Traffic and obstructed views at issue in Bedpan Alley

Hospital For Special Surgery’s proposed 12-story building over the FDR Drive at East 71st Street. Image: Hospital for Special Surgery/Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects

Hospital for Special Surgery proposes 12-story building over FDR Drive. On August 11, 2008, the City Planning Commission unanimously approved the Hospital for Special Surgery’s special permit application to build a new 86,869 sq.ft., 12-story outpatient center on a 21-ft. high deck over the FDR Drive between East 71st Street and … <Read More>


Park access to Gowanus Bay waterfront restored

Fence along esplanade in Red Hook ordered to be removed. Photo: NYC Law Department.

Private owner built a fence along the Henry Street Basin. The Gowanus Industrial Park consists of 46 acres of land on the edge of the Henry Street Basin in Red Hook, as well as land under the Basin. The industrial park is adjacent to Red Hook Park, which, in addition to ball fields and a pool, has an esplanade with trees … <Read More>


Rezoned owner allowed to complete construction

DOB stop-work order of no consequence in vested rights analysis. On April 25, 2007, the Department of Buildings issued a permit to the owner of 1447 Rosedale Avenue to construct a three-story, two-family home. Two weeks later the City Council approved a rezoning in Park Stratton which changed the zoning on the owner’s lot from R6 to R5, thereby rendering the proposed project out-of-compliance with maximum permitted floor area, parking, lot coverage, residential density, and … <Read More>


Variance granted for 11-story mixed-use building

Increased costs justified variance for mid-block site along Broadway. B & E 813 Broadway LLC applied to BSA for a variance to construct an 11- story mixed-use building on Broadway between East 11th and East 12th Streets. The 5,069-square-foot development site consists of two merged lots containing smaller two- and four-story buildings which the developer would demolish to make way for the new 129-foot tall building. The proposed development would exceed floor area, height, setback … <Read More>


Commission OKs 63-story Lexington Ave. tower

Lord Norman Foster-designed 63-story tower at 610 Lexington would use air rights from Seagram Plaza. Image: Foster + Partners.

Transfer of air rights from landmarked Seagram Building facilitates construction. On July 2, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved the special permit and zoning text amendment proposed by developer Aby Rosen, allowing his 63-story project at 610 Lexington to proceed to City Council for a vote. The proposed mixed-use building on the southwest corner of … <Read More>


Accessory parking requirement waived

Developer claimed structural limitations made off-street parking economically infeasible. POKO Partners LLC, a property manager and developer of low-income housing, planned to convert a 50,000sq.ft. vacant theater at 1501 Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn into a seven-story mixed-use development with two floors of retail, commercial, and community facility space and five floors of residential use. If the 66-unit building were constructed as proposed, 33 off-street parking spaces would be required. POKO sought a variance from the … <Read More>