City Finances 30,000 Affordable Homes in 2020

The newly financed homes keep New York City on track to meet its goal to provide 300,000 affordable homes by 2026. On February 9, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the City financed the construction and preservation of 29,521 affordable homes in 2020. Fifty-seven percent of the affordable homes financed in 2020 will serve families of three that earn less than $52,000 per year. The city has financed over 177,000 homes through the Housing … <Read More>


UPDATED: City to Implement Up to 100 Miles of Safe Streets

The plan will aim to add 100 miles of open streets, widened sidewalks and protected bike lanes. Note: This article has been updated to continuously reflect the added streets as those announcements are made. Please continue to check back for further updates.

On April 27, 2020, the Mayor’s Office announced a plan along with Council Speaker Corey Johnson to implement street closures, sidewalk widening, and the addition of bike lanes as part of the City’s <Read More>


City Planning Hears Application for Residential Development with a 250 Seat Theater in Astoria

The proposed zoning actions seek not only to facilitate the development but also bring block’s current uses in conformance. On December 4, 2019, the City Planning Commission heard an application by Mega LLC and the Pancyprian Association of American to rezone and redevelop an entire block in Astoria, Queens. The applicants proposed two eight-story buildings connected at the ground floor level with a green space between the buildings. The development includes affordable housing components and … <Read More>


CityLaw Profile: Caroline Harris – A Woman’s Journey to Land Use

Caroline Harris’s career as a land use attorney stems from an early interest in urban affairs and planning.  Harris was born in New York City and grew up in Peter Cooper Village. As a student at the then all-female Hunter College High School, she started the first student volunteer program for Head Start, earning Mayor Lindsay’s award for “Distinguished Volunteer Supervision.”  Harris spent five months in Israel before entering Trinity College, where she majored in … <Read More>


City Council Approves City Planning’s Mechanical Voids Text Amendment

Developers were using excessive mechanical spaces to increase the height of their buildings. On May 29, 2019, the City Council voted to adopt the Residential Tower Mechanical Voids Text Amendment with modifications. The Department of City Planning proposed the amendment in response to developers incorporating excessively tall mechanical floors – “mechanical voids” – in residential towers to increase their allowable height, as mechanical floors did not count toward the zoning floor area in the Zoning … <Read More>


City Planning Considers Rezoning in the Bronx to Allow Nine Story Residential Building

City Planning staff recommend that the Commission adopt Borough President recommendation to reduce the size of the rezoning area. On December 19, 2018, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on a proposed redevelopment at 2712 Williamsbridge Road in the Allerton section of the Bronx. The applicant, 2712 Radcliff Yates Realty LLC, seeks to rezone to residential zoning with a commercial overlay a portion of an area comprised of seven lots bounded by Williamsbridge … <Read More>