Office of Environmental Remediation Announces Updated Mapping Tool

The updated SPEED tool will give community a better understanding of development and environmental measures taken in their neighborhood. On April 23, 2020, The Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation released an update to its SPEED environmental mapping tool. The SPEED 2.0 environmental mapping tool allows New York City property owners, developers and community members to create maps of environmental information at a city, borough, neighborhood or site level. All of SPEED’s data is regularly updated … <Read More>


Landmarks Releases Online Timeline in Honor of its 55th Anniversary

The interactive timeline aims to foster civic pride for New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 16, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced the release of an online timeline, Fifty-Five Years of LPC. Fifty-Five Years of LPC was released in honor of Landmarks’ 55th year anniversary. The timeline is interactive and includes excerpts of Landmarks’ history and highlights its notable accomplishments through the decades.


HPD Proposes Affordable Homeownership Project in Bedford-Stuyvesant

Affordable homeownership project receives generally positive feedback. On January 22, 2020, the City Planning Commission heard an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for the disposition of city-owned property and to designate three areas in the southern portion of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn as Urban Development Action Areas. The UDAAP designation would help facilitate the construction of seven new buildings and 78 affordable homeownership units. Felipe Cortez, a borough planner at HPD and Jack … <Read More>


Developer Seeks Rezoning to Build Nine-Story Building in Crown Heights [UPDATED]

Community Board and Borough President in agreement about a slightly smaller zoning designation. On January 8, 2020, the City Planning Commission heard an application by EMP Capital Group to rezone a portion of two blocks fronting on the corner of Grand Avenue and Pacific Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The rezoning would help facilitate the development of a nine-story mixed-use building at 979-985 Pacific Street. The applicant is represented by Richard Lobel of Sheldon Lobel … <Read More>


City Planning Hears Application for Residential Development with a 250 Seat Theater in Astoria

The proposed zoning actions seek not only to facilitate the development but also bring block’s current uses in conformance. On December 4, 2019, the City Planning Commission heard an application by Mega LLC and the Pancyprian Association of American to rezone and redevelop an entire block in Astoria, Queens. The applicants proposed two eight-story buildings connected at the ground floor level with a green space between the buildings. The development includes affordable housing components and … <Read More>


Landmarks Rescind Landmarks Designation Status of Former School

The landmarked building featured many late Gothic details. On December 10, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to rescind the individual landmark designation of a vacant lot, located at 425 Grand Concourse, Bronx. The lot was formerly the location of Public School 31, which was demolished in 2015.