THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK,
THE MUNICIPAL ART SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, AND
THE CENTER FOR NEW YORK CITY LAW
present
For additional information and to purchase tickets, click here.
THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK,
THE MUNICIPAL ART SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, AND
THE CENTER FOR NEW YORK CITY LAW
present
For additional information and to purchase tickets, click here.
Image Credit: LPC
Items at issue included a former retirement community for sailors, a Colonial-era stone farmhouse, a lighthouse, and the Vanderbilt family mausoleum. On October 22, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held the second of four special hearings to address the backlog of items calendared before 2012 but never brought to a vote on designation. The hearing consisted of three batches, of seven to eleven items each, all located in Staten Island. Twenty-six items in total were considered at the hearing. (read more…)
Councilmember Peter Koo. Image credit: William Alatriste / New York City Council
Proposed law sets requirements for holding hearings and decisions or risk automatic decalendaring. On April 28, 2015 a bill was introduced for consideration at the City Council’s stated meeting to create time limits on the City landmarking process. The bill, Intro 775, was introduced by Councilmembers Peter Koo and David Greenfield.
Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council
In March 2015, the City Planning Commission announced a proposal called Zoning for Affordability and Quality, which broadly calls for three principal changes in the current citywide zoning resolution. The plan proposes to change and enlarge definitions of senior housing to include more types of housing providers than currently permitted. It also proposes to increase buildable space for senior housing in some instances. The proposal also seeks to lessen or some instances no longer mandate parking requirements for designated affordable housing units or senior housing based on their proximity to mass transit. Finally, the proposal recommends raising the streetwall and building height limits from 10 – 20% within medium- and high-density contextual residential zones. The agency rationale for the proposal is to provide better development opportunities within the city which more fully utilize sites full allowable bulk. The agency further explains that by loosening building envelope and parking regulations especially for senior and quality housing developments, more housing inventory will be created to help address the city’s need for these kinds of housing. The City Planning Commission is accepting comments on the draft scope of the environmental review for the proposal until April 30 2015 and, according to the agency’s projected timelines, hopes to bring the final proposal forward for public review and discussion in the early Fall.
(l to r) Councilmembers Rosie Mendez, Ben Kallos, and Corey Johnson speak at a rally against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed citywide rezoning plan. Image credit: William Alatriste/New York City Council
Speakers argued the plan eliminates residential zoning protections with little affordable housing benefit. On March 25, 2015 the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation held a press conference on the steps of City Hall to protest Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed citywide rezoning plan, “Zoning for Quality and Affordability”. According to the Department of City Planning, the plan was created in response to zoning barriers identified by DCP and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development that constrain new housing creation and impede Mayor de Blasio’s Housing New York plan to create and preserve more affordable housing in the city.
Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council.
Last week CityLand published a Guest Commentary from Steven Spinola, President of REBNY. Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council submitted this commentary in response.
In his recent editorial in CityLand, Steven Spinola, the longtime President of the Real Estate Board of New York, suggested a number of ways which the Landmarks Law needs to be reformed to adhere to its “spirit.” This is a curious statement that warrants further examination. In Section 25-301(b) of the Administrative Code, the purpose of the law is clearly set out to protect and preserve the historic buildings and neighborhoods of New York City in order to stabilize and improve property values, foster civic pride, enhance tourism, strengthen the City’s economy and generally promote the use of landmarks for the education, pleasure and welfare of the public. (read more…)
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