Former SRO exempt from City’s no harassment law

Building had been converted prior to passage of Local Law. Jennifer Walker purchased 151 West 76th Street, a five-story residential building in Manhattan, in 2002. That year, Walker applied to Buildings for permits to renovate three apartments and a terrace. Buildings determined that the building’s legal use was an SRO, requiring a certificate of no harassment from HPD before permits could be granted. Consequently, Buildings denied the permits.

AfterWalker sought a certificate from HPD and … <Read More>


388-foot residential tower approved for West Street

Lower Manhattan parking lot to be replaced with 815,000-squarefoot residential/retail project. The Planning Commission approved a proposal of the Economic Development Corporation and the project developer, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc., to replace a City-owned surface parking lot in Lower Manhattan with an 815,000-square-foot mixed-use project. Located on a 95,565-square-foot site bounded by West, Warren, Greenwich and Murray Streets, the proposal includes 402 condominium and rental units, a 400-space parking garage and 165,000 sq.ft. of … <Read More>


Housing for mentally-ill approved

HPD obtains approval for four-story housing project with 19 studio apartments. On August 17, 2005, the City Council approved HPD’s application for the construction of a four-story, low-income housing project for the mentally ill on four vacant lots in East New York, Brooklyn. The 7,600-square-foot site, comprised of four lots at 433 – 441 DeWitt Avenue at Malta Street, is located on a residential block, containing other HPD projects, privately- owned residences and a few … <Read More>


Seaman Cottage re-calendared

House moved to new site in Staten Island. On July 12, 2005, Landmarks re-calendared for designation the Seaman Cottage in Staten Island. Seaman Cottage, constructed in 1836, is a two-story house in the Greek Revival Style featuring clapboard siding and complimentary window and door surrounds. Landmarks had originally calendared the item for designation on October 12, 2004 and held a public hearing on October 26, 2004, but Seaman Cottage has since been moved from its … <Read More>


Landmarks holds hearing on Brooklyn warehouse

Massive concrete building attributed to Cass Gilbert. On July 26, 2005, Landmarks held a public hearing on the proposed designation of the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse, a six-story unadorned, reinforced concrete warehouse attributed by some to Cass Gilbert. Built on the East River in 1913 for the largest grocery wholesaler of the period, the 500,000-square-foot warehouse was the first collaboration between Gilbert and the Turner Construction Company, and was followed by their collaboration on … <Read More>


Builders eye rare Main Street survivor

Virtually untouched 1840 home threatened by development. On July 26, 2005, Landmarks held a public hearing on the proposed designation of the Drake-DeHart House, a Greek Revival wood-framed house located at 134 Main Street in the Tottenville section of Staten Island. The Drake-DeHart house, constructed in 1840, features small rectangular windows at the attic level and a somewhat over-scaled main entrance-way with pilaster-flanked sidelights and a detailed entablature, characteristics of the vernacular version of the … <Read More>