Permanent Open Restaurant Program Proposal Continues Through Public Review Process

Over 11,000 restaurants are currently participating in the Open Restaurant Program. Earlier this year, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced four citywide zoning amendment proposals to support small businesses, create more grocery stores and improve accessibility in transit. One of the proposals, the permanent open restaurant zoning text amendment, seeks to establish a permanent open restaurant program by removing the geographic restrictions on where sidewalk cafes can be located.


Review denied of neighbor’s alterations

Neighbor asks the Landmark Preservation Commission to review their neighbor’s completed renovations. Richard Robbins lives in an apartment on West 103rd Street. Robbin’s next-door neighbors at 315 West 103rd Street received permission in 2008 from the Department of Buildings to enlarge their home. In 2009, Buildings ordered the neighbor to stop working on the addition, at a point when only the roof and the backyard expansion had been completed. In 2015 The Landmarks Preservation Commission … <Read More>


Coronavirus Puts Halt to Land Use Review Process

The executive order freezes land use applications so public meetings do not need to occur. On March 16, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed Emergency Executive Order #100, which laid out several steps of the City’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. In the interest of limiting public gatherings to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, Emergency Executive Order #100 freezes land use applications that have a timed review or vote requirement. This includes applications within <Read More>


Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan Enters Public Review Process

The proposal would create new affordable housing, public parks, and other community improvements. On August 21, 2017, the City Planning Commission began the public review process for the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone several neighborhoods that flank the elevated train line along Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. The Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan seeks to rezone several neighborhoods, including Highbridge, Concourse, Mt. Eden, Mt. Hope, University Heights and Fordham, along an approximately two-mile long … <Read More>


Comptroller Audit Finds that HPD Review of Affordable Housing Sponsors Was Effective

Comptroller audit finds that HPD’s controls to ensure that housing incentives were rewarded to qualified applicants were largely effective. On June 27, 2017, the Office of the city Comptroller Scott Stringer released a report of an audit of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The audit sought to evaluate whether HPD had adequate controls to ensure that its housing incentive projects were properly awarded to property owners and developers that qualified for the program, … <Read More>


Public Review Underway for East Harlem Initiative

The proposal would create new affordable housing, strengthen the neighborhood as a major transit hub and job center, and preserve neighborhood character in existing mid-scale residential areas. On April 24, 2017, the Department of City Planning began the public review process for its proposal to rezone Manhattan’s East Harlem neighborhood. The East Harlem Initiative would invest in the improvement of the neighborhood by adding new affordable housing, creating opportunities for economic development, planning for infrastructure … <Read More>