Court of Appeals Allows Historic Clock to be Closed to the Public and Converted

Landmarks acted within its authority when it approved the LLC’s certificate of appropriateness. On March 28, 2019, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the Certificate of Appropriateness granted the Landmarks Preservation Commission for 346 Broadway in 2014 was proper, reversing two lower courts’ decision. In 1987, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated 346 Broadway as an interior landmark. The designation included the building’s banking hall and the 13th floor clock tower, which houses … <Read More>


De Blasio Administration Sues to Remove “Water-Based” Billboards from City Waterways

The City is seeking thousands of dollars per day in fines for the ongoing and repeated violations. On March 27, 2019, the Mayor’s Office announced a lawsuit against Ballyhoo Media, Inc., a water-based billboard company, for repeatedly violating local laws by displaying “Times Square-style” billboards on Manhattan and Brooklyn waterways. The billboards began popping up last Fall and are LED signs on barges, and the City alleges in the suit that the signs create a … <Read More>


Landmarks Calendars Bay Ridge’s First Historic District

Historic district designation would ensure protections for the largely intact, over 100 year-old, block of limestone row houses.  On  March 26, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to calendar a proposed historic district in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn. The Bay Ridge Parkway – Doctor’s Row Historic District would be comprised of 54 row houses built in the early 1900s on Bay Ridge Parkway between 4th and 5th avenues. Constructed in … <Read More>


HPD and Private Developers Partner to Bring 235-Unit Affordable Building to Bedford-Stuyvesant

The project will be financed under an HPD program that requires low and extremely low income affordability and set-asides for the formerly homeless. On March 27, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application that will bring a 14-story affordable mixed-use development with 235 residential units to 1921 Atlantic Avenue in the Bedford/Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The application was brought by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in conjunction with DTF Atlantic, … <Read More>


Lisa Kersavage Appointed Executive Director of Landmarks Preservation Commission

Kersavage will now oversee Landmarks’ operations and work closely with Landmarks Chair to develop policy and strategic planning agency-wide. On March 28, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced the appointment of Lisa Kersavage, former Landmarks Director of Special Projects and Strategic Planning, as Executive Director. She succeeded Sarah Carroll, who is now serving as Landmarks’ Chair.


Rezoning to Bring 330 Affordable Units to Unionport Area of Bronx

The new development will bring an affordable ownership building and a larger rental building, both financed under HPD programs. On March 13, 2019, the City Planning Commission approved an application for a rezoning in the Unionport neighborhood of the Bronx. The rezoning will facilitate a 100 percent affordable development comprised of two new buildings, containing approximately 330 units, at 2069 Bruckner Boulevard. The application was presented to City Planning by Frank St. Jacques of Akerman, … <Read More>