Columbia University’s science building approved

Fourteen-story science facility to be constructed at Broadway and West 120th. Columbia University sought a variance from BSA for a 14-story, 229-foot high, 163,052-square-foot science facility at 3030 Broadway and West 120th Street. The proposed science facility exceeded lot coverage, height and setback requirements.

At BSA, Columbia argued that its educational needs required a building with larger floor plates. In support, it submitted a consultant’s report that concluded that the university needed 28 new science … <Read More>


BSA upholds fuel storage in Western Union Building

Tribeca building’s 65 fuel tanks store more than 100,000 gallons. In 2002, the Department of Buildings issued violations to Hudson Telegraph Associates after inspectors found fifteen 275-gallon fuel storage tanks on six floors of the Western Union Building, an individual and interior City landmark located at 60 Hudson Street in Tribeca, Manhattan. The code only permits one 275-gallon tank on each story above the first floor. The 24-story, 1.2 million-square-foot Art Deco building houses telecommunications … <Read More>


Council Member Tony Avella Proposes Wide-Ranging Land Use Initiatives in the First Months of 2006

In the first months of 2006, Council Member Tony Avella, Chair of the Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises, introduced proposed legislation to change the make up of BSA, require NYPD arrests for any illegal demolition, and curb the illegal construction that residents say is driven by a rush to beat a down-zoning. CityLand asked Avella about his proposed land use initiatives and his career.

Public Service. When asked about land use issues within his 20-year … <Read More>


Earth Pledge Executive Director Leslie Hoffman Talks About Making the City a Green Place, One Roof at a Time

Manhattan’s first green roof, installed in 1998, sits on top of the 1902 Georgian townhouse at 122 East 38th Street in Murray Hill, the home of Earth Pledge, a New York based nonprofit that promotes green building technologies. Founded by Theodore Kheel to support the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio, Earth Pledge now sponsors the Greening Gotham program, an initiative to get New York City developers, building owners, and government officials behind green … <Read More>


New Brooklyn historic district to be considered

Landmarks takes first steps towards designation of historic district in Flatbush. On September 19, 2006, Landmarks voted unanimously to hold a public hearing on the proposal to designate 250 single-family homes in Flatbush, Brooklyn as the Midwood Park – Fiske Terrace Historic District.

Fiske Terrace features single-family homes developed from 1905 to 1920 by Theodore B. Ackerson on a 30-acre, densely wooded estate purchased from George Fiske. In 1905, Ackerson cleared the land, set out … <Read More>


Hearing held on proposed Crown Heights district

Neighborhood had originally been surveyed for designation in the 1970s. At its September 19th meeting, Landmarks held a hearing on the proposed Proposed Crown Heights North Historic District. The district, on land that was once part of the Lefferts family’s large holdings, had originally been surveyed in the 1970s along with the Fort Greene and Park Slope historic districts. An upper-class suburb in the 1870s, several free-standing Victorian homes still remain in the neighborhood. Following … <Read More>