An amendment to expand ground floor retail use received harsh criticism from Council Members, tenants, and the community board. On May 30, 2017, the City Council’s Subcommittee heard testimony on an application to expand the Special Little Italy District to abolish rear yards to expand retail use. The applicant, JBAM TRG Spring LLC, proposed to build a one-story addition to the rear yards of 55-57 Spring Street—eliminating empty ground floor residential units—to create an expanded … <Read More>
Search Results for: City Council
Council Committee Approves Six of Twenty-one Construction Safety Bills
Housing Committee approves six pieces of legislation from package of 21 bills on construction safety, more to follow including apprenticeship bill. On April 24, 2017, the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings approved six bills from a package of 21 on which the Committee heard testimony on January 3st. For CityLand’s prior coverage of that hearing, click here. Chair of the Committee, Jumaane Williams, noted that the Committee planned on approving some … <Read More>
Manhattan Borough President Brewer and Council Member Chin Push for Legislative Deed Restriction Reforms
Initiatives proposed in the wake of the Rivington House sale would prompt public review process and transparency. On July 19, 2016, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Council Member Margaret Chin wrote a letter to the City Planning Commission in favor of subjecting any changes made to deed restrictions throughout New York City to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. The letter is the latest development in a series of events sparked by the sale … <Read More>
Council Subcommittee Hears Proposal for SoHo Six-Story Commercial Building [Update: Committee approves with modifications]
(READ UPDATE FROM 9/30/2014 BELOW)
Developers seek permission for three floors of retail over community objections. On September 16, 2014, the New York City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on a proposed six-story commercial building at 19 East Houston Street in the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District of Manhattan, between Broadway and Crosby Street. The lot was incorporated into the Historic District after the Landmarks Preservation Commission expanded the … <Read More>
NYU Campus Expansion Plan Reduced Again [UPDATE: Plan Approved by Full Council]
This article was originally published on 7/20/2012 (see below for update).
NYU agreed to limit heights of the Zipper Building and Boomerang Buildings, and to provide community center if no public school is built on site. On July 17, 2012, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified New York University’s campus expansion proposal in Greenwich Village. Opposition to the project, which had already been reduced by the City Planning Commission, remained when it … <Read More>
Council refused to landmark Bowery rowhouse
- 135 Bowery. Image: CityLand
Owner of Federal-style building plans to redevelop site with sevenstory office building. On September 21, 2011, the City Council rejected Landmarks’ June 2011 designation of the Hardenbrook-Somarindyck House at 135 Bowery in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The three-and-ahalf story Federal-style rowhouse was built circa 1817 and is owned by First American International Bank. Pursuant to the Charter the Council may modify or disapprove a landmark designation.
The bank purchased 135 Bowery … <Read More>