City Planning Approves Modified Rezoning of Summit Street in Brooklyn

The applicant’s proposed rezoning received strong pushback from the community. On January 9, 2019, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on a proposed rezoning in the Columbia Street Waterfront District in Brooklyn. The applicant, 41 Summit Street LLC, sought a zoning map and a zoning text change to facilitate the development of a seven-story, approximately 10,000 square foot residential building at 41 Summit Street. The application was presented to the City Planning Commission … <Read More>


City Planning Approves Affordable Housing and Demapping in Westchester Square

Critics raised concerns over more traffic due to larger number of parking spaces. On February 27, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application for a nine-story mixed-use residential and commercial building at 1346 Blondell Avenue in the Westchester Square section of the Bronx. To facilitate this development, named Blondell Commons, the application calls for rezoning a portion of a larger manufacturing district that mainly features auto repair shops along Blondell Avenue. Blondell … <Read More>


City Council Passes New Legislation Halting Business Sign Violation Fees

Small business owners faced fines upwards of $15,000. In response to public outcry and community concerns on the hardships imposed on local businesses, on January 9, 2019, the New York City Council passed new legislation that would temporarily stop fines from violations issued to small businesses for failing to conform to their sign permits or those who did not have the proper permits at all. The Department usually gets 900 complaints a year, but that … <Read More>


City Council Creating Pilot Program to Create Apartments in East New York

The program will bring currently illegal basement and cellar apartments up to code, and allow for additional basement and cellar apartments to be created. On February 13, 2019, the New York City Council passed legislation, titled Introduction 1004, establishing a pilot program which allows for the creation and alteration of habitable apartments in basements and cellars in one and two-family dwellings in East New York. The program seeks to address the lack of affordable housing … <Read More>


Non-profits Team Up to Convert Vacant City Land to Affordable Housing

The new building will bring 20 deeply affordable units to Bushwick, and will be constructed with sustainability features. On February 13, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for the construction of a new and 100 percent affordable 20-unit building in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. HPD sought City Planning’s approval for the disposition of the City-owned property at 63 Stockholm Street, designation of … <Read More>


Landmarks Calendars Four Sunset Park Historic Districts

Landmarks research staff spent several years researching the area, surveying and documenting over 4,000 buildings. On January 22, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to add to its calendar four areas of Sunset Park, Brooklyn for historic district designation. The proposals were presented to the Commission following years of extensive survey and analysis by the Landmarks research staff after a request for evaluation of the area from Sunset Park’s Landmarks Committee in 2014. The … <Read More>