City Council Holds Oversight Hearing on Industrial Land Use

City officials questioned on policy to protect New York’s industrial sector.  On May 6, 2015 the City Council Committee on Land Use held an oversight hearing on industrial land use policy in New York City with a focus on protecting and encouraging the City’s industrial sector from encroaching alternative uses.  In his opening remarks, Councilmember and Land Use Chair David Greenfield emphasized as ineffective the City’s policy of designating Industrial Business Zones without changing the … <Read More>


Zoning Subcommittee Approves One Vanderbilt Project, With Modifications

Proposal returns to City Planning with additional infrastructure improvements.  On May 5, 2015 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted to modify and approve the proposed One Vanderbilt skyscraper project and Vanderbilt Corridor rezoning plan.  (See previous CityLand coverage here.) The proposal as approved now includes a second transit hall on 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, as well as a 22 percent increase in the below-grade pedestrian space. The below-grade increase allows … <Read More>


Zoning Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Ladies’ Mile Residential Tower [UPDATE: Subcommittee Modifies, Approves Tower]

The proposed building would be located in a commercial district on a present-day parking lot.  On April 23, 2015 the City Council Subcommitee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on 39 West 23rd Street, LLC’s proposal for a residential tower at 39-41 West 23rd Street in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District of Manhattan.  The proposal would build the tower, made of two building segments reaching a maximum height of 278 feet, on a … <Read More>


50th Anniversary of Landmarks Law Marked with Exhibit and Symposium

Sometimes-contentious debate focused on the struggle to balance new development with historic preservation in New York City. On the evening of April 20, 2015, the Museum of the City of New York commenced a series of events and exhibitions commemorating the 50th anniversary of the City’s Landmarks Law with a symposium titled “Redefining Preservation for the 21st Century.” The Saving Place exhibit, intends to examine the “impact of a landmark preservation movement that has … <Read More>


CPC Approves New Affordable Housing Building in The Bronx

The building will be targeted to low-income and homeless individuals or families.  On April 1, 2015 the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development facilitating construction of a new affordable housing building in The Bronx.  The building will be located at 1561 Walton Avenue in West Concourse, and feature sixty units of rental housing for low-income and homeless individuals and families.


Council Subcommittee Hears Testimony on One Vanderbilt

Representatives of the project and the Department of City Planning spoke during a four-hour hearing.  On April 13, 2015 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on One Vanderbilt, a proposed 1,450-foot commercial tower in East Midtown, as well as an accompanying proposal to rezone five blocks of Vanderbilt Avenue to create the Vanderbilt Corridor.  The building will be located adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, bounded by East 42nd Street … <Read More>