Developers were using excessive mechanical spaces to increase the height of their buildings. On May 29, 2019, the City Council voted to adopt the Residential Tower Mechanical Voids Text Amendment with modifications. The Department of City Planning proposed the amendment in response to developers incorporating excessively tall mechanical floors – “mechanical voids” – in residential towers to increase their allowable height, as mechanical floors did not count toward the zoning floor area in the Zoning … <Read More>
Search Results for: City Council
Council Speaker Johnson and City Council Launch Interactive Map of City’s Parks
The website provides information on the City’s 1,700 parks including park amenities and maintenance funding. On May 24, 2019, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and the City Council announced the launch of an interactive map of the City’s public parks. The map can be accessed on the Council’s Parks in NYC page, offering information on the City’s 1,700 parks including the location of 2,856 playgrounds, 557 basketball courts, 546 handball courts, 34 running tracks, 69 … <Read More>
Major Staten Island Project OK’d by City Planning Despite Significant Opposition; City Council Up Next
The proposed zoning actions were largely disapproved by the Community Board, the Borough President, and even Staten Island’s appointee to the City Planning Commission. The Department of City Planning, along with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services filed an application requesting several ULURP actions to help implement the goals of the Bay Street Corridor Neighborhood Plan. The Neighborhood Plan is a comprehensive plan to … <Read More>
City Council Passes New Legislation Halting Business Sign Violation Fees
Small business owners faced fines upwards of $15,000. In response to public outcry and community concerns on the hardships imposed on local businesses, on January 9, 2019, the New York City Council passed new legislation that would temporarily stop fines from violations issued to small businesses for failing to conform to their sign permits or those who did not have the proper permits at all. The Department usually gets 900 complaints a year, but that … <Read More>
City Council Creating Pilot Program to Create Apartments in East New York
The program will bring currently illegal basement and cellar apartments up to code, and allow for additional basement and cellar apartments to be created. On February 13, 2019, the New York City Council passed legislation, titled Introduction 1004, establishing a pilot program which allows for the creation and alteration of habitable apartments in basements and cellars in one and two-family dwellings in East New York. The program seeks to address the lack of affordable housing … <Read More>
Long Island City Ramps Project Approved by City Council
A new elementary school and public open space will be created in exchange for approval of the controversial project. On October 31, 2018, the City Council voted to approve multiple applications for two mixed-use towers with 481 new residential units at 26-32 Jackson Avenue and 27-01 Jackson Avenue in the Long Island City neighborhood in Queens. The applications, known locally as the Long Island City Ramps project, previously faced much opposition from the community. For … <Read More>