Zoning change to allow wind turbines and heliostats

Computerized heliostats will redirect sunlight from top of new green highrise down to Teardrop Park South. The City Council approved a text amendment that allows for a new class of permitted rooftop obstructions on residential buildings in the Special Battery Park City District in Manhattan: wind turbines and heliostats, which are mirrors that redirect sunlight to spaces cast in shadow.

The Battery Park City Authority has invested $355,000 to install three heliostats, eight feet in … <Read More>


Glass tower to rise above Tribeca building

Enrique Norten-designed 12- story condo building will feature 6 stories of glass penthouses. The City Council approved a text amendment and special permits to allow the enlargement and conversion to loft dwellings of an existing building located at One York Street in Manhattan. The approved text amendment establishes a new special permit to allow loft buildings to be enlarged up to a 5 FAR within the Tribeca Mixed Use District. The development also required special … <Read More>


Signs ok’ed for Rockefeller Center’s new observation deck

Full Council approved zoning amendment granting special authority to Planning Commission Chair. On June 23, 2005, the City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the zoning resolution allowing the Chair of the Planning Commission to authorize the use of illuminated signs in lots occupied by a landmark. The amended zoning resolution applied only to the Fifth Avenue Subdistrict of the Special Midtown District, and impacts the New York Public Library, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. … <Read More>


General Motors Plaza renovations approved

Redesign will feature a glass cube in the center of the plaza and a more accessible public space. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved a text amendment to the Special Midtown District allowing renovations to the General Motors building plaza, located at 767 Fifth Avenue between East 59th and East 58th Streets. The text amendment was necessary to alter the street wall and retail continuity requirements, which require that larger developments be built … <Read More>


High Line/Chelsea Rezoning Gets Go Ahead

Rezoning crafted to transform High Line into elevated open space; no mandatory affordable housing requirement set, despite community’s request. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved the complicated rezoning and land acquisition plan for West Chelsea that has as its central goal the transformation of the High Line, an elevated rail line, into a 1.45-mile open space.

The approved rezoning impacts the area between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues from West 17th to West 30th … <Read More>


Lincoln Center to enliven West 65th

Changes include street level restaurants and retail, new film center, and expansion of Juilliard and Alice Tully Hall. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts sought approval for the large-scale redesign by New York firms Diller Scofidio+Renfro and Fox and Fowle Architects of its West 65th Street frontage, requiring an amendment to the zoning text and map and acquisition of an easement over City property.

Under the plan, Lincoln Center’s three parking and loading entrances and … <Read More>