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>


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>


Robin Stout on the Future of the Moynihan Station Project

I n 2005, Robin Stout was appointed President of the Moynihan Station Development Corporation, the Empire State Development Corporation’s subsidiary charged with transforming the James A. Farley Post Office Building into a new train hall named for the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Stout, a Columbia Law School graduate, spent nine years at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP before joining the ESDC as Senior Counsel to the 42nd Street Development Project in 1990. Transforming … <Read More>


Proposed Pier 17 development arouses controversy

Developer intends to relocate the Tin Building, site of the former Fulton Fish Market. On October 21, 2008, Landmarks considered a presentation on the redevelopment of Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport Historic District. Developer General Growth Properties, which leases much of the South Street Seaport from the City, intends to demolish the Pier 17 Mall, relocate the 1907 Tin Building to the east end of Pier 17, and construct a new seven-building mixed-use … <Read More>


Wall Street core area gets two new parking garages

Commissioners disagree over impact of added parking in Lower Manhattan. RBNB Wall Street Owner, LLC sought the Planning Commission’s approval for an 85- space public parking garage to be located within 63 Wall Street, a 36- story building with frontage on Hanover, Beaver and Wall Streets. RBNB planned to convert the building to residential, but the proposed garage would not be restricted to the residential tenants. RBNB explained at the Commission’s March 30, 2005 hearing … <Read More>


Long Island New York Telephone Company

101 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn. Built in 1929-30, the Art-Deco style Long Island headquarters of the New York Telephone Company served the increasing telephone needs of a burgeoning Brooklyn. Designed by the prominent New York City architect Ralph Walker, the Landmarks Preservation Commission noted that its rich orange horizontal brick patterns, intricate metal work and series of dramatic setbacks make it an exceptional example of Art-Deco application to an office skyscraper design. Chair Robert B. Tierney … <Read More>