City Planning Holds Public Hearing for Permanent Open Restaurants Program, Launches Design Public Engagement Process

Many residents and community board members complained of quality of life issues, including noise, trash, cigarette smoke, and loss of parking. On October 6, 2021, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing for the Permanent Open Restaurants program. The Permanent Open Restaurants program will formalize a process for restaurants to operate sidewalk or roadway cafes in a shortened process. The proposed permanent program follows the popularity of the temporary open restaurants program, which was … <Read More>


Sidewalk cafe permit denied

Owner of West 23rd Street restaurant sought to extend seating outside. In May 2018, Maxver LLC applied to the City Department of Consumer Affairs for consent to open an unenclosed sidewalk café outside of Calle Dao Chelsea, the Cuban-Chinese fusion restaurant that Maxver operates on Manhattan’s West 23rd Street. The application called for four tables, each seating two people. Consumer Affairs forwarded the application to Community Board No. 4, which, after a public hearing, unanimously … <Read More>


City Planning Approves Rockaway Beach Rezoning for Mixed-Use Buildings to Create a Gym

The proposed rezoning will allow for the facilitation of a new physical cultural establishment and the promotion of vibrancy and public engagement. On July 28, 2021, the City Planning Commission approved a zoning map amendment proposed by Beach 116th Associates LLC to facilitate the development of a gym located at 133 Beach 116th Street in Rockaway Beach. To facilitate the creation of the gym, the applicant requested a zoning map amendment to change the present … <Read More>



UPDATED: Work on apartment tower to continue after appeal

NOTE: This article was written for and previously appeared in an issue of CityLaw earlier this year, and was chosen for publication to CityLand prior to the issuance of a recent appeal decision that has now overturned this case. Please wait for future coverage of this issue.

Developer received permit to build record-setting skyscraper on the West Side of Manhattan. In November 2017, Extell Development Company unveiled plans to build a massive residential tower for … <Read More>


Council Approves Bill to Require Board of Standards and Appeals to Record Decisions

The bill provides better transparency and helps potential purchasers and agents. On June 17, 2021, the New York City Council passed a bill to require the City’s Board of Standards and Appeals to record a copy of a decision affecting a parcel of land made by the Board in the appropriate title recording system. The bill, Int. 2257-2021, will require the Board to record the decision with the Automatic City Register Information System (ACRIS) for <Read More>