HPD, City Planning, NYCHA among those who answered questions on the results and direction of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan. On November 17, 2014, the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings, joined by the Committee on Land Use and Committee on Community Development, held an oversight hearing on Housing New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing plan. The Council heard testimony over the course of seven hours from Housing Preservation and Development … <Read More>
Department of City Planning
HPD Commissioner Been Addresses New Affordable Housing Initiatives
HPD will permit architect self-certification and expand M/WBE developer opportunities. On October 7, 2014, Commissioner Vicki Been of the NYC Housing Preservation and Development gave the keynote address to the annual luncheon of Women in Housing and Finance. Commissioner Been elaborated on and announced new HPD initiatives to advance Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing plan.
City Comptroller Audit reveals City Planning non-compliance with Recycling Law
City Planning failed to prepare a waste prevention and recycling plan and failed to submit annual reports to Sanitation. On September 24, 2014, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer released an audit finding that the New York City Department of City Planning did not comply with Local Law 36. Local Law 36 was enacted in 2010 to amend the City’s recycling provision in Local Law 19.
City Council End of Year Round Up; Kingsbridge Armory Approved; Midtown Zoning Disapproved
New York City: Largest Ice Sport Center Approved in the Bronx.
Image credit:
On December 10, 2013, the City Council voted 48-1 to turn the Kingsbridge Armory, currently a vacant landmark, into an ice sports center. The $275 million development project by KNIC Partners, LLC will feature nine ice rinks and approximately 64,300 sq. ft. of related program space, including a wellness and off-ice training center, curling rinks, and locker and equipment storage. The … <Read More>
Crown Heights West Rezoning Approved by City Council
City Council approved Crown Heights rezoning despite calls for mandatory inclusionary housing and anti-harassment legislation. On September 16, 2013, the Brooklyn Borough Office of the Department of City Planning testified before the City Council’s Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises in support of its proposal to rezone 55 blocks in the western portion of Crown Heights (Crown Heights West). Crown Heights West is bounded by Atlantic Avenue, Pacific, Dean and Bergen streets to the … <Read More>
City Planning’s Carol Samol on Redevelopment in the Bronx and Reforming the City’s Land Use Review Process
As director of the Department of City Planning’s Bronx Office, Carol Samol uses zoning tools to promote sustainable economic development in the Bronx. She has also participated as a leader in a broader City effort to reform the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure’s pre-certification process.
Journey to the Bronx. Samol grew up in the upper Ohio Valley near Wheeling, West Virginia and studied English at Berea College, a small liberal arts college in Kentucky. … <Read More>