Whitestone bank commercial rezoning approved

State Senator Tony Avella and community group argued that rezoning would lead to undesirable uses. On July 28, 2011, the City Council approved TD Bank’s rezoning proposal to facilitate the construction of a one-story bank building near the Cross Island Parkway in Whitestone, Queens. The proposal established a C1-2 commercial overlay on the majority of a triangle-shaped block zoned R3A and generally bounded by the Cross Island Parkway Service Road, 15th Avenue, and 148th Street<Read More>


Queens residential development plan approved

Commission and Council Member Avella pleased with developer’s decision to reduce proposed number of units from 114 to 52. On October 29, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved 151-45 Sixth Road Whitestone Partners LLC’s plan to develop 52 single-family homes in the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens, just south of the East River between the Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges.

Whitestone Partners originally sought to develop the 12.8 acre parcel with 114 detached, semidetached, and attached … <Read More>


Queens neighborhoods down-zoned

Whitestone Rezoning and Whitestone Locator Map. Used with permission of the New York City Department of City Planning. All rights reserved

Council approves new lower density and contextual zoning to preserve the existing neighborhood scale. On December 21, 2005, the City Council approved the Planning Department’s rezoning plan for 311 blocks located in the Whitestone, Beechhurst and Robinwood neighborhoods of Queens. The rezoned area is bounded by the Whitestone Expressway to the west, the Clearview … <Read More>


Community Board members may vote on large area rezonings

Community Board members sought advice from Conflicts of Interest Board. Nine members of Community Board 7 in Queens sought an opinion from the Conflicts of Interest Board as to whether they could vote on the Planning Department’s 310-block rezoning proposal for Whitestone, Queens in light of their home ownership in the proposed rezoning area.

The Board advised that voting on rezoning proposals would not violate the Charter’s conflicts of interest rules as long as the … <Read More>


Report Looks At Threats To Affordable Housing In City Neighborhoods

City neighborhoods report threats to affordable housing. The Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development released its 2018 report on “How Is Affordable Housing Threatened in Your Neighborhood?” The report provided its findings in a chart on all neighborhoods in the five boroughs and indicators of threats to affordable housing. The Association is the umbrella organization of 100 non-profit affordable housing development groups, which serves low- and moderate-income residents in all five boroughs.


Sam Schwartz: Managing Traffic Through “Fair Pricing”

This week there has been a renewed interest in Sam Schwartz’s revised congestion pricing plan which is being pushed by a group called Move NY.  Read CityLaw’s great profile on Mr. Schwartz that details his plan.  This was originally published on April 18, 2013.

Sam Schwartz is the president and CEO of Sam Schwartz Engineering, a firm that specializes in transportation planning and engineering. Schwartz’s new congestion pricing proposal, “Move New York,” … <Read More>