Trevor Day’s new school building approved

Twelve-story, 101,243 sq.ft. East 95th Street school required BSA approval. Trevor Day School, a private school with four Manhattan locations, applied to BSA for a special permit and variance to construct a 12-story combined middle and high school at 312 East 95th Street. The building design called for a four-story, 84-foot tall base with 10,300 sq.ft. floor plates. It would rise an additional eight stories, each with 6,200 sq.ft. floor plates, to a total height … <Read More>


Council Member Jessica Lappin on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Site Safety

Council Member Jessica Lappin represents Community District 5 in Manhattan, which includes parts of Midtown and the Upper East Side. She also chairs the Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses. A New York native and graduate of Stuyvesant High School and Georgetown University, Lappin was raised in a landmarked house in Gramercy Park. Well-regarded by preservation advocates, she has garnered accolades from the Friends of the Upper East Side and the Historic … <Read More>


Andrew Dolkart: Teacher, Author, Advocate

When Andrew Dolkart, Director of Historic Preservation at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, was asked to characterize what it means to be a historic preservationist, he found the question difficult to answer. Upon further reflection, Dolkart described it as “a varied field” based on a value system that “honors the physical fabric of our communities.” Originally intending to pursue a PhD in art history, Dolkart turned to historic preservation, spurred by … <Read More>


Environmental review challenge dismissed

State Supreme Court ruling allows City to continue the construction of ballfields on Randall’s Island. In July 2006, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation concluded its environmental review and found that constructing 34 new ballfields and reconstructing 31 existing ballfields on Randall’s Island would not significantly impact the environment.

The next month, Parks sent a letter to Manhattan Community Board 11 stating that it would present a funding plan for the ballfield … <Read More>


Hudson Sq. rezoning pits owners against tenants

Hudson Square North proposed rezoning. Image: Courtesy of NYC Department of City Planning.

Residents and elected officials warn against disturbing area’s critical balance of uses. On April 23, 2008, the City Planning Commission heard public testimony on KMG Greenwich’s proposal to rezone five and one-half blocks of Hudson Square North, roughly bounded by Morton, Hudson, Clarkson, and West Streets.

Currently, the area’s zoning prohibits as-of-right residential development. Under KMG’s proposal, the area would be rezoned … <Read More>


Fordham’s environmental study gets first review

Public comments on plan to expand Lincoln Square campus in order to provide over 2.5 million sq.ft. of new floor area. On September 10, 2007, City Planning held a public hearing on the draft scope of the environmental impact statement for the proposed expansion of Fordham University’s Lincoln Square campus.

Fordham plans to build facilities for its law, business, social services and education schools, dormitories, a theater, and parking facilities on the block bounded by … <Read More>