Every month CityLand creates a comprehensive set of charts to track land use applications undergoing public review. This includes new applications filed with the Department of City Planning and the Board of Standards & Appeals, applications certified into the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, and applications before the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
We track these applications throughout the review process and until a final decision has been made by the competent City Agency. The majority of these decisions are available on the Center for New York City Law’s CityAdmin database (found at www.CityAdmin.org). When possible, we have provided a link within our Filings and Decisions chart to provide easy access to the relevant documents (i.e. application materials or a final decision).
New Filings and Decisions chart May 2012
- 275 Madison Ave. Image: LPC.
1931 building among Texas architect’s diverse body of works. Landmarks voted unanimously to designate 275 Madison Avenue as an individual City landmark on January 13, 2009. The 43-story tower was designed by architect Kenneth Franzheim for Houston banker Jesse H. Jones. Though he made his fortune in banking and real estate development, Jones also served as Chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and as Secretary of Commerce under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Jones often retained Franzheim for his development projects, including an auditorium built in Houston for the 1928 Democratic Convention.
275 Madison was built towards the end of the City’s skyscraper boom, which ended during the Great Depression. The Art Deco building features a three-story high ornamented base, and a 40-story slab-form tower. The tower’s setbacks and unique shape were largely inspired by the 1916 Zoning Resolution, partly enacted to keep tall buildings from blocking light and air to the street. The building features prominently in photographer Berenice Abbott’s series “Changing New York.” Commissioner Pablo Vengoechea called it one of the City’s iconic skyscrapers, and noted significance in its reflection of the Zoning Resolution’s shaping of the skyline. (more…)
- Proposed 2M-square-foot Silvercup West complex in Long Island City, near the Queensboro Bridge. Used with permission of The Marino Organization. All rights reserved.
2M-square-foot complex with apartments, office, commercial and production studio space sent to Council. Silvercup Studios, through Terra Cotta LLC, obtained Planning Commission approval for several rezoning and special permit applications to enable the development of Silvercup West, a 2.07-millionsquare- foot complex that would occupy six acres along the East River waterfront in Hunter’s Point, Queens. The site, bordered by Vernon Boulevard, the East River and 43rd Avenue, lies partially under the Queensboro Bridge and contains a temporary generating facility run by the New York Power Authority, which would end operations if the project obtains approval.
Silvercup Studios is the largest full-service film and television production facility in the northeastern United States. It currently operates locations in Hunter’s Point and Blissville, Queens and its expansion into Silvercup West would be its third Queens location.
The complex would consist of one large base building that would separate into four towers: a film and television production studio tower would rise to 133 feet in height; two residential towers would reach heights of 589 and 506 feet; and an office tower would have a maximum height of 526 feet. In total, the complex would include over 270,000 sq.ft. of film and television production studios, 589,590 sq.ft. of office space, 1,000 residential units, 106,014 sq.ft. of community facility space, restaurants, bars, and a 1,400-space parking garage for complex tenants. Additionally, the project includes 55,000 sq.ft. of public open space, including a walkway along the East River. (more…)
