Anchor Parks Initiative Reconstruction Begins at Brownsville’s Betsy Head Park

The $30 million reconstruction project brings brand new amenities to the historically underserved Brownsville park. On March 19, 2019, Department of Parks and Recreation Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel, Brooklyn Community Board 16, and local students and residents broke ground on the reconstruction of Betsy Head Park in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Betsy Head Park’s reconstruction is one of the five projects of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Anchor Parks Initiative, a $150 million … <Read More>


De Blasio Administration Sues to Remove “Water-Based” Billboards from City Waterways

The City is seeking thousands of dollars per day in fines for the ongoing and repeated violations. On March 27, 2019, the Mayor’s Office announced a lawsuit against Ballyhoo Media, Inc., a water-based billboard company, for repeatedly violating local laws by displaying “Times Square-style” billboards on Manhattan and Brooklyn waterways. The billboards began popping up last Fall and are LED signs on barges, and the City alleges in the suit that the signs create a … <Read More>


Landmarks Calendars Bay Ridge’s First Historic District

Historic district designation would ensure protections for the largely intact, over 100 year-old, block of limestone row houses.  On  March 26, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to calendar a proposed historic district in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn. The Bay Ridge Parkway – Doctor’s Row Historic District would be comprised of 54 row houses built in the early 1900s on Bay Ridge Parkway between 4th and 5th avenues. Constructed in … <Read More>


HPD and Private Developers Partner to Bring 235-Unit Affordable Building to Bedford-Stuyvesant

The project will be financed under an HPD program that requires low and extremely low income affordability and set-asides for the formerly homeless. On March 27, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application that will bring a 14-story affordable mixed-use development with 235 residential units to 1921 Atlantic Avenue in the Bedford/Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The application was brought by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in conjunction with DTF Atlantic, … <Read More>


Lisa Kersavage Appointed Executive Director of Landmarks Preservation Commission

Kersavage will now oversee Landmarks’ operations and work closely with Landmarks Chair to develop policy and strategic planning agency-wide. On March 28, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced the appointment of Lisa Kersavage, former Landmarks Director of Special Projects and Strategic Planning, as Executive Director. She succeeded Sarah Carroll, who is now serving as Landmarks’ Chair.


Proposed 20-Story Building Too Inconspicuous for Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District

Landmarks Commissioners disagree over the proposed demolition of the existing building and design of the new building. On March 5, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on a Certificate of Appropriateness to demolish an existing 1960s altered Modern style commercial four-story building and construct a new 20-story building at 200 Montague Street within the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District in Brooklyn. The application was presented by Richard Metsky of Beyer Blinder Belle.