Image Credit: 2019 City Charter Revision Commission.
Starting this week, public hearings are being held throughout the five boroughs to solicit feedback on the report’s recommendations. In April of 2018, the NYC Council created a Charter Revision Commission. The 15-member commission, which was granted a wide mandate to review the City Charter from top to bottom, is considering possible amendments to be placed on the November 5, 2019 ballot in New York City. The Commission’s focus has been on four areas of City government: elections, governance, finance, and land use. The Commission is Chaired by Gail Benjamin, who served for 25 years as Director of the New York City Council’s Land Use Division. Also among the commissioners is Carl Weisbrod, former Director of the Department of City Planning. (read more…)
Front page of Applicant Maps website. Image Credit: NYC DCP
The new free self-service map tool increases accessibility for the public and smaller owners and developers. On Thursday, April 11, 2019, the Department of City Planning Director Marisa Lago announced the release of a free, easy to use digital mapping tool that allows the public, smaller property owners and developers to build quality land use maps for their applications to the City Planning Commission for zoning changes. Prior to the release of this tool, creating area maps was a costly venture, and required specialized Geographic Information System software, and the ability to use it. (read more…)
NYC Department of City Planning
The City’s zoning laws are now instantly accessible to New Yorkers. On February 6, 2019, Department of City Planning Director Marisa Lago announced the release of the City’s digital Zoning Resolution online platform. The online platform will serve as a green replacement for the 1,570-page physical copy of the Resolution, which will no longer be printed to save money, increase government transparency, and fight climate change. It will also be a more interactive replacement for the static PDFs currently on the City Planning website. The platform will make the City’s Zoning Resolution more accessible for New Yorkers.
(read more…)
Anita Laremont. Image credit: LinkedIn/Anita Laremont.
Current General Counsel is appointed Executive Director. On August 22, 2018, the Department of City Planning announced the appointment of Anita Laremont as its new Executive Director. Laremont is currently the Department’s General Counsel and Chief Analytical Officer. Laremont will succeed outgoing Executive Director Purnima Kapur. She will begin in her new role on September 4 and will continue to serve as the General Counsel until a replacement is named. (read more…)
Presented by the Center for New York City Law, The Center for Real Estate Studies and The NYC Law Department.
WHEN
Wednesday, March 28, 2018, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. (read more…)
Richard Bearak
Richard Bearak, Director of Land Use for Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, had originally intended to be an architect. But as an undergrad at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), Bearak unexpectedly developed an interest in city planning. After receiving a degree in Architectural Technology, Bearak was admitted to Hunter College’s urban planning graduate program in 1981.
Upon finishing school, Bearak worked in the private sector designing subdivisions and clustered developments in southwestern Connecticut. He later joined the staff of the Department of City Planning’s Queens Office for three and a half years, followed by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development while obtaining a degree from NYIT in architecture and becoming a licensed architect. In December 1993, he left to work in Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden’s land use office as a senior planner. Bearak was later named the office’s Deputy Director of the Planning and Development Unit, and he continued in that position under Markowitz. In July 2009, Markowitz named Bearak the Director of Land Use. (read more…)
