Hearing Held On Former Deaconess Home And Early Purpose-Built Kindergarten

Owner of one of two buildings associated with Methodist Church and the immigrant community of Carroll Gardens threatened litigation should Landmarks designate the property. On June 26, 2018, Landmarks held a joint hearing on the potential individual landmark designations of two buildings in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. The adjoining buildings are the 238 President Street House and the former Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten, at 236 President Street. The Italianate-style building at … <Read More>


City Not Liable For Accepting False Deed

Owner’s house was fraudulently listed on the City register by a stranger who broke into the house and took possession. Jennifer Merin was left a house by a testamentary gift. The house is located at 226-08 141st Avenue in Queens County. In March of 2014, Darrell Beatty, without Merin’s knowledge, filed a fraudulent real property transfer report and a fraudulent deed with the City register that gave the property to himself. Beatty then broke … <Read More>


Initiative to Clear Landmarks’ Backlog Concludes; Council Overturns One Designation

Due to objection to landmarking by local council member Steven Matteo, the designation of a Dutch Colonial farmhouse on Staten Island was overturned. On March 28, 2017, the Council Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Maritime Uses convened to vote on the final batch of items designated as part of Landmarks’ Backlog Initiative. At the meeting the Subcommittee voted on three items it had held over from its hearing on February 7, 2017<Read More>


State Legislature Passes Bill to Ban Online Advertisements of Illegal Short-Term Apartment Rentals

The legislation, which is the first of its kind in the Nation, represents New York’s newest tool in its battle with Airbnb. On June 17, 2016, the New York State Legislature passed the first state bill in the Nation to ban online advertisements for illegal apartment rentals. The bill, sponsored by Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and Senator Andrew Lanza, seeks to protect the at-risk stock of the City’s affordable housing units, which are illegally rented … <Read More>


Special hearing on Backlogged Items Devoted to Staten Island Properties

Items at issue included a former retirement community for sailors, a Colonial-era stone farmhouse, a lighthouse, and the Vanderbilt family mausoleum. On October 22, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held the second of four special hearings to address the backlog of items calendared before 2012 but never brought to a vote on designation. The hearing consisted of three batches, of seven to eleven items each, all located in Staten Island. Twenty-six items in total were … <Read More>


Commission Held First of Four Special Hearings to Address Backlog

Wide support voiced for designation of Coney Island pumping Station; potential extension to Douglaston Historic District and individual designation of Queens Apartment complex and religious structures proved contentious. On October 8, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held the first of four hearings meant to address the backlog of items on the Commission’s calendar added prior to 2010. Twenty-nine items were considered, in three groupings of multiple items clustered by borough. Each speaker had three minutes … <Read More>