Village BID expanded

BID expansion will double number of properties receiving sanitation and security assistance. The Planning Commission unanimously approved an application by the Village Alliance Business Improvement District Management Association and the Department of Small Business Services for expansion of the Village Alliance BID, originally established in 1993.

The existing BID, which comprises 129 predominantly mixed-use properties, is currently bounded by Sixth and Second Avenues to the west and east, West 4th Street to the south, and … <Read More>


Parking in Viacom Building goes public

Times Square garage permitted to open up to public and increase capacity to 386 spaces. Owners of the Viacom Building, located at 1515 Broadway between West 44th and West 45th Streets in Times Square, applied to City Planning in 2005 to convert the building’s existing 225-space accessory parking garage into a public parking garage and to increase its capacity by 161 spaces and 19 reservoir spaces. The garage would be fully attended and access would … <Read More>


Emotional hearing held on Lower East Side school

Landmarking process begins for P.S. 64, a former school,now facing renovation. On May 16, 2006, Landmarks heard emotional testimony regarding the potential designation of P. S. 64 at 605 East 9th Street in the East Village.

P.S. 64 was built in 1903-04 by C. B. J. Snyder, then superintendent of school buildings for the City. The school is in the French Renaissance Revival style, and built in Snyder’s signature H-plan to maximize light and air … <Read More>


Two new historic districts approved for West Village

Landmarks simultaneously designated two adjacent areas in the Far West Village. On May 2, 2006, in front of a jubilant public audience, Landmarks completed the final step in designating the Weehawken Street Historic District and the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension.

The waterfront Weehawken Street Historic District comprises 14 buildings, built between 1830 and 1938. The district is on the former site of Newgate Prison. When the prison was closed in 1829, an open-air public … <Read More>


Bronx piano factory and SI cottage landmarked

Landmarks designated two new individual landmarks. The 1886 Estey Piano Factory, at 112 Lincoln Avenue in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, is the oldest piano factory in New York, and the centerpiece of the once thriving industrial area. With its prominent clock tower, brick facade, and historical significance, the piano factory was roundly endorsed at the April 11 hearing. 3 CityLand 4 (May 15, 2006).

Landmarks also designated the Theodore F. and Elizabeth … <Read More>


New Willis Ave. bridge over Harlem River approved

Bridge spanning Harlem River to be built adjacent to outdated bridge. DOT sought a City Map amendment to delineate a new bridge easement and bridge corridor facilitating construction of the Willis Avenue Bridge replacement, connecting First Avenue and East 125th Street in Manhattan with Willis Avenue and East 132nd Street in the Bronx. The replacement bridge will be located directly adjacent to and south of the existing bridge and will also require landfill removal along … <Read More>