Billboard owners take dispute to BSA

Companies fought over whose signs were grandfathered. BSA denied Lamar Outdoor Advertising’s appeal of Buildings’ decision to revoke permits for two back-to-back billboards at 50 South Bridge Street in Charleston, Staten Island.

The City’s zoning code prohibits advertising signs within 200 feet of an arterial highway unless it is on a highway that crosses New York City limits within a one-half-mile distance from the sign. The code also prohibits a sign within 500 feet of … <Read More>


Central Park building to be refurbished

Work will give Rumsey Summer Stage Support Building a new roof, windows and interior. Landmarks issued a binding report approving the design for roof and window replacements to improve the Rumsey Summer Stage Support Building in Central Park, a scenic landmark. The work will improve the building’s appearance and help protect it from further disrepair.

The one-story building was constructed in 1936-1937 in the Rumsey Playfield, located near the East Drive and 72nd Street. Originally … <Read More>


Proposed West Broadway building approved at 11 stories

BSA- requested alternate design approved. Siba Re LP, the owner of 350 West Broadway, a 8,264-squarefoot lot in SoHo between Grand and Broome Streets, proposed to expand a vacant two-story building into a ISS-foot tall, 13-story, 4 1 ,320- square-foot mixed-use building with retail and residential uses.

In support of a variance, Siba argued that the shallowness of the lot resulted in inefficient and impractical floor plates for any permitted commercial use. Showing that the … <Read More>


BSA approves 7-story SoHo residential building

Fire-damaged building in historic SoHo to be restored and increased in height. Morty Lipkis, owner of 44 Mercer Street, a 2,480-square-foot lot in SoHo, proposed to replace a vacant fire-damaged building zoned for manufacturing with a 102-foot tall, seven-story mixed-use building. The proposed building would serve residential and retail uses with 12,549- square-feet of floor space, requiring variances for use and rear yard size. The site’s current two-story structure abuts a rear building and offers … <Read More>


Neon illuminated sign ordered removed

Tanning salon had installed sign on 1884 building. Portofino Sun Center, an indoor tanning bed salon, affixed without permits a large neon sign outside its store at 104 West 73rd Street. The building, a Queen Anne style rowhouse built in 1884 and owned by George Hearn, is located within the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District.

Landmarks issued a Warning Letter to Hearn for the neon sign and an exterior garbage enclosure, also installed … <Read More>


145-ft. phone tower sited at Seaview Hospital

Tower moved to new location to diminish impact. The Health and Hospitals Corporation sought Landmarks approval to construct a 132- foot telecommunications tower and an equipment building on the northeastern grounds of Seaview Hospital in Staten Island. The Seaview Hospital complex was, at the time of its 1905-38 construction, the largest and most costly tuberculosis hospital in rowthe country. It was sensitively designed to preserve the rural landscape along a 230-acre portion of Todt Hill … <Read More>