HPD’s Carol Clark on Affordable Housing Development and Historic Preservation

Carol Clark, Assistant Commissioner for Land Use and Local Governmental Affairs with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, serves as one of the agency’s vital ambassadors to the City Council. The Council must review HPD’s affordable housing development initiatives that involve the disposition of City-owned properties or the grant of tax exemptions. Clark arrived at HPD ten years ago with an extensive background in architecture, historic preservation, planning, and real estate … <Read More>


Kate Ascher on Our Urban Environment

Kate Ascher, head of Happold Consulting’s U.S. practice, has perhaps become better known for her popular books on how cities work. Ascher received her masters and doctorate degrees from the London School of Economics, where she focused on the interface between the public and private sectors. She previously worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the City’s Economic Development Corporation, and Vornado Realty Trust. Currently, Ascher teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate … <Read More>


Landmark status removed from vacant land

360 Third Avenue, Brooklyn. Image: Courtesy of LPC

Boundaries around landmarked building reduced to provide buffer for Whole Foods development. On January 24, 2012, Landmarks reduced the landmarked site boundaries of the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company Building at the corner of Third Avenue and 3rd Street near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. The dilapidated Coignet Building was built in 1872 as a freestanding building, and is believed to the City’s first … <Read More>


Rush to designate E. 10th St. failed to stop roof addition

315 East 10th Street. Image: Mary Gillen.

Building owner in district obtained permit to build rooftop addition prior to Landmarks approval. On January 17, 2012, Landmarks held a public hearing on, and later designated, the East 10th Street Historic District in Manhattan’s East Village. The district encompasses a row of 26 buildings from 293 to 345 East 10th Street between Avenues A and B.

Many of the buildings were built speculatively to attract wealthy residents … <Read More>


NYU Campus Expansion Plan Begins Public Review

Two-phased proposal includes four new buildings, expansion of open space, and below-grade academic and parking facilities. On January 3, 2012, the City Planning Commission certified New York University’s proposal to expand its academic core in Greenwich Village. The plan would impact two superblocks bounded by West 3rd Street, Houston Street, LaGuardia Place and Mercer Street near NYU’s main campus. The project would include four new academic and residential buildings, create 3.8 acres of public open … <Read More>


Rudin plan for St. Vincent’s redevelopment approved

Rudin tweaked project’s site plan in response to concerns raised at hearing. On January 23, 2012, the City Planning Commission approved the Rudin Management Company Inc.’s plan to redevelop the former St. Vincent’s hospital complex into a 450-unit mixed-used project. The project site is situated on two parcels in the Greenwich Village Historic District. The East Site parcel includes eight former St. Vincent’s Hospital buildings along West 12th Street, down Seventh Avenue and along … <Read More>