Club opened a 16,000-square-foot location without permits. In June 2006, New York Sports Club received a Department of Buildings decision stating that the manufacturing zoning on its SoHo lot prohibited its proposed gym. Nevertheless, New York Sports Club opened the SoHo location one month later and applied to BSA to legalize the use. The gym, located at 225 Varick Street between Clarkson and West Houston Streets, is 16,741 sq.ft.

At BSA, New York Sports Club argued that its gym would not alter the character of the neighborhood. BSA agreed, granting a 10-year permit for the gym use on February 6, 2007. (more…)

The proposed height provision had, as approved by the Planning Commission, been applicable citywide. On February 28, 2007, the City Council approved the four linked applications for the mixed-use development of West 60th Street Associates, LLC with significant modifications to the developer’s proposed citywide zoning change on bulk.

West 60th originally proposed a zoning text amendment that would allow developers of general, large-scale developments located in certain commercial districts to modify the height factor calculation, a bulk measurement, if it resulted in better site plans and open space. As approved by the Planning Commission, the new bulk waiver special permit would apply to ten community districts in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. 4 CityLand 4 (Feb. 15, 2007). (more…)

Landmarks re-designates two City and Suburban Homes buildings carved out from 1990 designation. On November 21, 2006, Landmarks ended the controversial debate over the landmark status of the City and Suburban Homes Company’s First Avenue Estate in Lenox Hill by voting unanimously to amend its landmark status. In 1990, Landmarks unanimously designated all 15 buildings in the First Avenue Estate, a development constructed between 1898 and 1915 over the entire block bounded by East 64th and East 65th Streets and York and First Avenues. In its last meeting before being dissolved, the Board of Estimate carved out two buildings from Landmarks designation: 429 East 64th Street and 430 East 65th Street.

The buildings’ current owner, Stahl York Avenue Company, received permits from the Department of Buildings to remove cornices and parapets, enlarge window openings and stucco over the facades of the two buildings, spurring urgency to Landmarks’ vote. (more…)

Developer had received building permits on historic stable prior to landmarking hearing. On October 17, 2006, Landmarks held hearings to consider the designation of two Upper West Side buildings originally used as livery stables, the Mason or Dakota Stables at 348 Amsterdam Avenue between West 76th and West 77th Streets, and the New York Cab Company Stable at 318 Amsterdam Avenue at West 75th Street.

Opening the hearing on the Dakota Stables, Landmarks Chair Robert Tierney stated that the current owner, Sylgar Properties, had received permits from the Department of Buildings to make “fairly significant facade alterations” to the five-story Renaissance-Revival style stables and that Landmarks knew of the permits’ issuance when it voted to consider designation. The Dakota Stables, designed by architect Bradford Gilbert, was one of the largest livery stables in the city when constructed in 1894. During public testimony, a current photo showing the building covered in tarps and scaffolding remained projected on the hearing room wall. (more…)

Site includes former United States Navy base. On October 25, 2006, the City Council approved the comprehensive redevelopment plan for Staten Island’s Homeport, the 35-acre former United States Navy base located in Stapleton and owned by the City since 1995.

City Planning and the New York City Economic Development Corporation proposed five linked applications, including zoning map and text amendments, to achieve the plan recommended by Mayor Bloomberg’s Task Force on Homeport Redevelopment, a group of elected officials, community representatives, business owners, and residents formed in 2003 to develop a plan for the area’s redevelopment. The Task Force envisioned a waterfront esplanade running the length of the site and a mix of uses, including residential units, ground-floor retail, a sports complex, farmers market and a large economic generator, such as a movie studio or office complex. The final proposal included the 35-acre Homeport site and 18 mostly privately-owned lots west of Front Street, the city street forming the edge of Stapleton. (more…)