Board of Standards & Appeals

Lefrak Tower residential conversion approved

Image: courtesy of radaris.com.

Buildings claimed that owner miscalculated permissible number of dwelling units for proposed office conversion. The Lefrak Organization in 2010 applied to Buildings for an alteration permit to convert its thirteen-story office tower at 97- 45 Queens Boulevard in Rego Park, Queens to a residential building. Lefrak built the 131,930 sq.ft. tower in 1960 pursuant to BSA approvals. Lefrak planned to convert the building’s top twelve floors to 108 apartments … <Read More>

Knickerbocker Hotel gets OK to revert to former use

BSA approval needed before converting landmarked Times Square office building to a hotel. In September 2010, Highgate Holdings LLP sought an alteration permit to convert the former Knickerbocker Hotel at 1466 Broadway in Times Square to a 395-room hotel. The Knickerbocker Hotel, originally owned by John Jacob Astor IV, operated from 1906 until the prohibition era, when it was converted to office space. In 1979, BSA approved a plan to convert the Knickerbocker into a … <Read More>

Variance granted for vacant SoHo building

Permissible uses for vacant two-story building on Crosby Street expanded to include restaurant and bar. The owner of a vacant two-story building at 54 Crosby Street in SoHo applied to BSA for a use variance to permit a bar or restaurant on the building’s ground floor. The 4,535 sq.ft. building sits on a lot twenty feet wide and is built to less than half of the available floor area. The building was formerly used as … <Read More>

Residential building grandfathered despite opposition

Owner completed 99 percent of building’s foundation before City Council approved Astoria Rezoning plan. Plaza Group 36 LLC obtained excavation and foundation permits to begin work on a four-story residential building at 30-86 36th Street in Astoria, Queens. On May 18, 2010, Buildings issued a new building permit to Plaza Group for the project. One week later, the City Council approved the Astoria Rezoning, changing the site’s R6 zoning to R5B and rendering the 6,565 … <Read More>

Variances granted for three-building HPD project

Proposed ten-story building at 1176 East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx will be part of the Phipps Houses Group’s three-building project. Image: Courtesy Curtis + Ginsberg Architects LLP.

HPD claimed that abandoned railway complicated the development of two lots. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development applied for use variances in order to construct a three-building affordable housing development on two vacant through-block lots zoned for manufacturing in the East Tremont section of the … <Read More>

Trump SoHo defeats new permit challenge

Community group argued developer improperly deducted elevator shafts on mechanical floor from floor area calculations. In May 2007, Buildings issued a building permit to the BayRock/Sapir Organization LLC to build a 42-story condominium hotel, known as Trump SoHo, at 246 Spring Street in Manhattan. The lot’s M1-6 zoning prohibited residential development. Therefore, Buildings’ approval required that the developer file a restrictive declaration prohibiting anyone from living in any of the building’s units for more than … <Read More>