Three Affordable Housing Projects Approved by Land Use Committee with Measured Disapproval

The City Council’s Land Use Committee approved three projects in Brooklyn with varying forms and degrees of affordable housing. On April 20, 2017, the Land Use Committee voted to approve three new projects with some dissent registered. During the meeting, Council Member Jumaane Williams remarked that as a body the City Council was presenting two faces. One face to the public in discussing homelessness and affordable housing, and another face when voting on projects “that … <Read More>


Landmarks Leaves Only One Backlog Item Remaining After Last Meeting of 2016

Ten of thirteen items brought to a final disposition were designated by Landmarks and will proceed to City Council for ratification. On December 13, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission made its final dispositive votes on items prioritized for designation in the commission’s Backlog Initiative, with one exception. The initiative, began in 2015, sought to address the backlog of designation items that had been added to the commission’s calendar before 2001 but never brought to … <Read More>


Potential Developers Say Designation Would Likely Halt Adaptive Reuse of Former Dairy

Developer’s engineers say stabilizing the buildings while conducting environmental remediation would lead to six million dollars in unplanned costs. On September 13, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a second hearing on the potential designation of two of the buildings that once composed the Empire State Dairy Company at 2840 Atlantic Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn.


Landmarks Requests Rethinking of Plan to Redevelop 2 Buildings into a 1-Family Home

Proposal would redevelop two turn-of-the-century utilitarian building into a residence containing an elaborate garden, with a set back protruding tower containing a dining room and study. On July 12, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered an application for the residential redevelopment of two adjoining buildings at 85 and 89 Jane Street . The two buildings fall within the Greenwich Village Historic District. Both structures are identified utilitarian in style in the district’s designation report. … <Read More>


Council Land Use Subcommittee Hears Testimony on Proposal for New Willamsburg Mixed-Use Manufacturing Building

The new building would bring manufacturing-based jobs to an industrial district, which has shifted focus to nightlife-oriented buildings and activities in the past few decades. On June 14, 2016, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on an application for a zoning text amendment to allow for industrial space to be built in an area zoned for community space and for a special permit to amend off-street parking requirements to … <Read More>


City Planning Commission Hears Testimony on Proposed Greater JFK Industrial BID

The proposed IBID’s geographic boundaries do not include the JFK airport itself, which ensures it would serve the needs of the surrounding off-airport community. On April 13, 2016, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the New York City Department of Small Business Services’ application to create the Greater JFK Industrial Business Improvement District, or IBID, located in Springfield Gardens, Queens. Though the proposed IBID would be the largest IBID in the City, … <Read More>