COMPLETE VIDEO: 163rd CityLaw Breakfast with Marisa Lago, City Planning Director

On Friday, October 4, 2019, New York City Department of City Planning Director, Marisa Lago spoke at the 163rd CityLaw Breakfast at New York Law School. Director Marisa Lago was introduced by Professor Ross Sandler, Director of the Center for New York City Law and Dean Anthony W. Crowell. Director Lago spoke on “Planning for Inclusion: The Whys and Hows.” This Breakfast was sponsored by Davidoff Hutcher and Citron LLP, ConEdison, Greenberg Traurig, and Verizon.


City Planning Approves Two Applications to Facilitate the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project

The project is predicted to protect over 110,000 Lower Manhattan residents from flood and storm impacts. On September 23, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve two applications regarding the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project which addresses coastal flood vulnerabilities in Lower Manhattan. The project area is bounded by East 25th Street to the north, Montgomery Street to the south, and the East River to the east. The area runs along the FDR Drive … <Read More>


HPD and Developers Celebrate Completion of Affordable Senior Housing In West Farms

168 residential units were created on top of an existing building structure that will serve low-income and formerly homeless seniors. On August 5, 2019, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) celebrated the completion of 1880 Boston Road, a 168-unit affordable senior housing development in the West Farms neighborhood of the Bronx. HPD, HDC, and NYCHA … <Read More>


City Council Approves City Planning’s Mechanical Voids Text Amendment

Developers were using excessive mechanical spaces to increase the height of their buildings. On May 29, 2019, the City Council voted to adopt the Residential Tower Mechanical Voids Text Amendment with modifications. The Department of City Planning proposed the amendment in response to developers incorporating excessively tall mechanical floors – “mechanical voids” – in residential towers to increase their allowable height, as mechanical floors did not count toward the zoning floor area in the Zoning … <Read More>


De Blasio Administration Sues to Remove “Water-Based” Billboards from City Waterways

The City is seeking thousands of dollars per day in fines for the ongoing and repeated violations. On March 27, 2019, the Mayor’s Office announced a lawsuit against Ballyhoo Media, Inc., a water-based billboard company, for repeatedly violating local laws by displaying “Times Square-style” billboards on Manhattan and Brooklyn waterways. The billboards began popping up last Fall and are LED signs on barges, and the City alleges in the suit that the signs create a … <Read More>