South Brooklyn rezonings approved

Homecrest Rezoning Map. Used with permission of the New York City Department of City Planning. All rights reserved.

Hearings highlight Council’s proposals for construction moratorium and landowner notification. The City Council approved the rezoning of eight blocks in Sheepshead Bay and 70 blocks in Homecrest, Brooklyn in an effort to preserve the existing character of both neighborhoods and curb out-of- character development.

At the February 6, 2006 Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee hearing, Council Member Lewis … <Read More>

$2,000 fine for Columbus Ave. sidewalk café

Glass-enclosed sidewalk café @SQC on Columbus Avenue seeking legalization from Landmarks. Photo: Kevin E. Schultz.

Restaurant’s landlord built glass café enclosure without Landmarks’ approval. In 2004, the owner of a building at 270 Columbus Avenue, located within the Central Park West Historic District, sought legalization of a sidewalk glass enclosure it constructed without Landmarks’ approval. Landmarks denied legalization in July 2004, finding that it diminished the character of the block and drew attention from the … <Read More>

Court orders LPC to reevaluate significance of house

Homeowners claimed house was wrongly described in Historic District report. In December 2004, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Douglaston Hill Historic District in Queens. The Mosleys, who had purchased a home in the District in October 2004, sued Landmarks, seeking to do away with the Historic District altogether or alternatively, remove their home from the District. The Mosleys claimed that the designation of the District was arbitrary and capricious because the Commission had denied … <Read More>

Church wins right to review use in industrial zone

Church converted warehouse within industrial area and held services. In 2002, Abundant Life Alliance Church of New York bought a condo warehouse unit located within the College Point II Urban Renewal Area in Queens to operate a church. At the time of purchase Abundant knew there were restrictions on the warehouse’s use: the urban renewal plan did not list churches as a permitted use, the deed contained a restrictive covenant that required Abundant to comply … <Read More>

Court remands decision on homeless housing to BSA

Provider of transitional housing appealed denial of variance. Homes for the Homeless, Inc. operated the Saratoga, a transitional housing facility for the homeless on Rockaway Boulevard in Queens. After receiving a request for proposals for added units, Homes applied to BSA for two variances: to legalize the use of its homeless facility, which was located in an M-1 district zoned for light manufacturing, and to expand its homeless units by constructing a new building.

BSA … <Read More>

Appellate court affirms sale of Two Columbus Circle

Preservation group opposes conversion and remodeling of Columbus Circle modernist building. The First Department has affirmed the lower court’s decisions on Landmark West’s challenge to EDC’s sale of Two Columbus Circle to the Museum of Arts and Design. 2 CityLand 141 (Oct. 15, 2005). The appellate court ruled that the group’s challenges to the legality of the Landmark Preservation Commission’s procedures were improperly raised for the first time on appeal. The court also rejected the … <Read More>