Dutch Kills rezoning modified by Council

Dutch Kills proposed zoning. image: Courtesy NYC Department of City Planning.

Responding to business community concerns, the Council increased FAR in portions of Dutch Kills Subdistrict. On October 7, 2008, the City Council modified the Department of City Planning’s proposed rezoning for the Dutch Kills area of Long Island City, Queens. The plan impacts 40 blocks near the Queensboro Bridge, and establishes the 36-block Dutch Kills Subdistrict. To encourage new residential development and promote the … <Read More>


Council Subcommittee Hears Testimony on One Vanderbilt

Representatives of the project and the Department of City Planning spoke during a four-hour hearing.  On April 13, 2015 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on One Vanderbilt, a proposed 1,450-foot commercial tower in East Midtown, as well as an accompanying proposal to rezone five blocks of Vanderbilt Avenue to create the Vanderbilt Corridor.  The building will be located adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, bounded by East 42nd Street … <Read More>


Zoning Subcommittee Approves Sollazzo Plaza

Approval permits demolition of old farmhouse to make way for a shopping center.  On December 15, 2014 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted unanimously to approve rezoning for portions of a block to permit the construction of a retail shopping center. The rezoned portion is bounded by Forest Avenue to the north, Monsey Place to the south, Richmond Avenue to the east, and P.S. 22 to the west.


Harlem project with 100 affordable apartments OK’d

Twelve-story affordable housing on West 117th Street in Harlem. A nine-story condo building will face West 116th Street. Image: Courtesy of GreenbergFarrow.

Two-building project will include market-rate condominiums on West 116th Street and an affordable rental building on West 117th Street. On August 17, 2011, the City Council approved L+M Development Partners Inc.’s proposal to develop two mixed-use buildings on a through block lot between West 117th and West 116th Streets, in the block between … <Read More>


Council Member Mark Weprin Discusses His Approach to Land Use Issues

Council Member Mark Weprin, the newly elected representative for the 23rd District and son of the late State Assembly Member Saul Weprin, admits that he is no expert in land use law. When Weprin first learned that he would inherit the position of chair of the Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee from fellow Queens Council Member Tony Avella, he pulled out the same land use hornbook he used in law school and started reviewing major land … <Read More>


Staten Island’s Sandy Ground area downzoned

Rezoning proposed to prevent attached homes in area settled by freed slaves in 1827. On February 3, 2010, the City Council approved State Senator Andrew J. Lanza’s rezoning proposal for the Sandy Ground neighborhood of Staten Island. Sandy Ground, also known as Rossville, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as one of the country’s oldest communities established by freed slaves. The rezoning impacts 35 blocks generally bounded by the West … <Read More>