Housing development on Pier 5 allowed

The City authorized Pier 5 on the Harlan River to be development for housing. The City acquired Pier 5 on the Harlem Riven, a 4.4 acre parcel of land in The Bronx, in 2006 during the $60 million renovation of Yankee Stadium and transferred control of the land to the Parks Department. Pier 5 is bounded on the north by Mill Pond Park, on the east by the Major Deegan Expressway, on the south by … <Read More>


CityLand Resources on Police Misconduct, Justice Reform, and Protests


On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by a Police Officer while in custody of the Minneapolis Police Department. Floyd’s death has garnered a national response and has sparked groups of individuals all across the nation to gather in streets, parks and open spaces to protest systemic racism, police brutality and the injustices felt by the black community.  Floyd’s death and several other similar events have reinvigorated the discussion on law enforcement policy, criminal … <Read More>


Reducing Racial Bias Embedded in Land Use Codes

Even though the Supreme Court struck down race-based land use controls over a hundred years ago in Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917) it has long been known that zoning continues to create or increase racial and economic segregation. Today communities across the U.S. are reexamining their zoning regulations to create more equal, equitable, inclusive, and resilient communities by removing requirements, limitations, or prohibitions that disproportionately and negatively impact individuals based on race … <Read More>


Mapping the New Senate, Assembly & Congressional Districts

New York State in 2021 must redraw the State’s senate, assembly and congressional districts. The process will be different from the process used to draw legislative and congressional district lines in the past. Previously, the State legislature redrew the districts for its own members and for the State’s congressional members.  After years of efforts to reform a process seen as too self-interested, New York State voters in 2014 approved an amendment to the State constitution … <Read More>


Emergency Order Upheld

Department of Buildings placed commercial building in program that forces the owner to immediately fix code violations. Rada Corporation is the owner of a commercial building located on Remsen Avenue in Brooklyn. In May 2016, the New York City Department of Buildings issued a violation against the property, noting brick and cracked mortar joints. Buildings determined that due to the severity of the violations, an immediate emergency declaration was warranted. After the owner of the … <Read More>


Approval of Alteration – UPDATE: Case on Appeal

The owners of the Dean Sage Mansion in Crown Heights North Historic District sought to build addition to the 1870’s mansion. In the mid-nineteenth century the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn underwent suburban development of freestanding villas. Today, only a few of the Sturgis villas remain, one of which is the Dean Sage Mansion at 839 St. Mark’s Avenue, a rare High Gothic style mansion built in 1870 by architect Russell Sturgis. The Mansion, which … <Read More>