District was modified from its initially conceived boundaries to exclude buildings uncharacteristic of district that lay on its edge. On December 9, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve the designation of 990 buildings in the Ridgewood section of Queens as the Central Ridgewood Historic District. Pending Council approval, the district will be among the City’s largest. The district adjoins the previously designated Ridgewood South Historic District, and lies close to the Ridgewood … <Read More>
Search Results for: Department of Buildings
Planning a Sustainable NYC: Howard Slatkin, Director of Sustainability, NYC Department of City Planning
Howard Slatkin, the director of sustainability for the New York City Department of City Planning, was a frequent visitor to NYC while growing up in New Jersey, but it was not until he moved to the City after studying history at Brown University, that he became interested in architecture and the social life of places. He earned a master’s degree in urban planning at Columbia University in 2000. At that time the concept of sustainability, … <Read More>
David J. Burney Discusses the Department of Design and Construction
David J. Burney, Commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction, manages more than $6 billion of the City’s public works program. DDC maintains a relatively low profile, but its work on infrastructure and municipal facilities for the City’s frontline agencies currently includes roughly 170 design projects and 235 construction projects. DDC projects throughout the City range from the installation of sidewalk pedestrian ramps to the construction of new firehouses and libraries. Notable projects include … <Read More>
Audit faults Buildings on self-certification program
Comptroller found that Buildings did not audit requisite percentage of professionally certified building permit applications. City Comptroller John C. Liu issued an audit report on Buildings’ compliance with its rules governing the internal auditing of professionally certified building applications. The audit found, among other things, that Buildings audited a “significantly lower” number of applications than required, and that Buildings’ borough offices in Brooklyn and Queens failed to fully review certain audit applications.
The professional certification … <Read More>
Cas Holloway Discusses Department of Environmental Protection Initiatives
Cas Holloway, as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, is responsible for protecting the City’s environment. This includes ensuring that clean drinking water from upstate aqueducts reach the City’s 950,000 buildings and that the City’s 14,000 miles of water and sewer mains remain in good working order. The agency also plays a major role in implementing PlaNYC by promoting the use of modern, “green” infrastructure.
Holloway joined the Department of Parks and Recreation under … <Read More>
BSA’s denial of special permit upheld by Second Department
BSA found that project did not qualify as an enlargement. In 1999, BSA granted the owner of 155 Norfolk Street in Brooklyn a special permit to enlarge a one-story home. The enlargement was not built pursuant to the approved plans. More than three years later, the owner submitted a different set of plans to Buildings for an as-of-right enlargement and began construction. In 2005, after resolving a series of violations, the owner obtained an alteration … <Read More>