Proposed Extension to IFC Center Would Face Cornelia Street

New space would add screening rooms, lobby to film center; extension would fill in vacant lot on Cornelia Street. On October 13, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on a proposed extension of the IFC Film Center that would face 14 Cornelia Street in the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II. The Film Center, at 323 Sixth Avenue, adjoins and owns the lot at the rear, currently vacant, on Cornelia Street. The … <Read More>



My Rules for Thee, But Not for Me: The City Destroys a City-Owned Landmark

The Castle on the Concourse is doomed. Had any other owner of a designated landmark abandoned his property to the elements like this, the Landmarks Preservation Commission would have sued him for “demolition by neglect.” But here the commission is helpless. The owner is the City of New York, and while the city fully expects owners of designated properties – private homeowners, businesses, landlords, or institutions – to adhere to standards set by the LPC, … <Read More>


NY Law School Commentary on Talk by Tom Prendergast, Chair of NY MTA

MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast faces a huge challenge as the MTA needs a new round of capital funding starting in 2015. At the CityLaw Breakfast on November 21, 2014 Chairman Prendergast laid out a well-thought out five year plan designed to maintain the system, modernize it, make it more resilient and extend it geographically. The price tag: $32 billion. In the intensive competition for public money, elected leaders find funds in that range only when … <Read More>


IPSIG Agreements: A Vehicle to Rehabilitate Vendors

IPSIG_final_(small)Under ordinary circumstances the City may not enter into a contract with a vendor when the City finds that the vendor is not responsible because of tax, criminal, financial, ethical or performance reasons. It may not always be in the City’s interests, however, to refuse to deal with the vendor. One option available to the City that allows the City to continue to do business with such a vendor is an Independent Private Sector Inspector … <Read More>


Variance Granted To Enlarge Private School

Columbia Grammar and Preparatory permitted to establish new building for a middle-school program over community opposition. On October 7, 2014 the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to grant a variance to Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School for the enlargement of an existing school building. The building is located at 5 West 93rd Street in Manhattan’s Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District, between Central Park West to the west and Columbus Avenue to … <Read More>