Eighteen-block West Clinton rezoning modified

West Clinton proposed zoning. Image: Courtesy of NYC Department of City Planning.

Proposal would permit as-of-right residential development along east side of Eleventh Avenue. On June 7, 2011, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the Department of City Planning and Manhattan Community Board 4’s proposed West Clinton Rezoning in Clinton, Manhattan. The eighteen-block rezoning area is generally bounded by West 55th Street to the north, West 43rd Street to the south, portions of the … <Read More>


Variances granted for HPD project in Borough Park

Image: Courtesy of Bricolage Designs
Image: Courtesy of Bricolage Designs

HPD claimed site’s former railway use complicated development of seventeen apartment buildings. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development selected the Southern Brooklyn Community Organization to build seventeen, four-story affordable housing buildings on two narrow City-owned parcels on 37th Street in Borough Park, Brooklyn. The block-long parcels are separated by 13th Avenue and were once occupied by the South Brooklyn Railroad and the elevated BMT … <Read More>


Howard Goldman Reflects on His Legal Career and Land Use Issues in the City

Howard Goldman’s 35-year career as a land use attorney has ranged from helping native Alaskan communities create coastline regulations to assisting developers navigate New York City’s complex land use process. Aspiring to work for the Natural Resources Defense Council or the Sierra Club, Goldman in 1972  received an ad hoc degree in environmental and pre-law studies from SUNY at Buffalo. Goldman stayed on to earn a law degree, and after graduation he joined Neighborhood … <Read More>


Eleven-story HPD project approved for West Side

Courtesy of SLCE Architects

Affordable housing project along West 52nd Street will include 96 apartments. On April 6, 2011, the City Council approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to allow the Clinton Housing Association and Monadnock Construction to build a 96-unit affordable housing project at 533 West 52nd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in Manhattan. The eleven-story project, known as Clinton Commons, will provide a mix of studio and one- … <Read More>


South Williamsburg mixed-income project approved

Proposed Wythe Avenue Rezoning.

Developer agreed to community request to exclude bar or restaurant from ground floor of mixed-income project. On March 23, 2011, the City Council approved Bruce Terzano’s proposal to develop a two-building mixed-use project at the corner of Wythe Avenue and South 3rd Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The mixed-income project will include a six-story building with 61 market rate apartments and ground floor commercial space, and a smaller six-story building with eighteen … <Read More>


City Council considers impact of Wal-Mart

Concerns about how big-box retailer would affect small businesses dominated hearing. On February 3, 2011, the City Council’s Community Development Committee, Small Business Committee, and Economic Development Committee held a joint oversight hearing to debate Wal- Mart’s impact on the local community if the big-box retailer opened a store in the City. The Council convened the hearing in response to Wal-Mart’s renewed campaign to open a store in the City. Community opposition caused Wal-Mart to … <Read More>