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>
Search Results for: Land Use Law
Community Group Renews Suit for Pierhouse Injunction in Brooklyn Bridge Park
Save The View community group argues new evidence shows rooftop bulkheads are not mechanical. On July 22, 2015, community group Save The View Now filed to renew their motion for a preliminary injunction against construction of the Pierhouse development in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The group’s initial challenge, arguing the development’s rooftop mechanicals violated an agreed-upon height cap, was dismissed on June 10.
Court dismisses challenge to Pierhouse development
Zoning restrictions were not violated. In 2006, Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation entered into a project plan for developing a hotel and residential complex at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The plan called for the development’s northern building to be limited to “approximately 100 feet”. Following Superstorm Sandy’s flooding of Brooklyn Bridge Park, the development was redesigned to move basement mechanical equipment to the rooftop, in compliance with new zoning changes. This increased the northern building’s height above … <Read More>
Appellate Court Upholds BSA Decision on Illegal Penthouse
Board was not acting arbitrarily by requiring LPC approval of construction permit for addition to a historic district building. On February 12, 2013, the Board of Standards and Appeals found they could not reinstate a Department of Buildings construction permit for Petitioner, 339 West 29th Street LLC without prior approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The Board found the permit was revoked in July 2009, and in October 2009 the area containing the work … <Read More>
Williamsburg Mixed-Use Project Withstands Legal Challenge
City approved developer’s request to rezone 15 tax lots to facilitate the development of two, six-story buildings near site of Domino Sugar project. Bruce Terzano (through JBJ, LLC) sought City approval to build a two-building mixed-use project at the corner of Wythe Avenue and South 3rd Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. To facilitate his proposal, Terzano asked the City to expand a nearby MX-8 special mixed-use district to include 15 tax lots on the eastern … <Read More>
Landmarks wins court order to remove illegal signs
Landmarks alleged that building owner and sign company repeatedly installed advertising signs without approvals. In April 1999, 598 Broadway Realty Associates Inc. obtained a permit from Landmarks to install a single advertising sign on the Houston Street-facing facade of a twelve-story building at 598 Broadway in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District in Manhattan. The permit was valid until April 2005. In August 1999, 598 Broadway applied to Landmarks to install … <Read More>