Numerous Local Residents Oppose Proposed TriBeCa Development of Vacant Lots

Plan would see the construction of two connected mixed-use buildings on triangular-shaped lots, currently used for parking, on Sixth Avenue extension. On November 12, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the proposal for two adjacent irregularly shaped lots on 100 Franklin Street in the TriBeCa East Historic District.  DDG Partners is seeking to develop the property with two conjoined structures that would include ground-floor retail and residential use on the upper floors. … <Read More>


Proposed Residential Tower Would Encroach on Site of Steinway Hall [Update: Revised Plan Praised and Approved by Landmarks]

Applicants stated that a tower could be built as of right without the need to seek Landmarks’ approval, but the proposed plan would be more respectful toward the individual landmark. On October 1, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the proposal for the new development of a through-block site at 109 West 57th Street. The proposed residential tower, with commercial use on the lower stories, would occupy a vacant lot, as … <Read More>


Council Approved Willets Point Development Project Modification

Council Member Julissa Ferreras praised for her successful efforts in the negotiations for a balanced transformation of the Valley of the Ashes. On October 9, 2013, the Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted unanimously to approve the Willets Point Development Project application. The application was a modification of the original 2008 Willets Point application. (See CityLand’s past coverage here).  Before the Subcommittee vote, Council Member Julissa Ferreras gave a statement highlighting … <Read More>


Council Member Stephen Levin: Bringing the City Council to the People

District 33 – Brooklyn Heights, Greenpoint, parts of Williamsburg, Park Slope, Boerum Hill

Council Member Stephen Levin grew up just outside of New York City, in Plainfield, New Jersey. He knew he wanted to be in Brooklyn even while he was attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. To get there though, he dabbled with various jobs including working as a waiter (he was fired), a book store clerk, and an artist’s assistant. About a … <Read More>


Hearing on Former Art Deco Home for the Aged Draws Supportive Crowd

Retirement home served the Lower East Side’s Jewish community from 1931 until it closed in 2011. On February 12, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the potential designation of the Bialystoker Center and Home for the Aged at 228 East Broadway in Manhattan, as an individual City landmark. Built between 1929 and 1931 to designs by architect Harry Hurwit, the Art Deco Bialystoker Center was built by a Jewish benevolent society, established … <Read More>


City Council’s Domenic Recchia on South Brooklyn’s Past, Present, and Future

New York City Council Member Domenic M. Recchia Jr. represents District 47, covering Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Coney Island, and Brighton Beach neighborhoods. He is Chair of the City Council’s Finance Committee. He graduated from Brooklyn’s John Dewey High School, played football and received his undergraduate degree at Kent State University, and earned his juris doctor from Atlanta Law School. Recchia also has a Brooklyn private practice specializing in medical malpractice and personal injury.

Brooklyn beginnings.<Read More>