Thor Equities’ proposed 214,000 sq ft Gravesend Bay retail complex would feature BJ’s wholesale store as anchor tenant. On July 13, 2011, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on Thor Equities LLC’s proposal to construct a 214,000 sq.ft. two-story retail building on a vacant lot at 1752 Shore Parkway in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn. The project site sits on a peninsula that protrudes into Gravesend Bay, adjacent to the Belt Parkway. The site is … <Read More>
Search Results for: Business Support
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>
Council Member Brad Lander on Current Initiatives Affecting Land Use in the City
Council Member Brad Lander, chair of the City Council’s Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses Subcommittee, draws from his experience as a public policy advocate when executing his duties.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Lander in 1991 earned a liberal arts degree from the University of Chicago. He then earned a master’s degree in Social Anthropology at the University College London in the United Kingdom, where he worked with community groups to research how a … <Read More>
The Legislature’s Taxi Plan is Bad for New York City
The taxi/ livery plan the legislature passed in Albany is sure to fail because it ignores economic reality. Giving 30,000 liveries the right to accept street hails will disappoint supporters, disrupt beneficial relationships, and likely ruin cab service for everyone.
The law’s purpose is to provide street hail service in areas presently without street hail service. But street hail service is only viable in dense areas where cabbies know that riders regularly appear. Taxis nowhere … <Read More>
Council considers proposed living wage law
- G. Oliver Koppell
Proposed local law would impose wage mandates on certain businesses receiving City economic development incentives. On May 12, 2011, the City Council’s Contracts Committee held a hearing on the proposed Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act. The proposal, Intro 251-A, would require employers connected to a development project receiving at least $100,000 in financial assistance from the City to pay employees a mandated “living wage” that would be linked to a … <Read More>
Proposed Chinatown BID nears approval
- Image: courtesy of Chinatown Partnership LDC.
Group of Chinatown property owners cited concerns about the BID’s assessment formula. On May 26, 2011, the City Council’s Finance Committee held a hearing on the Department of Small Business Services’ plan to create the Chinatown Business Improvement District encompassing more than 6,000 commercial businesses in Manhattan’s Chinatown. The BID would comprise 50 blocks generally bounded by Broome Street to the north, Worth and Madison Streets to the … <Read More>