Board of Standards & Appeals

BSA rejects waivers for L.I.C. apartment bldg.

Queens developer claimed out-of- date layout made apartments unfit. A Queens developer proposed to demolish two adjacent two-family buildings in Long Island City, replacing them with a five-story, 20- unit building that required waivers from BSA for floor area, yard, height, setback and open space.

The proposal was strongly opposed by the community, Borough President Helen Marshall, Community Board 1 and Council Members Peter F. Vallone, Jr. and Tony Avella. Faced with community opposition, the … <Read More>

BSA approves 7-story SoHo residential building

Fire-damaged building in historic SoHo to be restored and increased in height. Morty Lipkis, owner of 44 Mercer Street, a 2,480-square-foot lot in SoHo, proposed to replace a vacant fire-damaged building zoned for manufacturing with a 102-foot tall, seven-story mixed-use building. The proposed building would serve residential and retail uses with 12,549- square-feet of floor space, requiring variances for use and rear yard size. The site’s current two-story structure abuts a rear building and offers … <Read More>

Extra floor allowed for small Chelsea building

BSA allowed seventh floor despite community board objection. Steve Edelson, the owner of 209 West 20th Street, a 2,309-square-foot lot in Chelsea, proposed to replace a vacant one-story garage with a seven-story, 7,090-square-foot residential building with twelve units. The seventh floor would exceed the R8B district’s 60-foot height limitation and provide one additional unit setback atop the structure.

Edelson argued that the site’s shallow 81-foot depth coupled with the district’s 30-foot rear yard requirement made … <Read More>

Permit awarded to art school

Performing arts school to convert vacant three-story building. Montgomery Academy, a performing arts school located at 414 Utica Avenue, Brooklyn, sought a special permit to convert a vacant three-story commercial building on nearby Lefferts Avenue into additional school space. Montgomery stated that the building was necessary to accommodate increased enrollment.

Prior to submitting its application, Montgomery sought alternate sites, but failed to find any buildings that allowed a school as-of-right suitable with respect to size, … <Read More>

Circus school gets variance

Trapeze training required higher ceilings. The New Wave Circus Center sought BSA approval to locate a circus school in Coney Island where it planned to offer circus- related classes including tightrope walking, unicycle, trapeze and juggling. To accommodate the space needed for circus activities, New Wave would demolish a one-story commercial building at 2920 Coney Island Avenue and replace it with a newly constructed, 49-foot tall building covering the full extent of the 2,160-square-foot lot. … <Read More>

Two residences allowed on one lot

BSA accepts Buildings’ zoning interpretation of minimum lot area requirement. The Staten Island Borough Commissioner rescinded a stop-work order and approved construction of two, two-story single-family homes on one zoning lot in the Prince’s Bay section of the borough. A civic association in opposition appealed the approval to BSA.

At the BSA hearings, the civic association argued that the project did not meet the 3,800-square-foot minimum lot area requirement set in the City’s zoning code. … <Read More>