Alessandro Olivieri

It should come as no surprise that Alessandro Olivieri, General Counsel for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, decided to leave private practice for public service. When asked about the career change he made a decade ago, Olivieri credited some of his most important role models — his family members. Pointing to a commemorative piece on his office wall containing photographs of the Hudson River and his maternal grandmother, Frances “Franny” Reese, Olivieri spoke with quiet pride about her river conservation work with Scenic Hudson. On another wall hangs a plaque honoring his father, Antonio “Tony” Olivieri, a former New York City Council Member at Large and a New York State Assembly Member. His maternal grandfather, Willis L.M. Reese, a civic-minded Professor of Law at Columbia University, was also an important influence in Olivieri’s career path.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Olivieri is also a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he contributed to the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law. After law school, Olivieri became an associate at the law firm of Lord Day & Lord, Barret Smith; he later moved to Morgan Lewis & Bockius, where he practiced insurance and securities litigation. Olivieri speaks fondly of his time in private practice, but his family history in conservation and public affairs pulled him toward the civic arena. After two and a half years as head of the Parks Department’s disciplinary unit, Olivieri was named General Counsel in May, 2000. In 2002, Olivieri received the Agency Counsel Recognition Award by the City’s Law Department. (more…)

Plan encompasses 195 businesses. On August 27, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved an application by the Department of Small Business Services to create a new Fulton Street Business Improvement District for 371 properties and 195 businesses in the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Within the boundaries of the BID are the BAM Harvey Theater and several triangular parks.

The proposed BID allows for an annual assessment on businesses and residents to enhance security, sanitation, holiday lighting, and marketing. The projected $300,000 first-year budget will come from commercial property assessments of not more than $50 per linear front foot, with corner properties assessed an additional $120 per year. Residential properties would pay an annual $1 assessment, while Government uses and not-for-profits will be exempt. (more…)

Lynn Kelly

Ever since Lynn Kelly was appointed President of the Coney Island Development Corporation [CIDC] last year, she knew that time was of the essence. Her mission: restore Coney Island to its former prominence, and do it quickly, or lose the opportunity forever.

Kelly, a former Deputy Director of the City’s Art Commission, joined the New York City Economic Development Corporation in 2001. Over the next six years, she managed a portfolio of development projects and land sales of more than $50 million. Appointed President of the CIDC by Mayor Bloomberg in April 2007, Kelly took on the responsibility of saving “the People’s Playground.” (more…)

Downtown satellite would anchor southern end of High Line. On August 11, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved the Whitney Museum’s plan to build a six-story, 175,000-sq.ft. building at 555 West Street in the West Village of Manhattan. The proposal includes 50,000 sq.ft. for new indoor exhibits, 97,400 sq.ft. for museum support facilities, and 27,600 sq.ft. for a maintenance and operational facility at the southern terminus of the High Line elevated park. The site is bounded by Gansevoort Street, Tenth Avenue, Little West 12th Street, and Washington Street, just outside the Gansevoort Historic District.

In order to facilitate the new development, the Commission approved four applications without modification: disposition of City-owned property to the NYC Economic Development Corporation for eventual sale to the Whitney, site selection and acquisition of the High Line facility for the Department of Parks and Recreation, a special permit allowing museum use in an M1- 5 district, and a zoning text amendment that allows height and setback modifications to accommodate the Renzo Piano design. (more…)

Court dismissed action because new environmental review would not restore scenic views. The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine leased part of its 11-acre campus to a developer, who built an 18-story residential building on West 110th Street at the corner of Cathedral Parkway and Morningside Drive. When local residents opposed the project, the developer agreed to make an honest effort to ensure that the building would qualify as an “80/20 building” under which 80 percent of the apartments would be rented at market rate, and 20 percent at affordable rental rates. In exchange for creating the affordable housing, the New York City Housing Development Corporation conditionally agreed to issue a $115 million bond that would help fund the project. Before it issued the bond, HDC completed an environmental assessment, concluding that issuing the bond would not significantly harm the environment, and released the funds.

Three long-time residents of Cathedral Parkway, whose views of the Cathedral would be blocked, challenged HDC’s environmental determination and the funding. In their article 78 petition, the residents asserted that the loss of scenic views triggered the requirement for a full environmental review under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act and the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Law. (more…)