Adjacent neighbor challenges legality of new home construction on cooperative’s land. On March 20, 2007, BSA held a contentious public hearing on an appeal of demolition and new building permits to construct a single-family home in Breezy Point, Queens, located at the western end of the Rockaway Peninsula.
In the early 1900s, New Yorkers started building small, summer bungalows in Breezy Point on land owned by the state. In 1960, Breezy’s predominantly summer residents formed … <Read More>
Depression-era pools and play centers considered for individual designation. In the 1930s, under the guidance of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, the City built dozens of parks and swimming pools using federal Works Progress Administration funds. In the summer of 1936 alone, the City opened eleven large pool-oriented play centers.
On January 31, 2007, Landmarks heard public testimony on the proposed designation of nine of these WPA play centers, including the Bronx … <Read More>
Owner opposed, claiming that building was a “knock off” of famous cast-iron pioneer. Landmarks held a public hearing on the proposed designation of 63 Nassau Street, a cast-iron building in lower Manhattan that Landmarks’ research staff attributed to the pioneer of castiron construction, James Bogardis. The building, thought to be constructed in 1860, contains carved medallions of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin that are similar to those on the Bogardis building at 85 Leonard Street, … <Read More>
Public hearing held on 26-story, Norman Foster-designed addition to Madison Ave. building. On October 24, 2006, Landmarks held the first public hearing on the controversial proposal of Aby Rosen and RFR Holdings LLC to add a 26-story addition to the existing five-story building at 980 Madison between East 76th and East 77th Streets in Manhattan’s … <Read More>
Neighborhood had originally been surveyed for designation in the 1970s. At its September 19th meeting, Landmarks held a hearing on the proposed Proposed Crown Heights North Historic District. The district, on land that was once part of the Lefferts family’s large holdings, had originally been surveyed in the 1970s along with the Fort Greene and Park Slope historic districts. An upper-class suburb in the 1870s, several free-standing Victorian homes still remain in the neighborhood. Following … <Read More>
Proposal would add protections for manufacturing by requiring nonindustrial uses to obtain special permits. On September 18, 2006, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises held a public hearing on a proposal to create Industrial Employment Districts. Current zoning laws permit nonindustrial buildings, such as commercial or retail uses, in manufacturing zones, which can destabilize an area and … <Read More>