Simeon Bankoff: Taking the Context out of Contextual Zoning

In March 2015, the City Planning Commission announced a proposal called Zoning for Affordability and Quality, which broadly calls for three principal changes in the current citywide zoning resolution. The plan proposes to change and enlarge definitions of senior housing to include more types of housing providers than currently permitted. It also proposes to increase buildable space for senior housing in some instances. The proposal also seeks to lessen or some instances no longer mandate … <Read More>


Zoning Subcommittee Hears Proposal for New Through-Block Residential Building

The fifteen-story building would be built over an open rail cut in the Special Clinton District.  On March 24, 2015, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises heard a proposal by 1818 Nadlan LLC to construct a new fifteen-story residential building at 505 West 43rd Street in the Special Clinton District of Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.  The proposed building would consist of two segments, one fronting on West 43rd Street and the other fronting on … <Read More>


Council Subcommittee Approves Flushing Mixed-Use Building

Proposal praised as valuable for Flushing’s commercial growth.  On March 24, 2015 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted to approve a zoning map amendment facilitation construction of an eleven-story mixed-use building at 137-61 Northern Boulevard in Flushing, Queens.  The proposal was recently approved by the City Planning Commission, and would offer commercial retail, residential, hotel, community facility, and parking space.


BSA Grants Variance for Senior Housing in Staten Island

Existing zoning regulations would not have permitted proposed three-story building.  On March 4, 2015, the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to grant Mangone Developers Corporation a variance for a proposed three-story senior housing building in Midland Beach, Staten Island. The proposed building is located at 1891 Richmond Road in a Special Natural Area District of Staten Island, at the corner of Richmond Road and Adams Avenue.


CPC Approves New Mixed-Use Building in Flushing

Proposed eleven-story building will offer hotel, residential, commercial, and community space. On March 4, 2015 the City Planning Commission approved an application from CG & J Realty for a zoning map amendment to facilitate construction of an eleven-story mixed-use building at 137-61 Northern Boulevard in Flushing, Queens. The proposed building will consist of eleven stories with a basement and cellar, and contain 10,000 square feet of commercial retail, 97,000 square feet of hotel space, 7,000 … <Read More>


CPC Authorizes New JLWQA Units in Historic District

Authorization permits conversion of retail space in two buildings to JLWQA.  On February 18, 2015 the City Planning Commission voted to grant Workspace, Inc. authorization to convert existing retail space into three designated Joint Live-Work Quarters for Artists units and related storage.  The units will be located on the ground floor and in the cellar space of two buildings in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District of Manhattan, between 106 and 112 Spring Street.