Board of Standards & Appeals

New mixed-use building okayed after size reduction

Variance will allow 11 new dwellings and ground floor commercial in a manufacturing zone. BSA approved a use variance, permitting a five-story residential development with ground floor commercial on an M1-1 zoned lot with unobstructed views of lower Manhattan at the corner of Columbia and Congress Streets in Brooklyn.

When the project site, two lots totaling 4,773 sq.ft., was purchased by the variance applicants, Isaac, Jacqueline, and Maurice Douek, it contained two vacant four -story … <Read More>

Parking variance approved

Lapsed 1980 variance re-instated and parking spaces increased in Upper East Side apartment. BSA renewed a lapsed variance for the owners of a 116-unit co-op at 1199 Park Avenue at the comer of East 94th Street. The original variance, which allowed the public lease of excess parking spaces not utilized by the buildings’ tenants, lapsed in 1980.

The applicants stated that, in 1980 at the time of the variance’s expiration, 1199 Park Avenue was being … <Read More>

New building approved after two-story reduction

Four-story building will have 27 new dwellings. BSA approved a use variance, allowing the new construction of a four-story, 27-unit residential building with 14 underground parking spaces in an Ml-2 zoning district on the corner of North 7th and Berry Streets in Williamsburg. The building site, comprising two lots totaling 15,840 sq.ft., contains a former garage and a vacant one-story structure previously used as a food processing facility.

The original application, which sought a six-story … <Read More>

Developer withdraws on eve of Council vote

Tower to have been built adjacent to Brooklyn Bridge withdrawn within hours of Council’s vote. With only one day remaining in the Council’s 50-day review deadline, Two Trees Management Co., the developer of a proposed 178-foot residential tower adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge side span, withdrew its application on October 13, 2004, the same day Council scheduled its vote.

The project was proposed for DUMBO along Water, Dock, and Front Streets, with a part of … <Read More>

Comedy Club Gets 15-Year Approval

Comedy club to move into converted slaughterhouse. The Board of Standards & Appeals approved a use variance application allowing a comedy club to move into 351 West 14th Street at the intersection of Hudson Street in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Currently, a four-story, 24- unit apartment building with vacant street retail space occupies the site. The comedy club will move into the vacant 7,915-square-foot retail space and increase its mezzanine by 1,345 sq.ft.

The project site, … <Read More>

Sephardic Community Center to Double in Size

Variances will allow full-service early childhood/daycare center, teen lounge, senior adult center, gyms and additional facilities. In 1978, the Board of Standards & Appeals granted variances to the Sephardic Community Center to allow community facility use in an R5 zoning district. The Center operates a 3-story, 42,495-square-foot space where it offers educational, athletic, and counseling services to the Orthodox Jewish Community and area residents. The location, 1901 Ocean Parkway, is in a primarily residential … <Read More>