New York City: Largest Ice Sport Center Approved in the Bronx.
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On December 10, 2013, the City Council voted 48-1 to turn the Kingsbridge Armory, currently a vacant landmark, into an ice sports center. The $275 million development project by KNIC Partners, LLC will feature nine ice rinks and approximately 64,300 sq. ft. of related program space, including a wellness and off-ice training center, curling rinks, and locker and equipment storage. The … <Read More>
Central Bronx area rezoned is adjacent to the Bronx Zoo, the Bronx Botanical Garden, and Fordham University. The Council approved the Bronx Planning office’s proposed zoning map amendments affecting a 12 block area in the Central Bronx. The new zoning established height limits, protects neighborhood character, and reinforces existing commercial character. A major goal of the rezoning is to stimulate revitalization of the area through private investment, the construction of affordable housing and to create … <Read More>
A disarmingly simple plan for rezoning Manhattan’s office district running from Grand Central Terminal north to about 58th Street has been approved by the Planning Commission and will come to a Council vote around the time of the November election.
It has three key components: 1) The City almost doubles the allowable floor area for new buildings on large sites along the major thoroughfares; 2) it sells to the landowner the right to build the … <Read More>
City Council approved Crown Heights rezoning despite calls for mandatory inclusionary housing and anti-harassment legislation. On September 16, 2013, the Brooklyn Borough Office of the Department of City Planning testified before the City Council’s Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises in support of its proposal to rezone 55 blocks in the western portion of Crown Heights (Crown Heights West). Crown Heights West is bounded by Atlantic Avenue, Pacific, Dean and Bergen streets to the … <Read More>
City’s proposed micro-unit pilot program criticized for lack of permanently affordable housing. On July 24, 2013, the City Planning Commission held a hearing on the City’s first micro-unit building, part of the Mayor’s adAPT NYC program. The development will serve as a pilot program to test the viability and marketability of 250- to 360-square-foot units in a single building. The City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development proposed the plan to be built at … <Read More>
Howard Slatkin, the director of sustainability for the New York City Department of City Planning, was a frequent visitor to NYC while growing up in New Jersey, but it was not until he moved to the City after studying history at Brown University, that he became interested in architecture and the social life of places. He earned a master’s degree in urban planning at Columbia University in 2000. At that time the concept of sustainability, … <Read More>