City Must Pay to Reinstall SoHo Art

Court declares art organization, not building owner, owns artwork on exterior wall of SoHo historic district building. In September 2004, Judge Deborah A. Batts allowed the Board of Managers of Soho International Arts Condominium to proceed with its Fifth Amendment takings claim against the City, pending an inquiry as to who owned the well-known minimalist sculpture by artist Forrest Myers that had been attached to 599 Broadway since 1973. (See CityLand’s past coverage here.)… <Read More>


Vacant Harlem commercial complex to be revitalized

Uptown retail center will have national retail chain, local vendors and restaurant. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services sought approval for the disposition of Mart 125, the one-and-a-half story, 12,210-square-foot building, located at 260 West 125th Street across from the Apollo Theater. Mart 125 was originally built in the early 1980’s as a market for local Harlem vendors and businesses. Occupancy declined over the years and the building began to deteriorate. It is currently vacant.… <Read More>


HPD pushes through 668 affordable housing units

Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn housing projects approved; sent to Council. On April 27 and May 11, 2005, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development obtained the Planning Commission’s approval of seven affordable housing projects, totaling 668 units, to be developed in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Three of the Bronx projects, including the 194-unit Prospect Avenue Tower in Melrose, the 102-unit East Clarke Place project in High Bridge, and the 63-unit Jacob’s Place project in … <Read More>


Wall Street core area gets two new parking garages

Commissioners disagree over impact of added parking in Lower Manhattan. RBNB Wall Street Owner, LLC sought the Planning Commission’s approval for an 85- space public parking garage to be located within 63 Wall Street, a 36- story building with frontage on Hanover, Beaver and Wall Streets. RBNB planned to convert the building to residential, but the proposed garage would not be restricted to the residential tenants. RBNB explained at the Commission’s March 30, 2005 hearing … <Read More>


Plaza at Millennium Hilton gets overhaul

Plaza near WTC site to be modified for open air café and extra seating. The Millennium Hilton Hotel, located at 55 Church Street between Dey and Fulton Streets in the Special Lower Manhattan District, sought a special permit to modify a previously approved 3,647-squarefoot urban plaza. The original 1980’s approval of the building granted the developers a 51,826-square-foot floor area bonus in exchange for creating the plaza. The modifications, which include new landscaped planters, an … <Read More>


Windemere Apartments gets second hearing

Landmarks continued public hearing at owner’s request. On April 21, 2005 Landmarks held a second public hearing on the proposed designation of the Windemere Apartments located at 400-406 West 57th Street and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. Constructed in 1881 and considered the “Gateway to Hell’s Kitchen” separating Clinton from the Upper West Side, the Windemere is one of only two remaining large, early apartment buildings in the area. Theophilus Smith designed each building of the … <Read More>