Gail Benjamin and Anthony Crowell answer questions from Council Members on September 7, 2022. The Council voted to approve their nominations to the City Planning Commission a week later. Image Credit: City Council

On September 14, 2022, the City Council voted to approve Gail Benjamin and Anthony Crowell to the New York City Planning Commission. Earlier that same day, the City Council Committee on Rules, Privileges, and Elections also voted in favor following a hearing a week earlier. (more…)

The ribbon cutting of the new Tommie Agee Middle School, I.S. 419. Image Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

Members of the 1969 “Amazin” Mets and the late outfielder’s family joined city officials at the opening of I.S. 419. On August 26, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams, the Department of Education (DOE), and School Construction Authority (SCA) celebrated the opening of the Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus, I.S. 419. Located at 111-12 Astoria Blvd in East Elmhurst, Queens, I.S. 419 will serve 646 students from grades 6-8 and help alleviate crowding in the area for the 2022-23 school year. (more…)

The Jacob Dangler House. Image Credit: LPC.

UPDATE: (7/21/22) The developer began demolition on the Dangler House on July 21, 2022. CityLand will continue to follow this story as it develops.

The owner and a potential developer oppose landmarking, but many community members support saving the French Gothic mansion. On July 12, 2022, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing for the designation of the Jacob Dangler House as an Individual Landmark. Located at 441 Willoughby Avenue at the intersection of Willoughby and Nostrand, this Bedford-Stuyvesant mansion was calendared for consideration on June 7, 2022. (more…)

Rendering of one of the new proposed buildings. Image Credit: NYC CPC.

The buildings would provide residential, commercial, and industrial spaces. On May 11, 2022, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing for an application that would facilitate the development of two eight-story mixed use buildings that will offer residential, commercial, industrial and office spaces in Ravenswood, Queens. The rezoning area consists of the entire block bounded by 33rd Road to the north, 34th Avenue to the south, 11th Street to the west and 12th Street to the east. The two buildings take up a majority of space on the block, with the exclusion of a portion of the midblock facing 11th Street. The current block has a vacant lot and warehouses.  (more…)

Mayor Adams helps cut the ribbon on a new rooftop garden created with a grant from DEP to incentivize building owners to add green roofs. Image Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office.

Produce from the farm will be used at two eateries whose profits benefit charities and scholarships. On April 19, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala announced the opening of a new rooftop farm on top of the Commercial Commons Three building at 1441 South Avenue in Bloomfield, Staten Island. The farm will be named the Nicotra Grown Organic Rooftop Farm, named after the Nicotra Group, which owns the building. (more…)