Neighbors opposed the reopening of Chumley’s, a former speakeasy located on a residential block of the West Village. Chumley’s, a famous former speakeasy and literary hangout located at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village, closed temporarily in 2007 in order to repair structural defects in its landmark-designated building. Chumley’s is part of the Greenwich Village Historic District. In May 2012 Chumley’s began the process to regain its liquor license and reopen. The reopened Chumley’s would be a 2,000-square-foot restaurant with 58 table seats, a standing bar, no sidewalk café, and it would play only recorded music as background. It would also close at 1:00 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and at 2:00 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. (more…)

Opponents raised concerns about impact on Empire State Building, while the Council focused on Vornado’s participation in Minority- and Womenowned Business Enterprise program. On August 25, 2010, the City Council approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposal to construct a commercial tower rising approximately 1,200 feet on Seventh Avenue between West 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan. The site is occupied by the Hotel Pennsylvania, which Vornado plans to demolish in order to build the project, known as 15 Penn Plaza.

Vornado proposed developing a 67-story, single-tenant building or a 68-story, multi-tenant building in order to provide development flexibility. Vornado agreed to provide a host of transit improvements in exchange for a development bonus necessary to build either proposal. The proposed improvements include reopening and renovating the Gimbels/ West 33rd Street Passageway, and relocating subway entrances at West 32nd and West 33rd Streets.

During the project’s public review, Manhattan Community Board 5 opposed the project, arguing that the proposed transit improvements did not justify the tower’s size. Malkin Holdings LLC, owner of the Empire State Building, argued that the tower would negatively impact the iconic skyscraper, and asked that the proposal’s height be reduced. (more…)

Court compelled an EIS and other public participation measures related to Brooklyn House of Detention. In 2003, the City closed the Brooklyn House of Detention, located at 275 Atlantic Avenue across from the Criminal Court. At the time, Correction reasoned that the costs of caring for each inmate at the Brooklyn facility were too high because of the facility’s small capacity. Since then, the City kept no inmates there overnight, but the facility was still used to process inmates and transfer them to the nearby court for appearances.

Correction later determined that the costs and security risks for transferring inmates to their respective court appearances could be reduced if Correction reoccupied and expanded the Brooklyn facility. In 2008, Correction solicited bids for the renovation and expansion of the facility. It also applied for, and was granted, State permission to reopen the facility to its maximum capacity of 759 inmates. In November 2008, Correction transferred 31 inmates to the Brooklyn facility on an overnight basis to have them maintain the facility and prepare it to accommodate pre-arraignment detainees. Correction also submitted a contract for architectural design to the Comptroller for registration. (more…)

Commission declined to use quarter-mile radius test to determine the sufficiency of available parking nearby. On March 4, 2009, the City Planning Commission approved, with modification, 405 West 53rd Development Group LLC’s special permit application for a 37-space accessory parking garage. The garage would be located on portions of the cellar and ground floor of an 84-unit, as-of-right residential building located at 405-427 West 53rd Street in Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.

At the Commission’s January 21st public hearing, Anthony Borelli, Director of Land Use for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, spoke in opposition, stating that the garage was unnecessary given the ample amount of available parking within a quarter-mile radius of the project site. 6 CityLand 5 (Feb. 15, 2009). Anna Levin, of Community Board 4, stated that sufficient parking existed even if the radius was reduced to three blocks, especially since an 81-space parking garage located on the same block would soon be reopened. CB4 was willing to accept 17 spaces (parking for about 20 percent of the total units), but Stringer recommended that the application be completely denied because the applicant failed to prove that there was insufficient parking within the vicinity of the site. Stringer, in his recommendation report, noted that over a thousand parking spaces were usually vacant within a quarter-mile radius of the site. (more…)

Additional hearing on park status set for August 2007. State Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell, IV and Upper East Side residents opposed the City’s plan to reopen the marine transfer station at East 91st Street in Manhattan as part of the Bloomberg administration’s Solid Waste Management Plan. The parties filed an article 78 petition, alleging that the environmental impact statement for the entire waste management plan was insufficient since it failed to adequately assess the construction impacts of reopening the East 91st Street site. The petitioners alleged that the

EIS failed to consider safety issues for residents that use Asphalt Green, an open space next to the transfer station, and it inadequately discussed impacts to Asphalt Green from construction staging and construction of a new ramp. The City also improperly bypassed requisite state approval since construction would require use of a portion of Asphalt Green, which equaled taking over parkland for a non-park purpose.

The City countered that the EIS was sufficient, and contractors would be specifically prohibited from using Asphalt Green for construction staging. According to the City, Asphalt Green is not dedicated parkland and any construction impact would be temporary, failing to constitute a substantial intrusion on dedicated parkland.

Justice Michael Stallman, who had also rejected two earlier challenges to the East 91st Street transfer station, 3 CityLand 144 (Oct. 15, 2006), found the construction analysis in the EIS to be sufficient. The court noted that most construction staging would occur on East River barges and the ramp planned to bisect Asphalt Green would take only 11 months to construct. Due to the short term of construction, the court ruled that the EIS did not need a detailed analysis. (more…)