Council Member Stephen Levin: Bringing the City Council to the People

District 33 – Brooklyn Heights, Greenpoint, parts of Williamsburg, Park Slope, Boerum Hill

Council Member Stephen Levin grew up just outside of New York City, in Plainfield, New Jersey. He knew he wanted to be in Brooklyn even while he was attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. To get there though, he dabbled with various jobs including working as a waiter (he was fired), a book store clerk, and an artist’s assistant. About a … <Read More>


Community Concerns Voiced at City Council Hearing for Special Hudson Square District

Community Board urges Trinity to build a new recreation center to accommodate projected population increase. On February 12, 2013, the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee held a hearing for Trinity Church’s application to rezone 18 blocks generally bounded by West Houston and Canal Streets, Avenue of the Americas, and Greenwich Street. The Special Hudson Square District will facilitate residential development, maintain commercial office space, and encourage ground-floor retail. Trinity Church owns approximately 39 … <Read More>


City Council’s Domenic Recchia on South Brooklyn’s Past, Present, and Future

New York City Council Member Domenic M. Recchia Jr. represents District 47, covering Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Coney Island, and Brighton Beach neighborhoods. He is Chair of the City Council’s Finance Committee. He graduated from Brooklyn’s John Dewey High School, played football and received his undergraduate degree at Kent State University, and earned his juris doctor from Atlanta Law School. Recchia also has a Brooklyn private practice specializing in medical malpractice and personal injury.

Brooklyn beginnings.<Read More>


City Council Set to Decide on Reduced Downtown Brooklyn Parking Requirements

Proposal to revise residential and public parking rules faces scrutiny on its ability to encourage affordable housing. On November 26, 2012, the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee held a hearing to examine a proposal to amend the parking requirements for the Special Downtown Brooklyn District. The main goal of the proposal, submitted by the Department of City Planning (DCP), is the reduction of required parking sites within the District. The proposal attempts to … <Read More>


City Council Rejects Sale of City Property in Hopes for an African Burial Ground Museum [Update: Council Overrides Mayor’s Disapproval of Rejection of Sale]

Council Member Charles Barron lead the City Council’s rejection of 22 Reade Street sale in support of the site being used for a pending federally-funded African Burial Ground Museum. On November 13, 2012, the City Council unanimously rejected the disposition of city-owned property at 22 Reade Street and approved of the disposition of City-owned property at 49-51 Chambers Street. The City’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) proposed the sale of the properties in … <Read More>


City Council Tweaks Six-Acre Seward Park Redevelopment Plan Proposed for Area Along Delancey Street

The City agreed to increase number of housing units from 900 to 1,000 and set aside space for on-site public school. On October 11, 2012 the City Council modified and approved the City’s Seward Park Mixed-Use Development Project. The 1.65 million-square-foot project will impact nine City-owned lots on the north and south sides of Delancey Street between Ludlow and Clinton Streets in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The City envisions the development of six new … <Read More>