Board of Standards & Appeals

Owner withdraws application to legalize added dwellings

Owner converted garages into two residential units. Cyril Pereira, owner of two three-story buildings located at 85-14 and 85-16 63rd Drive in an R3-1 district of Rego Park, sought to legalize two residential units added within ground floor space that had previously been used for garage and recreational space. Each building already contained two residential units, the maximum allowed under the zoning text.

In the BSA applications, Pereira represented that additional units were needed to … <Read More>

BSA approved residential building in Tribeca

Manufacturing and office use found infeasible on triangular-shaped lot adjacent to Holland Tunnel. The owner of 500 Canal Street, Greenwich Triangle NU, sought a variance to build a 49,060 squarefoot, eight-story residential building with ground floor retail in a Tribeca manufacturing zoning district. The 8,000 square-foot, triangular-shaped lot fronts Canal, Greenwich and Watt Streets directly adjacent to the Holland Tunnel. The site is partially developed with abandoned one and three-story buildings.

The owner argued that … <Read More>

Residential and commercial complex approved

Two four-story residential buildings approved after reduction in size and addition of commercial space. Southside Realty Holdings LLC, owner of an L-shaped group of eight lots located at 291 Kent Avenue in a Williamsburg manufacturing district, sought a variance in 2003 to construct two 11-story residential towers, totaling 122,905 sq.ft., and underground parking. The Planning Commission and Brooklyn Community Board 1 both opposed the application due to the site’s adjacency to the Domino Sugar Plant, … <Read More>

Yeshiva to expand facilities

Queens school sought to build additional floors and play area to accommodate increased enrollment. The Jewish Center of Torath Emeth sought a variance for a proposed expansion of Yeshiva Ketana of Queens, a boys school located at 78- 15 Parsons Boulevard in a R3-2 zoning district of Kew Garden Hills. The lot contains a two-story 21,142 sq.ft. school and a one-story synagogue. The expansion included an 8,500 sq.ft. two-story addition to house additional classrooms, offices, … <Read More>

BSA approves large home in natural area district

Undersized Staten Island lot can be developed if trees replanted. Owners of an undersized, 9,733 sq.ft. Staten Island lot at 380 Lighthouse Avenue sought to construct a single-family home that required variance approvals because of the small lot size and because the proposed home failed to meet rear or side-yard requirements.

The lot fell within the Special Natural Area District, a 1974 zoning control passed by the City to protect existing topography, trees, plantings and … <Read More>

Century 21 expands; relieved from moving subway stairs

BSA found the requirement to move subway entrances uneconomic. Century 21 sought a variance to allow a 4,583 sq.ft. expansion on the second floor of its lower Manhattan store and a waiver from the requirement, triggered by the expansion, to relocate two subway entrances from the street to the store’s interior.

Century 21 occupies space in three contiguous buildings in lower Manhattan: the former East River Savings Bank located at 26 Cortlandt Street, a 33-story … <Read More>