
Carl Weisbrod, Chairman of the City Planning Commission. Image credit: CityLand
Carl Weisbrod stepped down from Chair of the City Planning Commission to Chair the Trust for Governors Island. On January 4, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his new appointment to Chair the Trust for Governors Island, Carl Weisbrod. Weisbrod has served as the Chair of the City Planning Commission and Director of the Department of City Planning since de Blasio’s election in 2013. For Weisbrod’s two latest discussions at CityLaw’s Breakfast Series, click here and here. (read more…)

Image credit: New York City Bar Association
A centennial symposium will celebrate the Nation’s first comprehensive zoning resolution: Leaders will look to past and future impact of zoning on the shaping of better cities. The Department of City Planning, in partnership with the New York City Bar Association, announced an all-day symposium titled Zoning at 100: A Symposium for the Future to take place on September 15, 2016. The symposium marks the 100th anniversary of the City’s Zoning Resolution which, when established in 1916, was the Nation’s first comprehensive regulation controlling land use and development.
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Council Member Rafael Espinal questioning the panel of Mayoral Administration representatives. Image credit: CityLand
Council Members expressed concern-ridden comments on the proposal’s plans for neighborhood job programs and the proposed housing’s lack of deep affordability levels. On March 7, 2016, the New York City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on the East New York Community Plan. If approved, the Plan would make East New York, and portions of Cypress Hills and Ocean Hill, located in Brooklyn, the first area to be rezoned under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan.
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Department of City Planning. Image credit: DCP
City Planning revamps website for the first time since 2012; hopes to foster public engagement. On January 29, 2016, the Department of City Planning announced its new and revised website. The new site has a more attractive user interface, improved site navigation and revised content that better presents the Department’s priorities, work program and processes.
City Planning Director Carl Weisbrod said, “As the world moves more and more online, having an accessible and informative website is essential for any government agency. DCP’s more efficient website will make it easier for the public to become knowledgeable about our various initiatives, studies and research found online. Thanks to the hard work of our Information Technology division, DCP’s digital presence is stronger and more useful than ever.”
“Community engagement is a core objective.” The new website has a “get involved” page, allowing citizens to stay current on public meetings and community plans. Each page now allows for one-click sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Tumblr, and email to better disseminate City Planning content.
“Moving forward, DCP will continue to introduce new features to its website in order to improve the users’ experience, to increase transparency and to encourage community engagement,” according to a public statement issued by the Department.
This is the first time that the Department of City Planning has revamped the site since 2012. The site was built within the overall NYC.gov website architecture and therefore delivers to the public a look and feel that is uniform across City agencies. The new website can be located here.

Image credit: Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
At the CityLaw breakfast on August 28, 2015, Carl Weisbrod provided an update on the de Blasio Administration’s housing plan, which Weisbrod described as now in its “toddler” stage. The de Blasio program is the most ambitious of its kind in the country, and the biggest in New York since the Koch Administration. Today, the City is managing the problems of success: continued growth and a shortage of housing. Conversely, in the Koch era, the City was planning for shrinkage, had abundant vacant land, and much abandoned housing.
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Carl Weisbrod, Chairman of the City Planning Commission. Image credit: CityLand
On Friday August 28, 2015, the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School hosted the 127th City Law Breakfast. The speaker was Carl Weisbrod, Chairman of the City Planning Commission.
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