Dept. of City Planning Releases New FRESH Program Report

On February 1, 2023, the Department of City Planning updated the progress of the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health program with a new report, “FRESH By the Numbers.”. The Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (“FRESH”) program gives property owners the ability to construct slightly larger buildings in certain districts if the building includes a FRESH supermarket. The program targets neighborhoods that often lack access to fresh produce and other groceries, which <Read More>


Mayor Announces “Get Stuff Built” Plan to Streamline Building and Land Use Processes

On December 8, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams unveiled New York City’s latest land use roadmap, Get Stuff Built, a complement to his City of Yes zoning proposals announced earlier this year. Get Stuff Built represents a collaborative effort among more than two dozen agencies serving on the Building and Land use Approval Streamlining Taskforce (BLAST), which held 18 working group sessions and four roundtable discussions with more than 50 external stakeholders. Designed to address … <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>


City Planning Approves Application for Development on Former Peninsula Hospital Site

Edgemere Commons receives mixed reaction from the Rockaway community. On September 25, 2019, City Planning unanimously approved the Rockaway Limited Partnership’s application to redevelop an existing superblock in the Edgemere neighborhood of Far Rockaway, Queens.  The site, which formerly housed Peninsula Hospital, is a paved over, impermeable surface lot located north of Rockaway Beach Boulevard, south of Beach Channel Drive east of Beach 53rd Street and west of Beach 50th Street. The development … <Read More>



City Planning Certifies City Applications to Build Borough-Based Jails

The four jails are set to replace Rikers island by 2027. On March 25, 2019, the City Planning Commission certified the City’s application for four borough-based jails as a part of the City’s plan to shut down Rikers Island. The four jails – in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn – will have a total of 5,748 beds and a capacity of 5,000 inmates. The additional 748 beds will be used to account for taking … <Read More>