City Planning Approves Application to Convert Former Hotel Building to Affordable Housing

The conversion of the former Watchtower hotel will bring 508 residential units to DUMBO, Brooklyn. On February 19, 2020, the City Planning Commission approved an application to rezone a block in DUMBO, Brooklyn from a light manufacturing district to a mixed-use residential and commercial district. The block is bounded by High Street to the north, Sands Street to the south, Jay Street to the east, and Pearl Street to the west. The rezoning would facilitate … <Read More>



CityLaw Profile: Allen P. Cappelli: City Planning Commission Member

On October 17, 2019, the City Council approved a plan to replace Rikers Island.  A month earlier, Allen P. Cappelli, a member of the City Planning Commission, had voted with the 9-3 majority in favor of the application. Cappelli called Rikers Island an “absolute abomination” and in need of “shuttering.” Cappelli’s vote reflected four decades of public service.


City Planning Hears Application for Major Development Across the Street from Essex Crossing

New development on Lower East Side set to transform the entire Broome Street corridor. On December 4, 2019, the City Planning Commission heard an application by Go Broome LLC and the Chinatown Planning Council HDFC to rezone and develop a large-scale, mixed-use development on the Lower East Side. The proposed development includes mixed-income housing, affordable senior housing, program and office space for the Chinese American Planning Council, congregation space for the landmarked Beth Hamedrash Hagodol … <Read More>