Edward Lauria testifies before the Board of Standards and Appeals. Image credit: BSA

Board approved a new commercial building on satisfying Fire Department requirements.  On July 14, 2015 the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to grant a permit for the construction of a single-story commercial building at 47 Trioka Way in the Special South Richmond Development District of Staten Island.  The building will be concrete block with metal walls and roof, covering 15,120 square feet of floor area divided evenly among ten storage units and contractor’s establishments.

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Eric Palatnik testifies before the Board of Standards and Appeals. Image credit: BSA

Board approved construction after assurances from FDNY.  On January 13, 2015 the Board of Standards and Appeals approved a special permit for Carlo Saccheri to construct a two-story commercial building at 44 Marjorie Street in Charleston, Staten Island.  The building will be used for the receiving and storage of plumbing supplies, as well as associated office space and commercial truck parking.

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Image credit: New York City Council.

The new bill releases 4,000 new street vendor permits over the course of ten years. On January 28, 2021, the City Council voted to approve Int 1116-B, which provides significant changes to the street vendor system. Prior to the legislation, the number of street vendor permits had been capped at 3,000 since 1983. Given the high demand for permits, limiting the number of permits opened an illegal market for renting out permits. Int 1116-B, sponsored by Council Member Margaret Chin, was created to address these issues by releasing more permits and creating more oversight.  (more…)

Gansevoort Market Development Rendering. Image credit: BKSK.

Preservationists renewed challenge to LPC permit for redevelopment of 5-building blockface in Gansevoort Market Historic District. In June of 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to award Certificates of Appropriateness to developer 60-74 Gansevoort Street to redevelop five buildings in the Gansevoort Market Historic District. The work planned encompasses an entire blockfront composed of three tax lots between Greenwich and Washington Streets. The project entails the construction of new 82-foot-tall building replacing a former bus depot, a four story building replacing a former market structures, the construction of an addition to an existing building,  the restoration of a historic Moderne market building, as well as the preservation of historic facades. (more…)

Proposed rezoning of the Water Street POPS. Image credit: Department of City Planning

The modified version requires a full public review process in order to infill the largest arcades covered by the proposed zoning text amendment. On June 15, 2016, the City Council Committee on Land Use voted unanimously to approve a modified version of an application submitted by the Alliance for Downtown New York, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and the Department of City Planning to rezone the privately owned public space—colloquially known as “POPS”—on and surrounding Water Street, located on the east side of lower Manhattan. The modified proposal requires the Alliance for Downtown New York to commit to providing programming on the public plazas, re-instates public review as a requirement to infill the larger buildings affected by the rezoning, and places further restrictions on the infill of the arcades.

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