Modified Coney Island Master Plan Moves to Council

Modifications include increasing ground floor amusement requirements and easing bulk restrictions. On June 17, 2009, the City Planning Commission approved the seven linked applications comprising the City’s extensive redevelopment plan for Coney Island. The approval included demapping of streets and parkland, creation of new streets and parkland, and a 19-block rezoning, running from West 8th to West 20th Streets between Mermaid Avenue and the Riegelmann Boardwalk.

The product of over 300 public meetings dating back … <Read More>


Union Square challenge to restaurant dismissed

Union Square Park renovation plan. Image:Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates

Challenge to Union Square Park renovation dismissed. Image:Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

Local group opposed Parks’ plan to relocate restaurant. Parks’ renovation of Union Square Park included a redesigned playground, a new comfort station, and a restored historic pavilion at the northern end of the park. The project also included moving a private seasonal restaurant, located south of the pavilion, into the pavilion. The Union Square Community … <Read More>


Washington Square plan gains commission approval

Parks presented revised design that included additional seating alcoves. On April 16, 2009, Landmarks voted to approve modifications to the master plan for Washington Square Park’s renovation. The modifications include the construction of a performance stage and the alteration and retention of seating alcoves. At a March 17th hearing, residents, as well as Council Member Alan Gerson, urged Landmarks to deny the proposal, stating that the stage was too small and the alcoves were too … <Read More>


Fulton Street BID for Brooklyn approved

Plan encompasses 195 businesses. On August 27, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved an application by the Department of Small Business Services to create a new Fulton Street Business Improvement District for 371 properties and 195 businesses in the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Within the boundaries of the BID are the BAM Harvey Theater and several triangular parks.

The proposed BID allows for an annual assessment on businesses and residents to … <Read More>


Lynn Kelly on the Future of Coney Island

Ever since Lynn Kelly was appointed President of the Coney Island Development Corporation [CIDC] last year, she knew that time was of the essence. Her mission: restore Coney Island to its former prominence, and do it quickly, or lose the opportunity forever.

Kelly, a former Deputy Director of the City’s Art Commission, joined the New York City Economic Development Corporation in 2001. Over the next six years, she managed a portfolio of development projects and … <Read More>


Additional space for the Whitney Museum approved

Downtown satellite would anchor southern end of High Line. On August 11, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved the Whitney Museum’s plan to build a six-story, 175,000-sq.ft. building at 555 West Street in the West Village of Manhattan. The proposal includes 50,000 sq.ft. for new indoor exhibits, 97,400 sq.ft. for museum support facilities, and 27,600 sq.ft. for a maintenance and operational facility at the southern terminus of the High Line elevated park. The site is … <Read More>