Council overturned on refusal to remove use restriction

Brooklyn developer still cannot build housing. Middleland Inc. sought to rezone three lots on DeKalb Avenue and Spencer Street in Brooklyn and remove a 1975 restriction recorded on the site that limited its use to accessory parking for an adjacent IBM plant, closed since 1993 and now occupied by a Home Depot. Middleland planned to construct housing on its site.

Despite the Planning Commission’s approval, the City Council rejected both of Middleland’s requests, citing the … <Read More>


Hearing held on proposed Crown Heights district

Neighborhood had originally been surveyed for designation in the 1970s. At its September 19th meeting, Landmarks held a hearing on the proposed Proposed Crown Heights North Historic District. The district, on land that was once part of the Lefferts family’s large holdings, had originally been surveyed in the 1970s along with the Fort Greene and Park Slope historic districts. An upper-class suburb in the 1870s, several free-standing Victorian homes still remain in the neighborhood. Following … <Read More>


15-story high-rise approved in Ladies’Mile District

 

Rendering of the West 21st Street front of Ladies’ Mile Historic District development. Image courtesy of SLCE Architects.

Site currently a parking lot and one-story structure. Roseland Property Company, developers of a through lot between West 21st and West 22nd Streets within the Ladies’ Mile Historic District, received a permit to construct a residential building with a 15-story front at 35-41 West 21st Street and a smaller eight-story front at 38 West 22nd Street. … <Read More>


Two buildings designated

Buildings with distinctive decorative terra cotta landmarked. On April 18, 2006, Landmarks approved 2 Park Avenue and the Stewart & Company Building, at 404 Fifth Avenue, as City landmarks. 2 Park Avenue, designed by Ely Jacques Kahn and built between 1926-28, is a significant example of Art Deco architecture. One of the first Americans to adopt the emergent European Art Deco style, Kahn’s work is characterized by interweaving forms and geometric masses. In 2 Park, … <Read More>


Bronx retail center approved

Rendering of the Bronx Terminal Market Gateway Center. Used with permission of The Marino Organization.

Mall-type retail center to be developed on site of Bronx Terminal Market. The NYC Economic Development Corporation and BTM Development Partners obtained Council’s approval for six actions related to development of a one-million square-foot, multi-level retail center at the site of the Bronx Terminal Market in West Concourse, Bronx. Two approved map amendments eliminated streets between River and Cromwell Avenues … <Read More>


New bridge for East 153rd Street approved

Bridge will provide four traffic lanes, two bike paths, two walkways and a needed cross-town connection. The Department of Transportation sought a City Map amendment for the construction of a new East 153rd Street bridge in the Bronx to span the Metro North railroad tracks and reconnect the east-west linkage of East 153rd, between Morris Avenue and the Grand Concourse. DOT closed the original 1899 two-lane bridge in 1988, due to safety concerns, and demolished … <Read More>