
The Interborough Rapid Transit Powerhouse. Image credit: LPC
Wide support voiced for designation of monumental Stanford White-designed powerhouse and iconic Classicist department store, despite owner opposition. On November 5, 2015, Landmarks held the third of four special hearings to address the backlog of items calendared prior to 2010, but never brought to a vote on designation. Previous hearings were held on October 8 and 22, 2015. The November hearing was the first devoted to items in Manhattan.
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Image Credit: LPC
Items at issue included a former retirement community for sailors, a Colonial-era stone farmhouse, a lighthouse, and the Vanderbilt family mausoleum. On October 22, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held the second of four special hearings to address the backlog of items calendared before 2012 but never brought to a vote on designation. The hearing consisted of three batches, of seven to eleven items each, all located in Staten Island. Twenty-six items in total were considered at the hearing. (more…)

Landmarks Preservation Commission. Credit: LPC.
Wide support voiced for designation of Coney Island pumping Station; potential extension to Douglaston Historic District and individual designation of Queens Apartment complex and religious structures proved contentious. On October 8, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held the first of four hearings meant to address the backlog of items on the Commission’s calendar added prior to 2010. Twenty-nine items were considered, in three groupings of multiple items clustered by borough. Each speaker had three minutes to testify for each batch, rather than on individual items. At the meeting, Landmark heard testimony on one batch of items in the Bronx, one in Brooklyn, and one in Queens. (more…)

Architectural rendering of The Jardim. Image credit: Office of Environmental Remediation/Centaur Properties
The proposed parking facility would create 39 internal parking spaces for 36 residential units. On September 22, 2015, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on WC 28 Realty LLC’s application seeking a special permit to build 39 off-street parking spaces attached to its proposed condominium complex for exclusive use by the condominium’s tenants. The condominium, called the Jardim, is located in the West Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The developers are allowed to build 10 accessory parking spaces as of right and require the special permit to build the additional 29 parking spaces in the proposed automated parking facility.
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Long View Rendering of 126th Street and Citi Field. Image Credit: NYC EDC.
Council Members voiced concern over the City’s applications to facilitate Phase 1 of the Willets’ Point Development Project. The City Council’s Land Use Zoning and Franchises subcommittee held a public hearing on September 3, 2013 on Phase 1A of the $3 billion Willets Point Development Project. The applicants, New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Queens Development Group, a joint venture of Related Companies and Sterling Equities, testified. The application is a modification of the original 2008 proposal, and seeks a zoning resolution amendment and special permits to allow the City Planning Commission (CPC) to permit the development of up to 2,833 parking spaces and recreational area in a temporary lot within the Willets Point District. (more…)