Council Members Dickens and Jackson defend plan despite vocal opposition from local residents. On April 30, 2008, the City Council modified the Department of City Planning’s plan to rezone the 125th Street corridor, a 24-block area in the Harlem section of Manhattan.
The plan will rezone large portions of the east and west ends of the corridor to encourage arts, entertainment, and retail uses. The plan will also impose height limits, street wall continuity requirements, … <Read More>
Angry local opposition jeered and escorted out by security. After a public review that included over 170 meetings with local residents, the Planning Commission voted to approve the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone the 125th Street corridor, which includes 124th and 126th Street.
Once a prestigious epicenter of African American culture, the 125th Street corridor has suffered from a lack of public and private investment since the 1960s. In recent years, however, renewed … <Read More>
Last minute effort to delay vote until disclosure of community benefit package was defeated. On December 19, 2007, the City Council voted to approve Columbia University’s and Manhattan Community Board 9’s development plans for West Harlem after the Planning Commission modified both plans the month before. The approval clears the way for Columbia to move forward with its campus expansion into the traditionally industrial neighborhood of Manhattanville.
Columbia’s plan called for a Special Manhattanville Mixed-Use … <Read More>
Marilyn J. Taylor is from a small town in Iowa “with a population of 1,432.” Perhaps it is her Midwestern roots that allow her to remain upbeat and positive as two of her current planning projects—Columbia University’s campus expansion in West Harlem and Solow’s redevelopment of the Con Edison site in Murray Hill—plod their way through the City’s land use review process amidst political controversy.
Taylor is partner to Skidmore Owings & Merrill’s Urban Design … <Read More>
Commission signs off on Columbia’s eminent domain option despite vocal opposition. On November 26, 2007, the Planning Commission modified and approved both Columbia University’s campus expansion plan and Community Board 9’s 197-a plan. The two plans must now go before the City Council for their review.
Columbia’s plan called for rezoning 35 acres of Manhattanville, a section of West Harlem primarily zoned for manufacturing, to facilitate construction of a 17-acre academic mixed-use development roughly bounded … <Read More>
Columbia University proposes northward expansion; CB 9 seeks industrial jobs and affordable housing. On October 3, 2007, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on Columbia University’s and Manhattan Community Board 9’s competing plans for the future of West Harlem.
Under Columbia’s plan, the City would rezone 35 acres of Manhattanville, a section of West Harlem currently zoned primarily for manufacturing, and create a Special Manhattanville Mixed-Use District stretching from West 125th to West 135th … <Read More>