Governors Island signage and landscaping approved

Proposed welcome walls on Governors Island. Image: Courtesy of West 8.

Portions of Trust for Governors Island’s redevelopment plan falling within historic district needed Landmarks approval. On February 7, 2012, Landmarks issued a binding report approving portions of the Trust for Governors Island’s plan for the recreational redevelopment of the 172-acre Governors Island. Landmarks in July 2011 approved the Trust’s proposal to demolish six non-historic structures and landscape an area near the Yankee Pier public … <Read More>


Metropolitan Museum’s plaza renovation approved

Metropolitan Museum of Art’s plaza renovations. Image: Courtesy of OLIN

Opponents were concerned about how changes to plaza would impact views of the museum. On February 21, 2012, Landmarks issued a favorable advisory report on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s proposal to redesign its plaza along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The museum is an individual City landmark, while the plaza is considered part of Central Park, which is a scenic landmark. … <Read More>


Admirals Row Plaza OK’d

Brooklyn Navy Yard proposal would add supermarket and additional light industrial space. On October 19, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation’s Admirals Row Plaza mixed-use project on the southeast edge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard at the corner of Navy and Nassau Streets in Brooklyn. The United States National Guard Bureau retained control over the six-acre project site after the City purchased the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The federally-owned site … <Read More>


Large rezoning in northeast Queens modified

Contextual rezoning of 418 blocks in Auburndale, Oakland Gardens, and Hollis Hills modified to address concerns of private co-op. On October 27, 2010, the City Council modified the Department of City Planning’s 418-block rezoning of three communities in northeast Queens. The contextual rezoning impacted the Auburndale subarea, which is generally bounded by Station Road to the north, the Long Island Expressway to the south, Francis Lewis Boulevard to the east, and Kissena Park to … <Read More>


LPC refuses to approve illegal, completed addition

Rear yard addition did not meet standard of appropriateness. Following a contentious hearing in April over a one-story addition constructed without Landmarks approval at 12- 14 West 68th Street in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District, Landmarks reconvened to discuss the matter on June 9, 2009. The owners built the addition on top of a 1925 studio building, located at the rear of an 1895 Queen Anne-style mansion, and also installed an illegal, … <Read More>


Land Use Committee approves controversial project

Two Trees’ development near Brooklyn Bridge. Image: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP.

Despite concerns project sent to full Council. On June 4, 2009, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the controversial proposal by Two Trees Management Company to build a mixed-use development at 10 Dock Street, adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, Brooklyn. In addition to providing approximately 300 residential units, 20 percent of which would be affordable, the proposed building … <Read More>