BSA grandfathers 16-story Lower East Side hotel

Hotel developer admits its foundation work damaged adjacent building. Developer D.A.B. Group LLC received a foundation permit on September 29, 2008 for its planned 16-story Lower East Side hotel at Rivington and Orchard Streets. Excavation work began one week after the City Planning Commission voted to downzone the area. D.A.B. then obtained a full building permit at 2:21 p.m. on the day that the City Council voted to approve the East Village/Lower East Side rezoning. … <Read More>


Lower East Side rezoning plan fiercely debated

Rezoning of East Village/LES. Proposed Zoning Map used with permission of the New York City Dept. of Planning. All rights reserved.

City Planning’s proposal challenged by issues related to affordable housing and protecting Chinatown. On August 13, 2008, the City Planning Commission heard extensive testimony on a plan to rezone 111 blocks in the East Village and Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Department of City Planning began the public review process for the original … <Read More>


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>


City Council Tweaks Six-Acre Seward Park Redevelopment Plan Proposed for Area Along Delancey Street

The City agreed to increase number of housing units from 900 to 1,000 and set aside space for on-site public school. On October 11, 2012 the City Council modified and approved the City’s Seward Park Mixed-Use Development Project. The 1.65 million-square-foot project will impact nine City-owned lots on the north and south sides of Delancey Street between Ludlow and Clinton Streets in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The City envisions the development of six new … <Read More>