Jacques Ely Kahn-Designed Manufacturing Building City’s Newest Individual Landmark

Modern classical structure, completed in 1930, was built as part of an industrial development of the area following the opening of the Holland Tunnel. On August 6, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Holland Plaza Building, at 75 Varick Street in Manhattan, as an individual landmark. The 1930 building was designed by Jacques Ely Kahn, a prolific New York-based architect who was also responsible for the Municipal Asphalt Plant, and … <Read More>


Building a New Pennsylvania Station for the 21st Century

The decision to demolish Penn Station nearly 50 years ago haunts New York City today as we grapple with the need to expand our rail transit capacity in the 21st century. The current version of Penn Station, pinned beneath Madison Square Garden, is not merely an unsightly and unwelcoming entrance to our City, it is an overburdened facility that is incapable of being expanded with Madison Square Garden at its current location. That is why … <Read More>


Robin Stout on the Future of the Moynihan Station Project

I n 2005, Robin Stout was appointed President of the Moynihan Station Development Corporation, the Empire State Development Corporation’s subsidiary charged with transforming the James A. Farley Post Office Building into a new train hall named for the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Stout, a Columbia Law School graduate, spent nine years at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP before joining the ESDC as Senior Counsel to the 42nd Street Development Project in 1990. Transforming … <Read More>


Council revises waterfront access regulations

Plan extends screening buffer waiver to community facility uses. In 1993, special waterfront zoning regulations were adopted to facilitate the redevelopment of waterfront properties. The regulations, found in Article VI Chapter 2 of the Zoning Resolution, were a response to the obstructed views, blocked public access, and out-of-character development that occurred along the City’s waterfront. The rules required developers in certain districts to construct and maintain waterfront public access areas. Over time, the rules helped … <Read More>


Council approves changes to Clinton theater bonus

Amendments to Special Clinton District refine theater bonus zoning text. In 2005, the City Council approved several applications submitted by the Department of City Planning intended to revitalize the Far West Side of Manhattan. Among the approved actions was the establishment of the Special Hudson Yards District and the creation of a floor area bonus for theater use applicable to “Theater Row” in the Special Clinton District. 2 CityLand 4 (Feb. 15, 2005). In November … <Read More>


Trinity Real Estate’s Carl Weisbrod Reflects on Revitalizing Urban Areas

Carl Weisbrod’s office at One Hudson Square is emblematic of the changes Trinity Real Estate is bringing to Hudson Square—a neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan nestled between SoHo, Tribeca, and the West Village. A modern office space with advanced technological amenities, the building was actually designed in 1930 to accommodate printing companies. Much like the building, Mr. Weisbrod, as President of Trinity Real Estate—the real estate development arm of Trinity Church, one of … <Read More>