Council Subcommittee Approves Phased Construction Plan for East Side Coastal Resiliency Project

Despite the project’s phased construction schedule, concerns with the project still exist among elected officials and community members. On November 4, 2019, the City Council Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Dispositions approved two land use applications for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, the City’s flood protection plan for Lower Manhattan. The Project will include a system of floodgates and walls along the project area, sewage improvements, and will elevate East River Park … <Read More>


City Council Subcommittee Hears Testimony on East Houston Street Rezoning

The proposal seeks to re-zone two and a half residential blocks from solely residential to mixed-use with ground floor commercial space. On August 9, 2016, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises heard testimony on an application to re-zone residential space to provide for mixed residential and commercial space for two-and-a-half blocks on the south side of Houston Street, spanning from Norfolk Street to halfway between Clinton Street and Attorney Street, located on the … <Read More>


City Planning Commission Holds Hearing on East Houston Street Rezoning

The proposed rezoning would facilitate the development of a mixed-use building where an unoccupied, deteriorating building currently stands. On June 8th, 2016, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application to amend the City’s zoning map to facilitate the construction of a 13-story mixed-use building at 255 Houston Street, located on the Lower East Side in Manhattan.


Community Boards: For Affordable Housing But Against Administration’s Solutions – What’s Going On?

The results are in, and two of the de Blasio administration’s key land use initiatives, Zoning for Quality and Affordability and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, are not receiving a welcome reception at community boards and borough boards.

In fact, as of this writing, according to CityLand’s vote tracker of the city’s 59 community boards, 45 have voted to oppose Zoning for Quality and Affordability and 38 have voted to oppose Mandatory Inclusionary Housing. Four of the … <Read More>


Council Approves Conversion of Henry Street Firehouse into Community Space

Community facility will provide on-site social services and improved access to need-based financial benefits.  On August 13, 2015, the City Council adopted a resolution to rehabilitate a vacant firehouse and convert it into a community facility.  The Department of Housing Preservation and Development submitted the Urban Development Action Area Project proposal to the City Planning Commission on March 31, 2015.  The four-story firehouse is located at 269 Henry Street in the Lower East Side neighborhood … <Read More>


Hearing on Former Art Deco Home for the Aged Draws Supportive Crowd

Retirement home served the Lower East Side’s Jewish community from 1931 until it closed in 2011. On February 12, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the potential designation of the Bialystoker Center and Home for the Aged at 228 East Broadway in Manhattan, as an individual City landmark. Built between 1929 and 1931 to designs by architect Harry Hurwit, the Art Deco Bialystoker Center was built by a Jewish benevolent society, established … <Read More>