City Council to Consider New Oversight Controls on BSA

Ten bills will be aired for public opinion to place restrictions on and revamp the processes of the Board of Standards and Appeals. On December 6, 2016, Council Member Ben Kallos introduced five new bills regarding the oversight and operations of the Board of Standards and Appeals at the City Council’s stated meeting. The Board of Standards and Appeals, which was originally created to be an independent board tasked with granting “relief” from the zoning … <Read More>


Intro to give Council power to force landmark hearings

Hearing held on proposal to compel designation hearings. On November 14, 2005, the Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses held a public hearing on a proposed Local Law which would allow the Council to order the Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold a public hearing on a proposed landmark designation. The proposal, sponsored by Council Member Bill Perkins, would add two new provisions to the landmarks law. Under the first, the Council, by … <Read More>


Proposed MoMA skyscraper generates opposition

Jean Nouvel-designed tower requires air rights transfer from two nearby landmarks. The University Club, located on the corner of West 54th Street and Fifth Avenue, and St. Thomas Church, located at West 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue, sought Landmarks’ approval for the sale of their developable air rights to Hines Realty. The sale would allow Hines to construct a 75-story mixed-use tower in the vacant mid-block lot adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art. The … <Read More>