Fourth Time’s a Charm for New Merchant’s House-adjacent Building

Commissioners concluded that safeguards were sufficient to protect against damage to museum, and design would be unobtrusive within the historic district. On April 8, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission conferred for the fourth and final time on the appropriateness of an approved development at 27 East 4th Street in the NoHo Historic District Extension. The planned eight-story building adjoins the Merchant’s House, an 1832 dwelling and individual and interior landmark currently open to … <Read More>


Synagogue Congregants Oppose Designation

Before serving as a synagogue, 1869 building was home to German Baptist congregation and a Ukrainian Orthodox church. On March 25, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the proposed individual landmark designation of the Congregation Tifereth Israel Town and Village Synagogue located at 334 East 14th Street in Manhattan. The structure was completed in 1869 to designs by the German-born architect Julius Boekell. The Runbogenstil style structure was originally built as the … <Read More>


Helping Small Businesses Stabilize Themselves: Too Big to Fail or Too Small to Let Fail, Both Need Help

 

It is time to start a real conversation about a small store retail rent stabilization program.

Many neighborhoods , not only in Manhattan,  but  also in other high use commercial districts in all the  boroughs are being shred apart as small Mom and Pop’s just cannot fight back the tide of the enormous  run up of  commercial retail rents in recent years.


New Design Team Selected for Site’s Redevelopment Does Not Quell Controversy

 

Architecture firm BKSK replaced Gruzen Samton on a proposal for new seven-story structure where one-story building now stands. On January 21, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing for a proposed seven-story development on a triangular site at 130 Seventh Avenue South in the Greenwich Village Historic District, where a 1937 one-story building now stands. Landmarks previously held a hearing on the site’s development in July 2013.  At a later public meeting, … <Read More>


Sam Schwartz: Managing Traffic Through “Fair Pricing”

This week there has been a renewed interest in Sam Schwartz’s revised congestion pricing plan which is being pushed by a group called Move NY.  Read CityLaw’s great profile on Mr. Schwartz that details his plan.  This was originally published on April 18, 2013.

Sam Schwartz is the president and CEO of Sam Schwartz Engineering, a firm that specializes in transportation planning and engineering. Schwartz’s new congestion pricing proposal, “Move New York,” … <Read More>


Appellate Court Affirms Special Permit for Hospital for Special Surgery

Resident opponents failed to block City Planning’s approval of Hospital for Special Surgery expansion. The Hospital for Special Surgery (HHS), located at 535 East 70th Street, proposed a major renovation and expansion of its existing facility located between East 70th  Street and East 72nd Street, and between York Avenue and  the FDR Drive in Manhattan.

On December 26, 2006, the City Planning Commission (CPC) issued a positive declaration and Lead Agency Determination along with an … <Read More>