Full Council approves Greenpoint- Williamsburg rezoning. On May 11, 2005, the full Council approved the rezoning plan for a two-mile area in the North Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Only Council Member Charles Barron voted against the plan to transform the primarily manufacturing-zoned area to large and small-scale residential. Council’s Land Use Committee had modified the rezoning proposal and sent it back to the Planning Commission, which approved the modifications.
Queens neighborhood down-zoned
Approval marks the fourth Queens down-zoning in 2005. The City Council voted unanimously to down-zone 40 blocks of Kissena Park, making it the fourth neighborhood in Queens to be rezoned by the Council in 2005.
The Kissena Park down-zoning responded to residents’ concerns over the demolition of structurally sound single-family homes and the construction of out-of-character developments in their neighborhood. As-of-right development within the 40 blocks will now be restricted to one or two-family homes.
City wins adult use case
City amended law to obstruct loopholes. In 1993, adult establishments had proliferated within the city, growing from only nine in 1965 to 177 in 1993. A 1993 Planning Department study, precipitated by this increase, concluded that adult uses produced secondary negative impacts like increased crime, property value depreciation and a reduction in commercial activity in areas where the uses were heavily concentrated. This study became the basis of a 1995 citywide zoning amendment that prohibited … <Read More>
Windemere Apartments gets second hearing
Landmarks continued public hearing at owner’s request. On April 21, 2005 Landmarks held a second public hearing on the proposed designation of the Windemere Apartments located at 400-406 West 57th Street and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. Constructed in 1881 and considered the “Gateway to Hell’s Kitchen” separating Clinton from the Upper West Side, the Windemere is one of only two remaining large, early apartment buildings in the area. Theophilus Smith designed each building of the … <Read More>
Keuffel & Esser Building
Home to nation’s leading architectural equipment manufacturer designated. On April 26, 2005, Landmarks designated the Keuffel & Esser Company Building at 127 Fulton Street in Lower Manhattan. Constructed in 1893 and designed by De Lemos & Cordes, the eight-story Renaissance Revival style through-block building stretching from Fulton to Ann Streets, consists of brick, ornamented terra-cotta and cast iron.
Landmarks unanimously voted to designate the building, which served for over seven decades as the general offices … <Read More>
Owners challenge designation
Experts clash over rehabilitation cost for 1811-built Lower Manhattan townhouse. On April 21, 2005, Landmarks held a public hearing on the proposed designation of the four-story Robert Dickey House, a 41-foot wide Federalstyle townhouse located at 67 Greenwich Street and Trinity Place. The Dickey House, constructed in 1811, is the only surviving Federal-period, bowed-facade townhouse in Manhattan and one of only two intact townhouses of this period remaining south of Chambers Street.
The Schessel family, … <Read More>