Landmarks threatens to abandon process of contacting the owner prior to designation. By a unanimous vote on May 17, 2005, Landmarks refused to designate the Crawford Clothes Building at University Place and West 14th Street, which was considered one of the earliest noteworthy designs of New York City architect Morris Lapidus. The three-story brick and metal retail structure had included a glass center tower that revealed the retail activity on each level, but which the … <Read More>
Whitney wins a modified expansion plan
Plan calls for a 176-foot tower, an expanded entry along Madison and a two story rooftop addition to the existing building. On May 24, 2005, Landmarks approved a modified plan for the expansion of the Whitney Museum of American Art along Madison Avenue and East 74th Street within the Upper East Side Historic District.
The original expansion plans designed by Renzo Piano included a two-story addition to the Whitney’s existing home, the 1964 Marcel Breuer … <Read More>
BSA allows fewer parking spaces for drug store
Developer obtains a 35-space reduction based on soil conditions. Anthony Racanelli, owner of 23,564- square-foot lot fronting Forest and Decker Avenues in Staten Island, proposed to demolish an abandoned gas station on the site and replace it with a two-story drug store, triggering a 74-space, on-site parking requirement. Racanelli applied to BSA to reduce the parking requirement to 39 spaces, arguing that, due to the site’s poor soil conditions and high ground water levels, it … <Read More>
Extension granted to construct 3-family home
Permit grandfathered due to completed excavation and substantial progress made on foundation. On May 10, 2005, BSA granted a permit extension, which allowed work to continue on the development of a 3,037-square-foot, three-story, three-family dwelling located at 1420 Balcom Avenue in Schuylerville, Bronx that exceeded the zoning requirements set by a 2004 rezoning of the area.
On September 28, 2004, the City Council approved a 295-block rezoning in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx … <Read More>
Parking lot approved for Queens residential district
Residential uses found infeasible due to the site’s odd shape and Astoria Boulevard frontage. Showky Kaldawy, owner of four vacant lots in East Elmhurst, sought a variance to allow his residentially-zoned lots to be used as a 33-space accessory parking lot for an adjacent rental car company. Three of the four lots comprising the 17,866 square-foot site front 110th Street, and the fourth fronts Astoria Boulevard, one of Queens’ major commercial arteries.
Kaldawy argued that … <Read More>
Owner withdraws application to legalize lofts
Owner converted manufacturing building into residential units. La Perst LLC, owner of a four-story building located at 260 Moore Street in an M1-2 manufacturing district of East Williamsburg, sought to legalize forty residential units in a previously vacant building that had been used for commercial and manufacturing purposes. The owner converted the building into residential units in 2003 contrary to the permissible manufacturing use under the zoning text.
In its application to BSA, La Perst … <Read More>