Rendering of the new causeway design of City Island Bridge. Image credit: DOT.

New causeway design for City Island Bridge applauded by community and local elected officials. On May 21, 2014, the City Planning Commission unanimously approved an application by the New York City Department of Transportation and Department of Parks and Recreation for a city map amendment to facilitate the construction of a new City Island Bridge in the Bronx. City Island Bridge, which connects City Island to Rodman’s Neck, was built in 1901 and was determined in 2002 to be in a state of serious deterioration.  The new bridge would be located in the same footprint as the existing bridge, but will now be approximately 68 feet wide, 17 feet wider than the existing bridge. The wider bridge would allow three standard-width traffic lanes and two 6-foot wide bicycle lanes with two 7-foot wide pedestrian walkways, one on each side of the bridge. (read more…)

Pelham Bay and Westchester Square residents concerned that developers would move in after adjacent neighborhood was down-zoned. After the City down-zoned Throgs Neck in September 2004, 1 CityLand 4 (Oct. 15, 2004), residents of Pelham Bay and Westchester Square complained that the new limits on development in Throgs Neck would send developers north and westward into their communities, spurring over-development. While both communities are predominately developed with detached housing, the current zoning permits large apartment buildings, with up to 12 stories in some cases. To eliminate this disparity, the Planning Department initiated down-zonings of both neighborhoods.

The Pelham Bay proposal calls for the rezoning of approximately 45 blocks. The majority of the area would be rezoned from R5, R6, or R7-1 to the newly created R5A district, limiting new construction to one- and two-family detached homes and setting a 35-foot height limit. The proposal also calls for reducing the depth of commercial overlays, from 150 to 100 feet, along Westchester, Crosby and portions of Buhre Avenues. (read more…)

Central Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, Van Cortlandt Village and Throgs Neck down-zoned. On September 28, 2004, the City Council approved four major Bronx down-zonings.

In Central Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil, the Council rezoned a 30-block area to restrict any new buildings’ height to six and seven stories rather than the 14 stories previously permitted. Currently, 92 percent of the neighborhoods’ buildings are under seven stories.

The Council also rezoned a 15-block area of Van Cortlandt Village, limiting the size and floor area of new dwellings to a size that more closely matched the existing low density buildings. The down-zonings, opposed at the Council by several homeowners and commercial building owners, grew out of a §197-a rezoning proposal initiated in 1998 by Bronx Community Board 8 under the Charter provision that allows a board to propose a plan for its development, growth, and improvement. (read more…)