Committee approves controversial 400-space parking garage

Opponents raise congestion, asthma levels, and City policy as reasons to reduce parking garage. Despite calls by Hell’s Kitchen residents and Community Board 4 to reduce the requested parking spaces, the Land Use Committee sent the 400-space public parking garage plan of developer Glenwood Management Corp. to the full Council for a vote.

Glenwood applied for a special permit for the garage as part of its construction plan for a mixed-use building with 569 residential … <Read More>


Commission modifies Hunts Pt. Special District

Alterations are designed to restrict big-box retail and hotel developments. On May 21, 2008, the City Planning Commission voted to approve, with modifications, the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone a 70-block area in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx. The area City Planning proposes to rezone is bounded by the Bruckner Expressway, Halleck Street, and Ryawa and Oak Point Avenues.

Consisting of 690 acres, the Hunts Point peninsula is characterized by … <Read More>


BSA allows construction despite rezoning

BSA rules that foundation work was sufficiently completed prior to rezoning. In June 2007, the Department of Buildings issued the owner of 74 Grand Avenue a permit to construct a five-story, 55,000-squarefoot residential building. The proposed building, to be located between Myrtle and Park Avenues in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, complied with the zoning requirements at the time. The next month, the City rezoned portions of Fort Greene from R6 to R6B, rendering … <Read More>


Council modifies street trees and yards specs.

Council Members Tony Avella and Melinda Katz secure exemption for certain one- and two-family homes from new street tree requirements. On April 30, 2008, the City Council modified the Department of City Planning’s proposals to amend the zoning requirements for street trees and yards. The proposals are designed to create green streetscapes, increase open space, and ameliorate storm water runoff problems.

Under the old zoning, property owners were required to plant street trees in a … <Read More>


Comm. considers its role in Sunnyside Gardens HD

Sunnyside homeowners would no longer need Planning Commission special permits. On February 13, 2008, the Planning Commission heard testimony regarding the Department of City Planning’s proposal to amend the zoning for a 16block area within Sunnyside Gardens. A planned community designed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright in the 1920s to house work-ing-class families, architecture historians and preservationists have praised Sunnyside Gardens for its large landscaped courtyards and unique mixture of single- and multifamily buildings.… <Read More>


63-story tower to use Battery Tunnel air rights

Helmut Jahn-designed tower will include four-star hotel, condos, spa and fitness center. On November 15, 2007, the City Council voted to approve Time Equities Inc.’s five linked applications to construct a 725-foot-tall mixed-use tower at 50 West Street, directly north of the Battery Parking Garage and adjacent to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. The tower will contain ground-floor retail, 155 hotel rooms, and 290 condominiums. The project site will also contain a 6,821-square-foot urban plaza, … <Read More>