Staten Island Borough President wins street name dispute

Staten Island Borough President James Oddo imposed negative street names for new streets laid out in a development. In 2014, Mount Builders, a land developer, purchased land in Staten Island on which it planned to build 200 new houses on three newly created streets. The property that Mount Builders acquired was known as Mount Manresa, which was the location of the first Jesuit retreat house in the United States as well as park land graced … <Read More>


No sidewalk shed violation at stopped job

Buildings cited unsafe conditions at inactive construction site and served construction supervisor. Dennis Chen, the construction superintendent of a construction project located at 35-03 Leavitt Street, Queens, was responsible for safety on the construction site.  In 2014, the project stalled because of inaccurate design calculations. On March 23, 2016, the Department of Buildings served construction superintendent Chen with three summonses relating to hazardous conditions at the construction site. The issuing officer observed a hazardous gap … <Read More>


Historic Buildings Identified as Potential Landmarks ahead of East Harlem Rezoning

Potential individual landmarks added to the Commission’s calendar include two schools and a former meat packing plant. On November 14, 2017, Landmarks voted to add three items in East Harlem to its calendar for consideration as individual City landmarks. The three buildings are: The Richard Webber Harlem Parking House, at 207 East 109th Street; the former Public School 109, at 215 East 99th Street;  and the former Benjamin Franklin High School, at 260 <Read More>


Council Passes Contentious Pfizer Sites Rezoning in Williamsburg

A former Pfizer factory site in South Williamsburg will be developed into a mixed-use building and public plaza. On October 31, 2017, the City Council passed the Pfizer Sites Rezoning land use actions by a vote of 38-6. The zoning map and text amendments will convert the former Pfizer factory site, currently used for parking, into a mixed-use building and plaza. The project area, totaling 182,366 square feet, is bounded by Walton Street to the <Read More>


COMPLETE VIDEO: 145th CityLaw Breakfast with DOT Commissioner Trottenberg

On Thursday, September 28, 2017, the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School hosted the 145th CityLaw Breakfast. The event speaker was New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.

Commissioner Trottenberg was introduced by Professor Sandler, the Director of the Center for City Law, and Anthony Crowell, Dean and President of New York Law School. When introducing Commissioner Trottenberg, Professor Sandler acknowledged the great amount of experience … <Read More>


City Council Overwhelmingly Passes Tenant Harassment Bills Package

City Council passes a package of bills intended to strengthen protections for tenants subject to harassment by landlords. Since the mid-2000s and largely due to the housing bubble, predatory equity has become a metastasis on the New York City housing market. The expulsion of both rent stabilized and market-rate tenants is accomplished through means both legal, by abusing technical loopholes in State law, and illegal, by dangerous living conditions and intimidation.