BSA Conditionally Approves Variance for Addition of Gymnasium and Play Roof to The Chapin School

In response to neighborhood concerns, the Board conditioned the zoning variance on several limitations meant to reduce the risk of excess noise and increase pedestrian safety. On October 16, 2016, the Board of Standards and Appeals approved with conditions a request by The Chapin School, Ltd. for a zoning variance to construct a three-story addition to its existing school, located at 100 East End Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.  The Chapin School, … <Read More>


Roof Addition to Rare Surviving Park Avenue Rowhouse Sent Back for Revision

1885 Queen Anne-style rowhouse would return to serving as a one-family dwelling; applicants said proposed work would allow light into building and provide space to compensate for lack of a rear yard. On February 2, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered a proposal for an addition and alterations to a rowhouse at 890 Park Avenue in the Upper East Side Historic District. The Queen Anne-style brownstone was built in 1885 and designed by James … <Read More>


Neighborhood Coalition Proposal is Most Comprehensive Zoning Plan Ever Submitted by a Community Group

The proposal would protect neighborhood aesthetics with height caps on new developments and provide additional benefits to affected communities.  On January 21, 2016, the Department of City Planning received a zoning proposal from the East River Fifties Alliance, a neighborhood coalition led by City Council members Ben Kallos and Daniel Garodnick, which is the most comprehensive residential re-zoning proposal to ever be submitted by a community group. The proposal seeks to safeguard the Upper East … <Read More>


Hope Knight Named as New City Planning Commissioner

Knight, president of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, fills vacancy on 13-member Commission.  On December 16, 2015 the City Council approved Hope Knight as the newest member of the City Planning Commission.  Ms. Knight was nominated by Mayor Bill de Blasio to fill the seat vacated by Bomee Jung when Ms. Jung resigned to take the position of Vice President of Energy and Sustainability with NYCHA.  Ms. Knight will serve out the remainder of … <Read More>


Plan by West End Collegiate Church to Develop Adjacent Lot Approved

Demolition of existing building and construction of new residential tower generally supported by community and preservationist organizations. On December 8 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve two applications submitted by West End Collegiate Church for the redevelopment of adjoining properties. The sites are currently occupied by the Collegiate School, from whom the church repurchased the property when the school made a decision to relocate. The plan calls for the demolition of the existing … <Read More>


Special hearing on Backlogged Items Devoted to Staten Island Properties

Items at issue included a former retirement community for sailors, a Colonial-era stone farmhouse, a lighthouse, and the Vanderbilt family mausoleum. On October 22, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held the second of four special hearings to address the backlog of items calendared before 2012 but never brought to a vote on designation. The hearing consisted of three batches, of seven to eleven items each, all located in Staten Island. Twenty-six items in total were … <Read More>