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    CityLand’s Top Ten Stories of 2017

    Center for New York City Law  •  Citywide

    Welcome to CityLand‘s sixth annual top ten stories of the year! We have selected a range of our most popular and prominent stories, and guest commentaries concerning New York City land use in 2017. Our 2017 coverage was highlighted by articles concerning the approval of construction safety training for construction workers, proposals for the creation of more affordable housing, neighborhood rezonings, the protection of landmarks, and a guide on tort liability for injuries involving trees. We at CityLand are excited to continue providing in-depth coverage of the latest land use projects, cases, and legislation in 2018 and look forward to seeing what the year will bring. Thank you for all of your support and have a happy new year! (read more…)

    Tags : affordable housing, Airbnb, Boerum Hill, Brownsville, City Council, City Planning Commission, Construction Safety, East Harlem, East Midtown, East Midtown rezoning, Landmarks, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, Ocean Hill, Tort Liability
    Date:01/05/2018
    Category : Top Ten Stories
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    A Better Path for East Midtown

    Cover Article  •  By: John West and Michael Gruen

    One Vanderbilt. Image credit: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC

    Early in January 2017 the City of New York began the official public approval process for a proposal to rezone East Midtown Manhattan. The proposal was based in part on a report by the East Midtown Steering Committee co-chaired by the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and the District 4 Council Member Daniel Garodnick.

    The new 2017 proposal is the third proposal for rezoning East Midtown. In 2013 the Bloomberg Administration proposed to rezone East Midtown, but was forced by opposition to withdraw the proposal.  In 2015 the City rezoned the limited area along the Vanderbilt Corridor adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.  Both the current 2017 proposal and the 2015 adopted Vanderbilt Corridor rezoning are an improvement over the Bloomberg Administration’s withdrawn proposal; a developer cannot just write a check to receive bonus floor area, but must build an improvement to the public realm.  Still, both the new proposal and the Vanderbilt Corridor rezoning represent “zoning-for-dollars,” and take zoning in a wrong direction.  How might we do better? (read more…)

    Tags : East Midtown, Grand Central Terminal, One Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt Corridor
    Date:06/19/2017
    Category : CityLaw
    (1) Comment

    Eleven Buildings Individually Landmarked as part of the Greater East Midtown Initiative

    Designations  •  Midtown, Manhattan
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    The Graybar Building at 420 Lexington Avenue. Image Credit: LPC

    Hearing were held on twelve buildings over two meetings, with vary degrees of opposition— Citicorp Center Complex will be voted on separately at a later date. On November 22, 2016, Landmarks voted to designate eleven buildings in the Midtown area as individual City landmarks. Public testimony on the buildings was considered at two meetings on July 19 and September 13 of 2016. Landmarks undertook the surveying of the area as part of a mayoral program to strengthen and revitalize East Midtown as a commercial core. The initiative is expected to entail zoning for greater density, improvements to public spaces and mass transit, and commitments to economic-growth plans.

    Landmarks staff identified three periods of significant development in the area; the pre-Grand Central terminal era; the period of intense development following the construction of Grand Central and other transit improvements; and the modern, post-World War II era. (read more…)

    Tags : Beverly Hotel, East Midtown, Hotel Lexington, Martin Erdmann Residence, Minnie E. Young Residence, Pershing Square Building, Shelton Hotel, Yale Club
    Date:12/20/2016
    Category : Landmarks Preservation Commission
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    Council Subcommittee Hears Testimony on One Vanderbilt

    Zoning Text/Map Amendment  •  East Midtown, Manhattan
    Councilmember Dan Garodnick led the questioning on the One Vanderbilt proposal. Image credit: William Alatriste / New York City Council

    Councilmember Dan Garodnick led the questioning on the One Vanderbilt proposal. Image credit: William Alatriste / New York City Council

    Representatives of the project and the Department of City Planning spoke during a four-hour hearing.  On April 13, 2015 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on One Vanderbilt, a proposed 1,450-foot commercial tower in East Midtown, as well as an accompanying proposal to rezone five blocks of Vanderbilt Avenue to create the Vanderbilt Corridor.  The building will be located adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, bounded by East 42nd Street to the south, East 43rd Street to the north, Madison Avenue to the west, and Vanderbilt Avenue to the east.  The rezoning intends to facilitate commercial development on the west side of Vanderbilt Avenue between East 42nd and East 47th Streets, and designate Vanderbilt Avenue between East 42nd and East 43rd Streets as a public pedestrian space.  As a part of the overall proposal, project applicant SL Green will invest $210 million in transit and infrastructure improvements to Grand Central.

    (read more…)

    Tags : Council Member Daniel Garodnick, Council Member David G. Greenfield, Council Member Mark Weprin, East Midtown, James Von Klemperer, Kohn Pederson Fox, Mark Holliday, One Vanderbilt, SL Green, Vanderbilt Corridor, Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee
    Date:04/20/2015
    Category : City Council
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