No supplemental EIS required. Lincoln West, a 74-acre project being developed on Manhattan’s west side between West 59th and West 72nd Streets along the Henry Hudson Parkway, began its approval process in the early 1990s. The City’s 1992 FEIS for the project included the closure of the West 72nd Street ramp off the Henry Hudson Parkway and the southward extension of Riverside Drive, both of which were explained as pending later approval by DOT.
In … <Read More>
Citizens’ challenge dismissed. In February, 2005, five Brooklyn residents and the Coalition to Revitalize Our Waterfront filed a petition seeking to void the City’s approval of an Ikea superstore in Brooklyn’s Erie Basin, arguing that the environmental study was flawed, the zoning change constituted “spot zoning”, and the development was inconsistent with the City’s zoning plans. 2 CityLand 29 (Mar. 15, 2005).
Justice Karen S. Smith denied the petition, finding that the map amendment was … <Read More>
Opponents filed claim 31 months too late. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which leases the land in Central Park from Parks under an 1871 directive of the state legislature, proposed to renovate the museum in 2000 and presented a detailed plan to Parks and Landmarks. The plan called for a new loading dock, the addition of public cafeterias and new auditoriums. Parks Commissioner Henry Stern signed off on the plan in December 2002, noting that … <Read More>
Court declares art organization, not building owner, owns artwork on exterior wall of SoHo historic district building. In September 2004, Judge Deborah A. Batts allowed the Board of Managers of Soho International Arts Condominium to proceed with its Fifth Amendment takings claim against the City, pending an inquiry as to who owned the well-known minimalist sculpture by artist Forrest Myers that had been attached to 599 Broadway since 1973. (See CityLand’s past coverage here.)… <Read More>
Controversial luxury condos to proceed adjacent to new Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal. In 2002, 160 Imlay Street LLC applied to BSA for a use variance to allow the conversion of a vacant six-story industrial building and the addition of three stories for a proposed luxury condominium building in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. The proposed site, a 61,546-square-foot, manufacturing- zoned lot located at 160 Imlay Street, is adjacent to the new Brooklyn Cruise Ship … <Read More>
City amended law to obstruct loopholes. In 1993, adult establishments had proliferated within the city, growing from only nine in 1965 to 177 in 1993. A 1993 Planning Department study, precipitated by this increase, concluded that adult uses produced secondary negative impacts like increased crime, property value depreciation and a reduction in commercial activity in areas where the uses were heavily concentrated. This study became the basis of a 1995 citywide zoning amendment that prohibited … <Read More>