Suit claims environmental study was flawed and Council’s approval violated City land use plans. Five Brooklyn residents and the Coalition to Revitalize Our Waterfront Now, a citizen group formed in 2003 to advocate for sustainable waterfront development in Red Hook, filed suit in Supreme Court on February 8, 2005, seeking to void the City’s approval of an Ikea superstore on a 22-acre site along Brooklyn’s Erie Basin.
Ikea received the City’s final approval in October … <Read More>
Owner built glass-enclosed stairwell after receiving approval from Buildings and Landmarks. In 1999, George Pantelidis, owner of a four-story townhouse at 116 East 73rd Street in Manhattan’s Upper East Side Historic District, obtained a Buildings permit to build a glass-enclosed stairwell in the rear yard of the townhouse. The stairwell allowed the Pantelidis family, who resided on the first two floors, to go from one floor to another without using the public stairs. Prior to … <Read More>
Private for-profit school on the Upper West Side wanted to add a second story to a rear-yard building. Dwight School, a for-profit school located on West 88th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, applied to BSA for a variance to add a second story to its gymnasium located in the rear yard. The expansion required a variance to exceed a 23 ft. height limit set for community facilities built in the rear yard. … <Read More>
Settlement came after gardeners filed Article 78 petition. As reported in the November issue of CityLand, the City Council’s October 13, 2004 approval of the Courtlandt Avenue Apartments, a 167-unit, affordable housing development slated for Melrose Commons, would result in the demolition of several Bronx community gardens. The development site, comprising 16 lots, occupies most of the block between East 158th and East 159th Streets, and Park and Courtlandt Avenues.
On November 23, 2004, gardeners … <Read More>
Site now used for b us parking lot. Enopac Holding LLC, which since 1995 operated a parking lot for 150- 180 school buses on its property located at 6055 -6065 Strickland Avenue in Brooklyn, sought a use variance from the BSA to allow the construction of six mini-storage buildings on the property. Although the site historically contained several heavy and light industrial uses, including a waste treatment facility, the City rezoned the area in 1996 … <Read More>
Staten Island residential developer denied certification. Salvatore Culotta wanted to build 12 dwelling units in six detached residences on property he owned in the Special South Richmond Development District, a special zoning district created by the City in 1977. Before applying to Buildings for a permit, however, Culotta was required to apply to City Planning for a certification that there was sufficient school capacity to accommodate the expected increase in school children. When Culotta filed … <Read More>