New public school will be among first built since 1970s without City funding; school construction program amended to increase flexibility. The City Council’s Land Use Committee voted yes on two applications that would enable private development of a 520-seat City middle school on the Upper East Side at no cost to the City.
In 1966, the City created the New York City Educational Construction Fund, a public benefit corporation, to allow the leasing of City … <Read More>
Since taking office in January 2006, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has set land use policy and community board reform as priorities.
Stringer hired Anthony Borelli as his Director of Land Use, Planning and Development. Before joining the Borough President’s office, Borelli studied urban planning at Columbia University and worked with the university’s Urban Technical Assistance Project, which provides urban planning consultation to distressed communities. Borelli then served as District Manager of Community Board 4 … <Read More>
Developer to buy 58,005 sq.ft. of air rights from Broadway’s Hirschfeld Theatre. An application to transfer additional air rights from the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, formerly the Martin Beck Theater, on West 45th Street started the City’s public review process on April 24, 2006 when the Planning Commission certified the applications of Allen Goldman of Fifth Street Holdings, LLC and SJP Residential Properties.
In 1998, the City enacted zoning rules aimed at preserving Broadway’s historic theaters. … <Read More>
Staten Island landowners claimed delay prejudiced their development application. The three Putter brothers owned a six-acre tract of land in the West Brighton/New Brighton section of Staten Island. Their property was located within the Special Hillsides Preservation District, which requires landowners to obtain Planning Department permission to develop their property. In 1999, the brothers submitted an application to the Planning Department to develop their site with 60 affordable townhouses.
Over the next several years the … <Read More>
Owner sought to enlarge one-family home. The owner of 2026 Avenue T, a 2,640-square-foot corner lot in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, sought a variance to enlarge a 3,001-square-foot residence. The existing structure, already noncomplying, is 1,020 sq.ft. larger than allowed in an R4 district.
Initially, the owner sought a special permit to enlarge the residence into the south side yard with an additional 470 sq.ft. BSA, however, ruled that the proposal was ineligible because the zoning … <Read More>
Hearing held on proposal to compel designation hearings. On November 14, 2005, the Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses held a public hearing on a proposed Local Law which would allow the Council to order the Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold a public hearing on a proposed landmark designation. The proposal, sponsored by Council Member Bill Perkins, would add two new provisions to the landmarks law. Under the first, the Council, by … <Read More>