New standards and guidelines intended to improve public use. The City Council approved City Planning’s proposal to update, improve, and consolidate rules for privately owned public spaces.
Under the old zoning, a developer in parts of Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens can generate a floor area bonus of up to 20 percent if it builds an adjacent publicly-accessible open space, such as a plaza, arcade, or galleria. In practice, however, many of these privately owned public … <Read More>
Projects intended to spur development in Harlem and Jamaica. On September 21, 2007, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development held a hearing in the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s offices to receive public comment on the City’s plan to seek State funds for two redevelopment projects in Harlem and Jamaica. The City hopes to secure State funding under the Restore New York’s Communities Initiative, a State initiative created last year to … <Read More>
Local residents oppose proposed design. On September 18, 2007, Landmarks held a public hearing on the controversial proposal from developer Janna Bulluck to construct a modern five-story townhouse at 34 East 62nd Street in the Upper East Side Historic District to replace the 1882 townhouse destroyed by a gas explosion in 2006.
Located between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue, the original brownstone once served as headquarters for “The Room,” an upper-class club that later served … <Read More>
Seminary will demolish 1960s Sherrill Hall to make way for 7-story bldg. On September 18, 2007, Landmarks approved the General Theological Seminary’s plan to construct a seven-story mixed-use building and a five-story administrative building on its campus within the Chelsea Historic District.
The Seminary’s 17-building walled-in campus, located between Ninth and Tenth Avenues from West 20th to West 21st Streets, consists mostly of 19th century Gothic-style buildings. Under the plan, the Seminary will demolish Sherrill … <Read More>
Iconic symbol of Brooklyn’s industrial heritage approved as City landmark. On September 25, 2007, Landmarks voted unanimously to designate three buildings within the former Domino Sugar Processing Plant, located along the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The three round arch-style brick buildings, the largest of which measures 13 stories high, date back to the 1880s. The plant produced sugar until the 1970s. After Domino closed the site in 2004, CPC Resources purchased the plant with … <Read More>
Public comments on plan to expand Lincoln Square campus in order to provide over 2.5 million sq.ft. of new floor area. On September 10, 2007, City Planning held a public hearing on the draft scope of the environmental impact statement for the proposed expansion of Fordham University’s Lincoln Square campus.
Fordham plans to build facilities for its law, business, social services and education schools, dormitories, a theater, and parking facilities on the block bounded by … <Read More>