City foils TransGas’s condemnation of park site

Court rules TransGas Energy’s condemnation is premature. TransGas Energy Systems proposed to construct a power plant along the East River waterfront in Williamsburg. It spent $1.5 million in March 2001 on an option to purchase the site, and, in 2002, filed for approval from the state Siting Board.

At Siting Board hearings, the City opposed the plan, testifying that it planned to rezone the entire Williamsburg neighborhood and create a waterfront park. In 2004, the … <Read More>


BSA permits bldg. to exceed limits of new rezoning

Owner claimed soil cleanup and structural repair made smaller building infeasible. Prior to the City’s 183-block rezoning of North Brooklyn, Selik Realty sought BSA approval to convert a three-story manufacturing building on North 7th Street and Meeker Avenue in Williamsburg into residential units and to add four additional stories. When the site was rezoned in May 2005, residential use became permitted as of right, but Selik maintained its BSA application, seeking approval of a building … <Read More>


City Receives Over $120 Million in Grants for Queensway and BQE Projects

On March 13, 2024, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the City’s acceptance of two federal grants worth a total of $123.6 million. The grants, “Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program” and “Neighborhood Access and Equity Program” were issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation and will be used on the Queensway project and for the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE).

Around $117 million of the federal grants will go towards developing further the Queensway, a … <Read More>


DOT Celebrates Livingston Street Redesign for Improved Service

On January 10, 2024, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced the completion of Downtown Brooklyn’s Livingston Street redesign. The redesign has created close to a mile of new bus lanes and intersection redesign between Boerum Place to Flatbush Avenue. The purpose of this project is to encourage faster and more reliable bus service for those in the area while cracking down on illegal and unsafe parking. Bus routes on … <Read More>


City Planning Hears Application for Arts Center and Affordable Housing Development in Brownsville

On December 13, 2023, the City Planning Commission held a meeting on the City’s Brownsville Arts Center and Apartments project, an application that would enable the development of a mixed-use residential and community space at 376 Rockaway Avenue in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. The proposed site is currently a vacant city-owned lot. The applicant, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, seeks to rezone the area that is located mid-block between East New York … <Read More>


City Planning Hears Application for Mixed-Use Commercial, Manufacturing and Residential Development in Crown Heights

On November 15, 2023, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing for a rezoning application at  962 Pacific Street in Crown Heights. The applicant seeks to rezone the lot bound by Pacific Street to the north, Classon Avenue to the east, Dean Street to the south, and Grand Avenue to the west. The rezoning would enable the development of a mixed-use residential, commercial, and community space. The proposed site is currently a vacant lot.