures. From October 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021, building owners must maintain indoor temperatures at 68 degrees when outdoor temperatures are below 55 degrees during the daytime and a minimum of 62 degrees indoors overnight regardless of the outdoor temperature. Hot water must be provided at 120 degrees year-round.  (more…)

Satellite View of Project Area. Image Credit: Google Maps.

City Planning approved a special permit and City Map amendment to allow for the development of 5 one-story retail establishments in Mariner’s Harbor, Staten Island. On September 6, 2017, the City Planning Commission issued a favorable report on the South Avenue Retail Development. The South Avenue Retail Development involves 2 land use actions: a special permit to allow retail establishments above 10,000 square feet, and a City Map amendment to alter and remove unbuilt streets mapped over wetland areas. The Commission found both land use actions appropriate, subject to specific conditions.

The project area, the region southwest of Forest and South Avenues, is currently zoned as an M1-1 district. M1-1 zoning allows “light industrial and commercial uses as-of-right up to a floor area ratio of 1.0.” Commercial use in excess of 10,000 square feet is not allowed as-of-right, but can be overcome with a special permit from the Commission pursuant to Section 74-922 of the Zoning Resolution.

The 28.3 acre development site, where 5 new retail buildings will be constructed, is within the 51.3 acre project area, which also includes 23 acres of wetlands mapped by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“NYSDEC”). The applicant, Josif A LLC, plans to build a 219,377 square feet retail center within the development site. Because each of the 5 buildings will be more than 10,000 square feet, a special permit is necessary for their construction. Josif A LLC also proposes, through a restrictive deed, that the future owners of the 28.3 acre development site permanently maintain 10.77 acres of wetland regulated by the NYSDEC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along the site’s southern border. (more…)