Search Results for: City of New York

Ridgewood North Historic District designated

Ridgewood North Historic District designated. Photo: LPC.

District’s “Mathews Model Flats” attracted German immigrants living in Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Lower East Side. On September 15, 2009, Landmarks voted to designate 96 buildings in Ridgewood, Queens as the Ridgewood North Historic District. G.X. Mathews Company and Louis Allmendinger designed and developed the area in 1908 and 1911, setting the standard for future tenement construction. The area is characterized by three-story tenement buildings featuring yellow and orange … <Read More>

Joshua Benson on DOT’s Bicycle Program

Joshua Benson, the 33-year-old Acting Director of Bicycle & Pedestrian Programs for the New York City Department of Transportation, admits to being particularly fond of the basket sitting at the front of his simple single-speed bike, noting how it allows him to carry anything from groceries to his laptop and projector on the bike. Benson started riding a bike as a student at NYU and now commutes to Downtown Manhattan every weekday from his home … <Read More>

EAS not required for NYPD command center

The NYPD to house Joint Operations Command Center in building adjoining One Police Plaza. In 2000, the New York Police Department planned to demolish a two-story building at 109 Park Row in Manhattan and replace it with a nine-story building. After September 11, 2001, the NYPD decided instead to renovate the existing building and create a $13.8 million, 22,000 sq.ft. Joint Operations Command Center. The command center would operate as a state-of-the-art crisis response situation … <Read More>

Pay phone ads ruled illegal

Franchise holder advertised on public pay phones located in a residential zoning district. The Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications charged Coastal Communication Service, Inc., a public pay phone franchise holder, with displaying advertisements on public pay phones within a residential zoning district. Coastal’s franchise agreement limited the display of advertisements on public pay phones to residential districts where commercial or manufacturing uses were permitted as-of-right.

Coastal argued that DoITT had exceeded its authority by … <Read More>

Document loss defeats NOV

Buildings cited 1974 building plan but could not produce it. Buildings issued a notice of violation to the owner of a building for engaging in work that did not conform to an approved building plan. Buildings stated that the owner extended the building beyond the size specified in a 1974 plan. At a hearing, Buildings stated that it could not locate the 1974 plan and relied instead on a copy of a 1959 plan and … <Read More>

1909 “Automobile Row” complex considered

1780 Broadway in Midtown, Manhattan. Image: LPC.

Owner of B.F. Goodrich Company buildings argued that only one building deserved designation. On August 11, 2009, Landmarks held a public hearing on the potential designation of the B.F. Goodrich Company buildings as an individual landmark at 1780 Broadway and 225 West 57th Street in Manhattan. Conceived as a single project and built in 1909, the two structures are located on the same tax lot and once shared … <Read More>