Image credit: NYC Department of Parks & Recreation.
On August 19, 2022, NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue cut the ribbon on a $6.74 million renovation of La Guardia Playground, at 252 S 4th St., in South Williamsburg. She was joined by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, and community members and representatives from the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance and El Puente. The new developments are funded by NYC Parks’ Community Parks Initiative (CPI), which targets high-density, low-income spaces for green features and recreational spaces. (more…)
Image Credit: NYC DOT
One year ago, in January 2020, the Expert Panel assigned by Mayor Bill de Blasio to study the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway issued its Final Report. Mayor de Blasio in 2019 appointed the seventeen-person Expert Panel* of which I was a member, following the angry rejection of New York City DOT’s plan for reconstructing the section of the BQE adjacent to Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn. City DOT presented its plan publicly September 2019. The plan caused immediate outrage. (more…)
Rendering of the new mixed-use seven-story building at 103 North 13th Street in Brooklyn. Image Credit: Albo Loberis/CPC.
City Planning Commissioners voice concern over approving too many IBIAs before knowing the impacts that such projects will have on the area. On February 27, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approved another Industrial Business Incentive Area (IBIA) within the Greenpoint/Williamsburg Industrial Business Zone (IBZ) of Brooklyn. This project will be the third of its kind, with 25 Kent Avenue as the first, and 12 Franklin Street as the second. This application expands the existing IBIA to include a new area comprised of six lots, located on a portion of block bounded by North 14th Street to the north, North 13th Street to the south, Berry Street to the west, and Wythe Avenue to the east. Designation as an IBIA unlocks two special permits, one to increase the maximum floor area ratio (FAR) and building envelope regulations, and another to waive parking and loading requirements. Utilizing the two special permits, the applicant will develop a new seven story building at 103 North 13th Street that will contain a mix of light industrial, retail and office space. (more…)
City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises Meeting. October 24, 2017.
A former Pfizer factory site in South Williamsburg will be developed into a mixed-use building and public plaza. On October 31, 2017, the City Council passed the Pfizer Sites Rezoning land use actions by a vote of 38-6. The zoning map and text amendments will convert the former Pfizer factory site, currently used for parking, into a mixed-use building and plaza. The project area, totaling 182,366 square feet, is bounded by Walton Street to the north, Gerry Street to the south, Harrison Avenue to the east, and Union Avenue to the west. The proposed development includes 1,146 housing units, 62,810 square feet of commercial space, and 26,000 square feet of public open space. For CityLand’s prior coverage on the matter, click here.
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Rendering of BAM South project’s public plaza and tower. Image Credit: Two Trees Management.
Local Council Member Letitia James reaches agreements with developers and City to increase affordable housing, preserve nearby public library. 22 Lafayette LLC and the NYC Economic Development Corporation proposed to develop a cultural space and residential tower and plaza at 113 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. The site for development is a triangular lot bounded by Flatbush and Lafayette Avenues and Ashland Place. The lot was previously the subject of a 2007 request for proposals that sought a developer to create an underground parking garage as part of the BAM Cultural District; those original plans evolved into the current proposal. The current use of the site includes a surface parking lot and a vacant one-story building. The lot is owned by the EDC and the City, and the development would be built, managed and operated by Two Trees Management in partnership with the City.
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