Landlord Wins Decontrol Dispute in First Department

Post-vacancy rent increase raised rent beyond $2,000 threshold and resulted in decontrolling a rent-stabilized apartment. In November 2003, Craig Smith and Elise Stone rented an apartment at 233 East 5th Street in Manhattan. Prior to their occupancy, the previous tenant resided in the unit as a rent-stabilized tenant. The previous tenant’s rent at the end of his occupancy was $1,836.20 per month. On renting the apartment Smith and Stone accepted a 20-percent vacancy increase. … <Read More>


Support Voiced for Designation of Library’s Main Reading Room

Main reading room and catalog room of New York Public Library’s main branch lauded for both architecture and social significance. On July 18, 2017, Landmarks held a public hearing on the potential designation of the Main Reading Room and Catalog Room of the main branch of the New York Public Library as an interior landmark.  The Carrere & Hasting designed library, whose exterior is designated an individual City landmark, stands at 476 Fifth <Read More>


Planning Commission Approves Large Retail Establishment on Broadway Against Community Disapproval

The City Planning Commission approved an application for a large retail establishment, 28,634 square feet, in the lower floors of a building in SoHo neighborhood. On July 12, 2017, the City Planning Commission issued a favorable report on an application from 462BDWY LAND, L.P.—owner of 462 Broadway in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. The application sought a special permit to modify use regulations of Section 42-14(D)(2)(b) of the Zoning Resolution to allow retail uses on portions of … <Read More>


Commission Addresses Demolition of Fire-Damaged Individually Landmarked Synagogue

Commissioners allowed demolition to proceed, but mandated that any material that can be retained or salvaged must be preserved. On July 12, 2017, Landmarks decided on application filed by the owners of the Beth Hamerdash Hagodol Synagogue, an individual City landmark, at 60 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side.  The building was severely damaged by a fire in May of 2017, believed to have been set by a teenage arsonist who gained access … <Read More>


Zoning Challenge Halts Manhattan Tower for DOB Audit

City Council Member and community celebrate after the Department of Buildings halt the construction of an Upper West Side tower. In September 2016, developer SJP Properties filed building plans with the Department of Buildings for the construction of a new 51-story building located at 200 Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The plans filed detailed a 642 foot tower containing 583,294 square feet of residential space and 3,016 square feet of floor area on … <Read More>


Self-Storage Zoning Text Amendment Considered by 27 Community Boards and Four Borough Presidents

Process underway for a zoning text amendment to require a City Planning Commission Special Permit for new self-storage facilities within the City’s industrial business zones. In May 2017, the City Planning Commission sent out for consideration, as part of the ULURP process, a proposed zoning text amendment to limit the proliferation of self-storage in Industrial Business Zones. The amendment is currently being considered by the 27 Community Boards that would be affected by the amendment.