Owner must file four months from Council’s action; challenge cannot be raised as a defense. In September 2003, DEP started the process to condemn a 12,500- square-foot lot at 142 Grand Street in Manhattan as part of the City’s construction of the Third Water Tunnel. The largest capital project in the City’s history, the Third Water Tunnel construction will enable the City to close and repair the City’s two functioning water tunnels for the first … <Read More>
Search Results for: Article 78
Challenge to use variance moves forward
Neighborhood coalition challenged variance to developer of site adjacent to Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal. In late 2003, when 160 Imlay Street LLC received a use variance to convert a six-story industrial building in Red Hook, Brooklyn into a luxury condominium, the Red Hook-Gowanus Chamber of Commerce filed an article 78 petition challenging the variance. The Chamber, however, named only BSA in its petition and as a result the petition has been appealed all the way … <Read More>
Dental practice use within zoning laws
Neighborhood associations claimed dental office violated restrictive covenant dating back to Civil War and current zoning laws. Two neighborhood associations in the Treadwell Farm Historic District, an area bounded by 61st and 62nd Streets and Second and Third Avenues in Manhattan, sued Jak Cohane, the owner of the bottom two stories of a four-story brownstone located at 218 East 61st Street, who leased his premises to … <Read More>
Court overturns BSA’s denial
Court allowed a relaxed standard of review for area variances. George Pantelidis, owner of a five-story townhouse at 116 East 73rd Street in Manhattan, after receiving a permit from Buildings, began construction of a glass-enclosed staircase that connected the second and third floor of the townhouse through the rear yard. From the start of construction, the next door neighbor vigorously opposed the glass enclosure. At Buildings, the neighbor’s objections were addressed by the Borough Commissioner … <Read More>
Court dismisses late challenge to Museum’s renovation plans
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>
Complaint dismissed for failure to join owner
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>