Designated study area in Flushing, Queens. Image credit: DCP

City Planning presented to community board draft findings and recommendations for brownfield improvements in Queen’s Flushing neighborhood. In 2011, under the New York State Brownfield Opportunity Area Program, the Flushing-Willets Point-Corona Local Development Corporation received a $1.5 million state grant to plan for the clean-up and rezoning of the Flushing waterfront. The Program was created to transform brownfields—vacant or underutilized properties—from liabilities to community assets. This is the second phase of the Brownfield Opportunity Area Nomination Report and Master Plan. Currently, the Department of City Planning is completing the report, the Flushing Waterfront Revitalization Plan. City Planning presented preliminary findings to Queens Community Board 7 on May 2, 2017. (more…)

The New School hosted a panel on affordable housing and historic preservation, featuring (l. to r.) Rachel Meltzer, Nadine Maleh, Harvey Epstein, Rosie Mendez, and Gale Brewer. Image credit: The New School

Elected officials, affordable housing advocates, and preservationists speak on historic preservation’s impact on New York City’s affordable housing shortage. On September 16, 2014, The Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at The New School hosted a panel discussion on New York City’s affordable housing shortage and historic preservation. The discussion was co-presented by the Historic Districts Council and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. The panel featured Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Council Member Rosie Mendez, Harvey Epstein, Director of the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center, Nadine Maleh, Director of the Inspiring Places program at Community Solutions, and Rachel Meltzer, Assistant Professor of Urban Policy at The New School. The discussion was moderated by Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

(more…)

When Robert C. Lieber left the New York City Economic Development Corporation to replace Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appointed Seth Pinsky to lead EDC through the end of the administration. As EDC President, Pinsky must now shepherd through such legacy projects as World Trade Center, Hudson Yards, Yankee Stadium, and Willets Point. Less than a month after his promotion, and with less than 700 days remaining in the Bloomberg Administration, Pinsky discussed with CityLand EDC’s goals and challenges.

Investment Banking and Big Law. As a sophomore in high school, Pinsky spent a summer working in the library of an investment bank founded by James Wolfensohn, who would later become President of the World Bank, and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Pinsky moved to the City to attend Columbia University, where he graduated with a degree in Ancient History. Upon graduating from college, he returned to the bank as an analyst, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. Looking back, he sees his banking days as a detour— albeit a beneficial one for the financial skills he gained—from his longstanding goal of going to law school and working for the government. After two years at the bank, Pinsky left to attend Harvard Law School. (more…)

Council Member Melinda Katz is Chair of the Land Use Committee, a position she has held since 2002, when she was first elected to the City Council. The City’s land use review process requires that almost all major land use initiatives, with few exceptions, pass her desk for review. During her tenure as Chair, Katz “worked as a team” with the Bloomberg administration on the City-initiated rezonings, the largest rezoning initiative since 1961, covering roughly onesixth of the City including Hudson Yards, Greenpoint-Williamsburg, Highline-West Chelsea, Downtown Brooklyn, and the Jamaica Plan. On an unseasonably warm January day, CityLand sat down with Katz to get a feel for her perspective on land use issues

“I live in the same house I grew up in.” The daughter of two Julliard-graduates, Katz was born and raised in Forest Hills, Queens. After graduating from Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Katz attended the University of Massachusetts where she graduated summa cum laude. She then chose to attend St. John’s University School of Law because she “was young and wanted to save the world.” During law school, Katz interned with the Legal Aid Society, United States Attorney’s Organized Crime Unit, and United States District Court Judge Michael B. Mukasey. (more…)