Commission approves large, new Chinatown BID

Image: Courtesy of Chinatown Partnership LDC

Proposal encompasses 50 blocks and more than 6,000 businesses. On March 2, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of Small Business Services’ plan to create the Chinatown Business Improvement District for more than 6,000 businesses in Manhattan’s Chinatown. The BID would comprise 50 blocks generally bounded by Broome Street to the north, Worth and Madison Streets to the south, Allen and Rutgers Streets to the east, and … <Read More>


Site of proposed mosque near WTC decalendared

45 Park Place, two blocks north of the World Trade Center site. Image: CityLand

Owner of 1850s-era building, calendared by Landmarks in 1989, intends to redevelop site into thirteen- story mosque and community center. On August 3, 2010, Landmarks declined to designate as an individual landmark an 1850s-era building at 45 Park Place, two blocks north of the World Trade Center site. The five-story store-and-loft building reflects Italian Renaissance palazzo-style architecture and includes a ground-floor … <Read More>


Redesigned Broadway “bus bulbs” approved

Bus bulb in SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. Photo: CityLand.

Existing bus bulbs, installed in 2007, impeded pedestrian and handicapped access. On September 8, 2009, Landmarks heard testimony on the Department of Transportation’s proposal to redesign two bus stop curb extensions, referred to as “bus bulbs,” along Broadway in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. DOT installed the bus bulbs in 2007 to facilitate the movement of transit buses by eliminating the need for buses to pull … <Read More>


Space added for hotel and retail uses on Crosby St

Subcellar, cellar, and first floor of 11-story hotel may be used for hotel and retail uses. On January 28, 2009, the City Council approved Crosby Street Hotel LLC’s special permit application requesting an additional 19,116sq.ft. for hotel and retail uses within an 11-story hotel at 79 Crosby Street in SoHo, Manhattan. The surrounding neighborhood is mostly three- to seven-story buildings and loft buildings with ground floor retail.

Normally prohibited below the floor level of the … <Read More>


DOS garage and salt shed plan opposed by community

Controversial proposal would consolidate three Community District sanitation garages and add salt shed tower. On August 27, 2008, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Department of Sanitation’s plan to build a 118-ft. tall service and maintenance garage and 30- 75-ft. tall salt shed in SoHo, Manhattan, just east of the Holland Tunnel. Sanitation’s proposal is a response to the Hudson River Park Act of 1998, which requires Sanitation to vacate Gansevoort peninsula, the … <Read More>


Trinity Real Estate’s Carl Weisbrod Reflects on Revitalizing Urban Areas

Carl Weisbrod’s office at One Hudson Square is emblematic of the changes Trinity Real Estate is bringing to Hudson Square—a neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan nestled between SoHo, Tribeca, and the West Village. A modern office space with advanced technological amenities, the building was actually designed in 1930 to accommodate printing companies. Much like the building, Mr. Weisbrod, as President of Trinity Real Estate—the real estate development arm of Trinity Church, one of … <Read More>