Council approves Bronx contextual rezoning

Proposed Webster Avenue/Bedford Park/Norwood rezoning. Image Courtesy of Department of City Planning.

Eighty-block rezoning encourages residential development along Webster Avenue and limits out-of-character development in Norwood and Bedford Park neighborhoods. On March 23, 2011, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s 80-block Webster Avenue/Bedford Park/Norwood Rezoning plan. The rezoning affected thirteen blocks along Webster Avenue between 193rd and 211th Streets and the surrounding residential side streets of Bedford Park and Norwood. … <Read More>


Developers selected for Queens waterfront complex

Hunters Point South Pier.

First phase of Hunter’s Point South will include two towers with at least 685 affordable apartments, parkland, and a new school. On February 9, 2011, the City announced that it had selected Phipps Houses, the Related Companies, and Monadnock Construction to develop the residential portion of the first phase of the Hunter’s Point South redevelopment plan. The City Council in November 2008 approved the City’s plan to develop … <Read More>


Council Member Mark Weprin Discusses His Approach to Land Use Issues

Council Member Mark Weprin, the newly elected representative for the 23rd District and son of the late State Assembly Member Saul Weprin, admits that he is no expert in land use law. When Weprin first learned that he would inherit the position of chair of the Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee from fellow Queens Council Member Tony Avella, he pulled out the same land use hornbook he used in law school and started reviewing major land … <Read More>


Full-block West Side mixed-use project approved

HPD-sponsored multi-building, mixed-use project that Gotham Organization Inc. will develop in Clinton, Manhattan. Image: Courtesy of SLCE Architects/RSpline.

HPD-sponsored project will create 600 permanently affordable housing units, convert P.S. 51 into residential housing,and build a new school on the project site. On March 3, 2010, the City Council approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to allow the Gotham Organization Inc. to develop a 1.15 million sq.ft. mixed-use project that will occupy most … <Read More>


Michael B. Gerrard Discusses His Career and the Future of Climate Change Regulation

Michael B. Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law, traces his passion for environmental protection back to growing up in Charleston, West Virginia, a city dominated by major chemical manufacturing companies like Union Carbide and DuPont. As a child, he lived on the banks of the Kanawha River, where large amounts of toxic chemicals had polluted the water and air.

After graduating from Columbia University, Gerrard worked for a local environmental … <Read More>


Wilhelm Ronda on the Bronx Borough President’s Office

Wilhelm Ronda applies a “small-town” approach to his duties as the Director of Planning for Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Whether it’s identifying parcels of land for new schools, or taking steps to protect the architectural integrity of a neighborhood building, Ronda understands that these issues can profoundly affect the borough’s residents. For this reason, Ronda encourages his staff to treat each issue with the same “tender love and care” that a small town’s … <Read More>