Comm. considers its role in Sunnyside Gardens HD

Sunnyside homeowners would no longer need Planning Commission special permits. On February 13, 2008, the Planning Commission heard testimony regarding the Department of City Planning’s proposal to amend the zoning for a 16block area within Sunnyside Gardens. A planned community designed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright in the 1920s to house work-ing-class families, architecture historians and preservationists have praised Sunnyside Gardens for its large landscaped courtyards and unique mixture of single- and multifamily buildings.… <Read More>


63-story tower to use Battery Tunnel air rights

Helmut Jahn-designed tower will include four-star hotel, condos, spa and fitness center. On November 15, 2007, the City Council voted to approve Time Equities Inc.’s five linked applications to construct a 725-foot-tall mixed-use tower at 50 West Street, directly north of the Battery Parking Garage and adjacent to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. The tower will contain ground-floor retail, 155 hotel rooms, and 290 condominiums. The project site will also contain a 6,821-square-foot urban plaza, … <Read More>


37-story residential tower approved

Tower includes parking garage and ground-floor retail. 1113 York Avenue Realty Company sought a zoning text amendment and special permit to facilitate construction of a 37-story residential tower with 211 apartments, 2,500 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail and a 195-space parking garage.

The site is located on the eastern portion of the block bounded by First and York Avenues, between East 61st and 60th Streets. It would be connected to an adjacent 41- story … <Read More>


Commission hears Columbia’s and CB 9’s plans

Columbia University proposes northward expansion; CB 9 seeks industrial jobs and affordable housing. On October 3, 2007, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on Columbia University’s and Manhattan Community Board 9’s competing plans for the future of West Harlem.

Under Columbia’s plan, the City would rezone 35 acres of Manhattanville, a section of West Harlem currently zoned primarily for manufacturing, and create a Special Manhattanville Mixed-Use District stretching from West 125th to West 135th … <Read More>


BSA rejects Buildings interpretation of Sliver Law

Residents prevail on claim that Manhattan building violated height limit. In 2006, the owner of 515 East Fifth Street self-certified a permit to add a sixth story and penthouse addition to the building. With construction underway, local residents and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer complained to the Department of Buildings that the penthouse violated the 60-foot height limit set by the zoning resolution’s Sliver Law, which limits building heights in certain districts to either the … <Read More>


Planning approves 57-story Fifth Ave. bldg.

Proposed 57-story hotel and condominium tower at 400 Fifth Avenue. Image: Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects.

Transfer of floor area from landmarked Tiffany Building facilitates construction. On September 19, 2007, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the special permits and text amendment needed for 400 Fifth Realty LLC to build a 57-story mixed-use building along Fifth Avenue, between West 36th and West 37th Streets. The proposed mixed-use building would rise to a height of … <Read More>