Image Credit: New York City Department of Transportation

Today marks NYC’s official Phase 2 reopening. On June 22, 2020, New York City officially entered Phase 2 of the State’s COVID-19 reopening plan. In preparation for the reopening, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order directing the Department of Transportation, with aid from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Small Business Services, to administer the “Open Restaurants” plan. The Open Restaurants plan will generally permit restaurants and bars to expand their outdoor seating onto sidewalks, curb lanes, backyard patios, plazas and Open Streets. To read CityLand’s coverage of the Open Restaurants Plan at the City Council, click here.

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PS 163 in Manhattan. Image credit: Citylaw.

Non-profit developer sought to build residence for the elderly in Manhattan adjacent to a public school. In 2012, Jewish Home Lifecare, a non-profit providing health care services, applied to the New York State Department of Health for a permit to construct a residential facility for the elderly and disabled to be located on West 97th Street in Manhattan next door to P.S. 163. After Lifecare submitted an environmental assessment statement and an environmental impact statement, pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the Health Department approved the facility. Parents from P.S. 163 and nearby tenants objected and filed an article 78 petition seeking to annul the Health Department’s approval. The parents and tenants claimed that the Health Department had failed to address adequately the risks of exposure to hazardous materials and noise-levels. (read more…)