Upscale social club to occupy five floors of new 41-story residential building. RFD 55th Street LLC, owner of 60 East 55th Street, a 41- story mixed-use building currently being developed in Midtown Manhattan between Park and Madison Avenues, sought a special permit to allow a 19,249-square-foot high-end social club, known as the Core Club. The Club will feature a restaurant, library, outdoor lounge, screening room, meeting room, gym and spa. At the BSA hearing, RFD … <Read More>
Two Staten Island neighborhoods down-zoned
Staten Island Council Member wins approval for down-zoning despite strong concerns of Commissioners Merolo and Phillips. Council Member Andrew J. Lanza, representative for District 51 on the south shore of Staten Island, sought two map amendments for the Eltingville and Tottenville sections of Staten Island, which would predominantly restrict new development to single-family homes
In Eltingville, Council Member Lanza sought to rezone 12 blocks bound by Richmond Avenue, Koch Boulevard, Hayes Avenue and Hylan Boulevard. … <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>
DUMBO BID approved
BID will encompass 366 properties and address sanitation, security and marketing needs. The Planning Commission unanimously approved an application by the Department of Small Business Services to create a DUMBO Business Improvement District. The proposed BID would encompass 366 properties containing 575 existing businesses bounded by DUMBO’s York, Old Fulton, Gold, and Bridge Streets and extending to the East River.
Under the proposed BID, businesses and industrial uses would be assessed $.05 per-square-foot and $.004 … <Read More>
225-space garage approved over neighbors’ objection
Public parking garage will be component of new as-of-right mixed-use tower. Edison Parking sought approval for a 225-space public attended parking garage to be located at 88 Leonard Street between Broadway and Church Street in Tribeca. Currently the site contains a 204-space at-grade parking lot, which Edison plans to replace with a 21-story mixed-use development with 352 residential units, retail, and medical office space to be constructed by AI & Boymelgreen. The proposed public garage … <Read More>
Bensonhurst down-zoned
Developer wins exception to down-zoning. Over the no-vote of Council Member Tony Avella, the full Council voted to down-zone 120 blocks of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, carving out one area to retain its existing zoning in response to a Bensonhurst developer’s request.
Due to residents’ concerns over large towers replacing Bensonhurst’s single-family homes, the Planning Department filed a map amendment, proposing to eliminate the R6 zoning, which dominated the area and permitted as-of-right residential towers without a … <Read More>