The Odeon’s unenclosed sidewalk cafe, 145 W. Broadway, Manhattan. Image Credit: CityLand.

Community boards fight City Council on shortened sidewalk cafe review period. On May 7, 2013, the City Council’s Committee on Consumer Affairs held a joint hearing with the Land Use Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee to discuss proposed amendments to sidewalk cafe regulations. Introductions 875-2012, 876-A-2012, and 1039-2013 seek to expand sidewalk cafe hours and streamline the sidewalk cafe licensing and registration process.

Sidewalk cafes are licensed and monitored by the City’s Department of Consumer Affairs. In order to operate a sidewalk cafe, owners must first submit various documentation and fees to the DCA. Certain public safety regulations must be met and documented at this time, such as whether the proposed cafe will be on a sidewalk that is at least 12 feet wide. Applicants go through a multi-step approval and review process in order to be granted a revocable consent before a sidewalk cafe license will be issued. DCA controls and facilitates the process, sending the revocable consent petition to various City entities for discrete review periods. The petition is first sent to the City’s Department of City Planning, Department of Environmental Protection, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission (if applicable). From there, the petition is sent to the local community board, then back to DCA, and then on to the City Council. Each entity is entitled to hold its own public hearing on the petition and recommend approval, approval with modifications, or denial. Finally, the petition is sent to the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services for review and approval. When a revocable consent is granted, DCA will issue the sidewalk cafe a license to operate. (read more…)

Extension includes 74 properties in two sections contiguous to Upper East Side’s original historic district. On March 23, 2010, Landmarks voted unanimously to designate the Upper East Side Historic District Extension. The extension consists of two distinct sections along Lexington Avenue, with one between East 71st and East 76th Streets, and the other between East 65th and East 63rd Streets.

The area first experienced a period of major development in the 1870s, spurred on by the opening of the Third Avenue and Second Avenue elevated rail lines in 1878 and 1880. Neo-Grec and Italianate-style architecture dominated this period of development. The construction of the Lexington Avenue Subway in 1911 triggered a second wave of development. Many existing rowhouses received exterior and interior alterations, and as apartment living became attractive to wealthy New Yorkers, developers began building large Beaux-Arts, Colonial Revival, and neo-Gothic apartment houses. The area’s development history, as well as the scale and character of properties within the extension, matched that of the Upper East Side Historic District, originally designated in 1981. (read more…)

Daniel R. Garodnick

Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick, the recently re-elected representative for Manhattan’s 4th District and chair of the subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions & Concessions, takes pride in being born and raised in the district he represents. Garodnick grew up in a rent-stabilized apartment in the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village community and still lives in that neighborhood with his wife. His district also includes parts of the Upper East Side, Midtown, and Murray Hill.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Garodnick worked as a litigator at Paul,Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. He also served as a public member of Manhattan Community Board 6, where he gained a deeper understanding of local issues and their effect on residents. When a City Council vacancy arose in 2005, Garodnick ran as the Democratic Party’s candidate and won 63 percent of the vote in the general election. (read more…)