Court ruled the signs were not under City jurisdiction. On March 26, 2012 the Department of Buildings issued Notice of Sign Registration Rejection letters denying registration for twenty-one advertising signs owned by CBS Outdoor Inc. The Department based its rejection on the signs being too close to an arterial highway, in violation of the City Zoning Resolution. On January 29, 2013 the Board of Standards and Appeals upheld the rejection. CBS Outdoor, joined by the … <Read More>
Court Decisions
Appellate Division Finds Architect Not Liable For Damages In Church Renovation
The suit was brought by owners of a neighboring building that was damaged in the course of renovating the church. In 2001, the Church of God of St. Albans in Queens Village, Queens hired Harold Gebhard as design architect for a renovation of the church. The project involved demolishing part of the existing church structure and replacing it with a new building. During excavation of the building site in 2009, the neighboring building at 223-05 … <Read More>
Appellate Court Upholds Decision In Favor Of Adult Entertainment Stores
Court found amendments expanding reach of the adult use zoning resolution to be unconstitutional. In 2002, For the People Theaters and JGJ Merchandise Corp. filed suit to declare the 2001 Amendments to City’s adult use zoning resolution unconstitutional as a violation of the First Amendment. The amendments broadened the resolution to cover any establishment regularly featuring live performances emphasizing specified anatomical areas or sexual activities and restricting or excluding minors. Prior to the 2001 Amendments, … <Read More>
Lawsuit Seeks Damages Over One Vanderbilt Agreement
Owner of Grand Central Terminal claims violation of property rights, seeks $1 billion in damages. On September 28, 2015, Andrew Penson—the owner of Grand Central Terminal in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan—initiated a lawsuit against New York City for allegedly unlawfully taking Grand Central’s air rights from him for the benefit of SL Green Realty Corporation without just compensation, which is a violation of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The complaint … <Read More>
Chumley’s Wins Right to Reopen
Neighbors opposed the reopening of Chumley’s, a former speakeasy located on a residential block of the West Village. Chumley’s, a famous former speakeasy and literary hangout located at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village, closed temporarily in 2007 in order to repair structural defects in its landmark-designated building. Chumley’s is part of the Greenwich Village Historic District. In May 2012 Chumley’s began the process to regain its liquor license and reopen. The reopened Chumley’s … <Read More>
Appellate Division Upholds Sloan-Kettering, Hunter College Expansion
Court held City did not act arbitrarily; parkland-for-floor area was not illegal quid pro quo. On October 9, 2013, the City Council approved an application by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and The City University of New York/Hunter College for development of a former New York City Department of Sanitation garage. (See CityLand’s past coverage here.) Residents for Reasonable Development petitioned for injunctive and declarative relief, arguing the environmental impact statement failed to consider Hunter’s … <Read More>