Parks renovation plans proceed for the fountain basin and plaza at Washington Square Park. After Community Board 2, Landmarks, and the Art Commission approved Parks’ renovation plans for Washington Square Park, neighboring residents claimed that Parks failed to adequately disclose details of the plan during the approval process. In August 2006, a lower court enjoined Parks from moving forward with the renovation, ordering Parks to resubmit plans for the fountain and fountain plaza to each group. 3 CityLand 112 (Aug. 15, 2006).

On appeal the First Department reversed, ruling that there was no reason to annul the approvals. The court found that neither the Charter nor the Administrative Code required community board approval over park development projects like the one at Washington Square. While there could be an instance when withholding information would warrant a court order for a new review, in this case the court found substantial evidence that Parks adequately informed the board and it was aware of the details of the final plan. Parks held numerous informal discussions and also made a detailed presentation to the board. The court similarly found that Parks adequately informed Landmarks and the Art Commission and that it had not made any material omissions to either. (more…)

EDC seeks proposals for a post-secondary school to occupy 98-acre site containing designated buildings. On February 28, 2007, the New York City Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals for a site formerly used as the City’s Farm Colony.

Starting in the 1850s, the City provided housing to indigent New Yorkers in exchange for their labor on the Farm Colony. The facility expanded several times, but by the 1940s its use began to decline. It remained open until 1975 when the City moved the remaining residents to the adjacent Sea View Hospital. In 1985, Landmarks designated the entire area as the Farm Colony – Seaview Hospital Historic District, including the Farm Colony’s eleven buildings. (more…)

Comprised of Battery Park City, the Financial District, South Street Seaport, and Tribeca, the neighborhoods of Manhattan Community Board 1 are in the midst of a period of tremendous growth and development. New apartment buildings are bringing thousands of new residents to the district. At the same time, large redevelopment projects, such as the World Trade Center, promise to return millions of square feet of office space along with expanded retail and cultural spaces. Under the leadership of Julie Menin, Community Board 1 is working hard to “bring a holistic approach” to development, one that takes into account the community’s needs. CityLand talked to Menin about the important issues facing Lower Manhattan and how the Board is preparing for the future.

A Rising Voice. Menin grew up in Washington D.C. and first moved to the City to attend Columbia University. After obtaining a political science degree, she studied law at Northwestern University, and then moved back to D.C. to begin her career. In 2000, after eight years as a regulatory lawyer, Menin left her practice and opened Vine, a restaurant located on Broad Street across from the New York Stock Exchange. After 9/11, her business, like so many others in the downtown area, suffered economically. Menin said Vine and eight other businesses on Broad Street ultimately closed, in part due to new security measures that closed the street. (more…)

Depression-era pools and play centers considered for individual designation. In the 1930s, under the guidance of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, the City built dozens of parks and swimming pools using federal Works Progress Administration funds. In the summer of 1936 alone, the City opened eleven large pool-oriented play centers.

On January 31, 2007, Landmarks heard public testimony on the proposed designation of nine of these WPA play centers, including the Bronx Crotona Play Center, McCarren Play Center in Brooklyn and three Manhattan locations. Landmarks previously designated Queens Astoria Play Center and the Orchard Beach Bathhouse in the Bronx, the remaining two recreation centers opened by LaGuardia and Moses in the summer of 1936. 3 CityLand 95 (July 15, 2006). (more…)

Three brothers owning land in Staten Island challenged use of ULURP to exempt City from condemnation procedures. In 2002, the Planning Commission approved an application by the Department of Parks and Recreation to add 14.5 acres to the Skyline Playground, a neighborhood park in Staten Island. Six of the 14.5 acres belonged to the Putter brothers, who planned to develop the site and had a pending application with City Planning for 50 affordable townhouses.

The Putters sued in 2002, but dropped the suit when the City informed them that the map amendment would not impede their development plans. The brothers proceeded until 2004 when City Planning told the Putters that an application to down-zone large parts of Staten Island, including their six acres, could gain City approval before the Putters’ application. (more…)