Owner converted manufacturing building into residential units. La Perst LLC, owner of a four-story building located at 260 Moore Street in an M1-2 manufacturing district of East Williamsburg, sought to legalize forty residential units in a previously vacant building that had been used for commercial and manufacturing purposes. The owner converted the building into residential units in 2003 contrary to the permissible manufacturing use under the zoning text.

In its application to BSA, La Perst represented that conversion was needed to create productive use of the premises because the building does not have the infrastructure or technology for any asof- right manufacturing facility. The building’s rental value had been greatly diminished, La Perst argued, because the building had been vandalized and occupied by squatters for the six years prior to its conversion into residential units. (more…)

Loft-owner had a freestanding structure in their studio with a suspended ceiling that blocked access to sprinkler system. Marsha Pels owns a studio space at 99 Commercial Street in Greenpoint Brooklyn. In the middle of the studio the owner had a freestanding structure that contained a bed. On May 11, 2012, a fire department inspector observed that the freestanding structure had a suspended ceiling that was approximately 10 feet below the studio’s ceiling where sprinkler heads were installed. The FDNY issued a violation because the suspended ceiling would impede proper operation of the sprinklers in the event of fire. (more…)

Even though the Supreme Court struck down race-based land use controls over a hundred years ago in Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917) it has long been known that zoning continues to create or increase racial and economic segregation. Today communities across the U.S. are reexamining their zoning regulations to create more equal, equitable, inclusive, and resilient communities by removing requirements, limitations, or prohibitions that disproportionately and negatively impact individuals based on race or class. (more…)

Rendering of the modified design for 1162 Broadway office building./Image Credit: Morris Ajemi Architects

The modified design received support from the majority of the Commissioners. On May 12, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness to construct a new 13-story office building on a vacant lot at 1162 Broadway, Manhattan. The vacant lot is located within the Madison Square North Historic District. In 2013, Landmarks originally approved the building’s construction and design for a new hotel but nothing was constructed. Morris Ajemi Architects, the building’s architectural firm, made slight modifications to the previously approved design.

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Rending of 11 Hubert Street./Image Credit: Higgins, Quasebarth and Partners LLC, E Cobb Architects, Span Architecture, and LPC

The applicants made modifications to the building’s facade design in response to Landmarks’ concerns. On March 3, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on a modified application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to demolish an existing three-story garage and office building at 11 Hubert Street, Manhattan and replace it with a new five-story residential building. The existing building is located on the southwest corner of Hubert and Collister Streets, located within the Tribeca West Historic District.

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