Landmarks Takes No Action to Designate Historic Church

Church removed from Landmarks calendar after complex history divides community members. On December 11, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a discussion about the 1st Spanish United Methodist Church located at 163 East 111th Street and Lexington Avenue in East Harlem. The Church was constructed in 1880 for the Lexington Avenue Baptist Church but was rebuilt in the mid-1960s after a fire destroyed most of the first floor. The Church was calendared in … <Read More>


669 Affordable Units Preserved in New York City Neighborhoods

Preservation of Section 8 properties will prevent conversion to market-rate housing. On August 15, 2018, the Housing Preservation and Development, the Housing Development Corporation, and the LIHC Investment Group announced the preservation of 669 units of project-based Section 8 housing in high-cost City neighborhoods where similar buildings have been converted to market-rate housing.


City Council Approves Inwood Neighborhood Rezoning Despite Residents Disapproval

On August 8, 2018, the City Council approved the Inwood Neighborhood Rezoning amidst resident concerns and disapproval. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez celebrated the rezoning approval. The rezoning was developed over the course of three years and affects 59 city blocks in the northern Manhattan neighborhood. The Economic Development Corporation, together with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, and the Department of Small Business … <Read More>


Report Looks At Threats To Affordable Housing In City Neighborhoods

City neighborhoods report threats to affordable housing. The Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development released its 2018 report on “How Is Affordable Housing Threatened in Your Neighborhood?” The report provided its findings in a chart on all neighborhoods in the five boroughs and indicators of threats to affordable housing. The Association is the umbrella organization of 100 non-profit affordable housing development groups, which serves low- and moderate-income residents in all five boroughs.


Hearings Held On Three Potential Individual Landmarks Ahead Of Rezoning

The landmarking of two buildings constructed as schools and a former meatpacking plant receive support at public hearing. On February 13, 2018, Landmarks held hearings on the potential designations of three structures as individual City landmarks in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. The three buildings are the former Richard Webber Harlem Packing House, at 207 East 119th Street; the former Public School 109, at 215 East 99th Street; and the former Benjamin … <Read More>


City Planning Approves African Burial Ground Memorial and Large Mixed-Use Complex

The City Planning Commission approved the redevelopment of a city block in East Harlem to include a Burial Ground Memorial, 730 residential units and over 300,000 square feet of commercial space. On July 26, 2017, the City Planning Commission issued a favorable report on an application for multiple land use actions to facilitate the East 126th Street Bus Depot Project in East Harlem. The applicants—the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and the Economic Development Corporation—sought … <Read More>