Harlem development on W. 116th/117th Streets heard

Two-building project would include affordable rental building and market- rate condominium building. On July 13, 2011, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on L+M Development Partners Inc.’s proposed 266,500 sq.ft. mixed-use project for a through-block lot on the north side of West 116th Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and Fifth Avenue in Harlem. The midblock project site is occupied by a basketball court and a parking lot. L+M plans to redevelop the site with a … <Read More>


Day spa, opened in 2001, legalized

Ten-year permit granted to Eden Day Spa. BSA approved the application of Eden Day Spa to legalize its existing spa at 388 Broadway between White and Walker Streets in Tribeca. The spa, a “physical cultural establishment” under the zoning code, required a special permit to be located within a manufacturing zone.

At the legalization hearing, Eden Day Spa, which has been at this location since 2001, did not face opposition. BSA approved a tenyear permit, … <Read More>


‘It Doesn’t Just Magically Happen’: Major Effort to Make a Public Plaza Work

 

By Mark Chiusano

What the visitor to Bogardus Plaza sees is the welcoming kiosk selling pasteis de nata, the tables and egg-shaped seats, and the raised platform that hosts a dog show, one of 8-10 events in the plaza each year. The passerby may notice the elegant paving stones, the antique 17-foot cast-iron clock, and the way that this plaza carves some public recreational space out of what used to be part of Hudson <Read More>



Could Public Space Stewards Help Make New York City More Livable?

By Mark Chiusano

For obvious reasons I was recently revisiting a small controversy over the usage of public space in a certain midtown Manhattan building: Trump Tower.

In 2016, Donald Trump and New York City went back and forth over whether the building had to keep some public benches in the lobby. During construction decades earlier, the tower had been allowed to rise higher in exchange for a little bit of public space (some of <Read More>


City Releases Fifth Avenue Redesign Plans

On October 17, 2024, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Future of Fifth Partnership announced the plan to redesign Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park. This would be the first major redesign in Fifth Avenue’s 200-year history. Fifth Avenue houses 313,000 direct and indirect jobs and generates $44.1 billion in total wages and $111.5 billion in total economic output each year. The redesign is anticipated to increase property and sales tax … <Read More>