Bedford-Stuyvesant North Rezoning Approved By Council’s Land Use Committee

140-block rezoning proposal included new commercial zoning district tailored for blocks with elevated rail lines. On October 4, 2012, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the Department of City Planning’s Bedford-Stuyvesant North Rezoning Plan. The contextual rezoning plan would impact a 140-block area generally bounded by Flushing Avenue to the north, Quincy Street to the south, Broadway to the east, and Classon Avenue to the west. The proposal also includes new regulations regarding … <Read More>


Proposed Special Hudson Square District Begins Review

Trinity Church proposed that 18 blocks be rezoned to allow residential uses and accommodate the Church’s future development project near Duarte Square. On August 20, 2012, the City Planning Commission certified Trinity Church’s proposal to create the Special Hudson Square District in Manhattan. The Special District would include 18 blocks generally bounded by West Houston and Canal Streets, Avenue of the Americas, and Greenwich Street. Trinity Church controls approximately 39 percent of the lot … <Read More>


City Planning’s Carol Samol on Redevelopment in the Bronx and Reforming the City’s Land Use Review Process

As director of the Department of City Planning’s Bronx Office, Carol Samol uses zoning tools to promote sustainable economic development in the Bronx. She has also participated as a leader in a broader City effort to reform the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure’s pre-certification process.

Journey to the Bronx. Samol grew up in the upper Ohio Valley near Wheeling, West Virginia and studied English at Berea College, a small liberal arts college in Kentucky. … <Read More>


Residential Project Adjacent to Brooklyn’s Broadway Triangle Approved by the City Planning Commission

Developer plans to build two, eight-story buildings on Walton Street between Union and Marcy Avenues. On July 25, 2012, the City Planning Commission approved Walton Realty Associates’ proposal to develop a two-building residential project at 59 Walton Street in South Williamsburg. Walton Realty would demolish a low-rise storage and distribution facility on Walton Street between Union and Marcy Avenues and build two, eight-story buildings. The buildings would rise up to 80 feet and provide … <Read More>


Chelsea Market Expansion Plan Runs Into Opposition and Concerns About the High Line

Borough president and local community board oppose current plan to build additions to the eastern and western sides of block-long Chelsea Market. On July 25, 2012, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on Jamestown Properties’ expansion plan for Chelsea Market at 75 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. The Market is a complex of 18 different buildings occupying the entire block bounded by West 14th and West 15th Streets and Ninth and Tenth Avenues … <Read More>


Split Court Upholds Sunset Park Rezoning Plan [UPDATE: Court of Appeals Affirms]

This article was originally published on 10/15/2011 (see below for update).

Dissent argued that City only belatedly added consideration of rezoning’s impact on low-income residents. In April 2009, the Department of City Planning proposed a 128-block contextual rezoning of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Planning sought to preserve the residential neighborhood’s built character while allowing new construction at a height and scale consistent with existing development. The proposal called for establishing height limits, mapping new … <Read More>