Hobbled by a bad back and recently returned from vacation, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s General Counsel Mark Silberman sat down with CityLand to talk about his role at the Commission and Landmarks’ role in the City. He brings a perspective on the broader role of historic preservation nationally and in our culture.
A young environmentalist. Raised in Illinois and a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, Silberman began his career in government … <Read More>
Albert K. Butzel did everything he could to avoid going to law school. After graduating from Harvard College, Butzel spent a year in Paris trying to become, as he put it, Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald. He made a deal with his father, who was an attorney, that he would go to law school if he did not succeed as a fiction writer. About a year later, Butzel enrolled at Harvard Law School.
Having … <Read More>
Developer sought to extinguish deed restriction on Upper West Side property. The City, through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Asset Sales Program, sold 330 West 86th Street in Manhattan to the building’s tenants. Because the property had been designated as an Urban Development Action Area Project, the deed stated that the tenants could only rehabilitate or conserve the existing dwellings, or construct new dwellings permitted by existing zoning laws. The deed also required … <Read More>
Developer not required to submit a recorded easement or restrictive declaration ensuring rooftop access to adjoining buildings to meet open space requirements. A developer agreed to purchase 144 North 8th Street from Iqbal LLC and two affiliated entities, along with the unused development rights from Iqbal’s adjoining tax lot, to facilitate the construction of a 16-story mixed-use building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In order to meet open space requirements for the 16-story design, the developer needed … <Read More>
by Jeff Wice & Alexis Marking
REDISTRICTING
Orange County Legislature to Hold Public Hearing Tomorrow
The Orange County Legislature will hear from the public tomorrow at a public hearing for comment on a draft county legislative map to be used beginning in the 2025 county legislative elections. The hearing will take place in the county legislature’s chambers at 255 Main Street in Goshen, NY starting at 5:00 PM. The hearing can be viewed … <Read More>
by Jeff Wice & Alexis Marking
REDISTRICTING
Orange County Legislature Inches Forward With New Map
In what may be the final county legislative redistricting process in the state, the Orange County Legislature has approved one map to move forward to a public comment period before a public hearing is scheduled on Tuesday, August 27th at 5:00 PM. After disagreeing for weeks on how to proceed, the legislature’s Rules Committee broke a logjam … <Read More>