Amanda M. Burden Talks About the Future of the City’s Waterfront

Amanda M. Burden, Director of the Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission, has the lead role in building a blueprint, known as Vision 2020, for managing the City’s more than 500 miles of waterfront. The new comprehensive plan will recommend long-term management strategies for the City’s waterfront and waterways, and identify high-priority initiatives that can be quickly implemented. Burden sat down with CityLand to discuss how City Planning has … <Read More>


Designation denied on one B.F.Goodrich building

B.F. Goodrich Company Building at 225 West 57th Street in Manhattan. Photo: LPC.

Developer supported designation of one building but opposed designation of related structure. On November 10, 2009, Landmarks voted to designate the B.F. Goodrich Company Building at 1780 Broadway as an individual City landmark, but not its sister building at 225 West 57th Street. Howard Van Doren Shaw designed and built both structures in 1909, using elements from the Chicago School and Vienna … <Read More>


Council modifies zoning of MTA’s Western Rail Yard

Proposed development of the MTA’s Western Rail Yard site, including eight mixed-use towers, as envisioned by the Related Companies. Image: Courtesy of Related Companies.

The Council’s Land Use Committee approved the proposal after the developer agreed to provide permanently affordable on-site housing. On December 14, 2009, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified and approved Goldman Sachs and Related Companies’ proposal to develop the Western Rail Yard site on the far west side of Midtown, … <Read More>


Large Clinton mixed-use development approved

Two Trees’ project near Clinton Park approved. Image: Two Trees Management

Council limits certain uses to Two Trees’ site block. On May 20, 2009, the City Council approved Two Trees Management Company’s plan to build a 1.3 million sq.ft., S-shaped tower at 770 Eleventh Avenue in the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. The Enrique Norten-designed tower would rise in steps from approximately seven stories at Eleventh Avenue and West 54th Street to 32 stories at … <Read More>


St.Vincent’s future remains uncertain

Commissioners deeply divided in their responses to proposed new hospital. In the most recent chapter of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center’s process to gain approval for a consolidated, modern hospital, Landmarks met on December 16, 2008, to discuss the proposed new building. A month earlier, Landmarks had approved the demolition of the 1964 O’Toole building on Seventh Avenue between West 12th and West 13th Streets, clearing the way for construction of a new hospital on … <Read More>


Designation hearing held on Chelsea rowhouses

Lamartine Place/West 29th Street. Photo: Lacy J. Redwine

Proposed district among the few documented underground railroad stops in New York City. On January 13, 2009, Landmarks heard testimony on the potential designation of Lamartine Place as a historic district. Lamartine Place is comprised of 12 buildings at 333 through 359 West 29th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Manhattan. Built in the 1840s, the Greek Revival rowhouses were commissioned by Cyrus Mason, a New … <Read More>