Due to active opposition, the Council held first-ever oversight hearing on a proposed BID. On September 21, 2011, the City Council approved the establishment of the Chinatown Business Improvement District for more than 6,000 businesses in Manhattan. The BID comprises 50 blocks generally bounded by Broome Street to the north, Worth and Madison Streets to the south, Allen Street to the east, and Broadway to the west. The first-year budget will be $1,300,000.
At the … <Read More>
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>
Concerns about how big-box retailer would affect small businesses dominated hearing. On February 3, 2011, the City Council’s Community Development Committee, Small Business Committee, and Economic Development Committee held a joint oversight hearing to debate Wal- Mart’s impact on the local community if the big-box retailer opened a store in the City. The Council convened the hearing in response to Wal-Mart’s renewed campaign to open a store in the City. Community opposition caused Wal-Mart to … <Read More>
Rezoning of 75 blocks along the Third Avenue and Tremont Avenue corridors will expand permissible uses to reflect existing development. On October 13, 2010, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s 75-block rezoning in central Bronx. The plan impacts the east-west commercial Tremont Avenue corridor bounded by Daly and Webster Avenues, and the north-south industrial Third Avenue corridor which is generally bounded by East 189th and East 175th Streets. A third area, the … <Read More>
A 620-unit complex and neighboring 140-unit affordable housing project would replace a 5.5-acre municipal parking lot. On May 12, 2010, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Rockefeller Group Development Corporation and TDC Development Corporation’s joint proposal to build a 1.89 million sq.ft. mixed-use project in downtown Flushing, Queens. The City Economic Development Corporation selected the proposal, known as Flushing Commons, through a formal RFP process. It would replace a 5.5-acre, 1,101-space municipal parking … <Read More>
Owner sought to develop a one-story building on a corner lot formerly occupied by two-story single-family home. The owner of a vacant lot at the corner of Midland Avenue and Freeborn Street in Staten Island applied for a use variance to construct a one-story commercial building. A two-story single-family home formerly occupied the 60 x 87 foot site, which consisted of two separate lots that were merged in 2008.
The owner claimed that the lot’s … <Read More>