Laws require tenants to be informed of landlord responsibilities and increase penalties for tenant harassment. On September 30, 2014 Mayor Bill de Blasio signed Local Law 45 and Local Law 47 of 2014 into law. The bills, referred to as the Tenants’ Bill Of Rights, were sponsored by Council Member Fernando Cabrera and Council Member Margaret Chin respectively, and are directed to increase protection of New York City tenants.
Council Member Margaret Chin
Council Subcommittee Hears Proposal for SoHo Six-Story Commercial Building [Update: Committee approves with modifications]
(READ UPDATE FROM 9/30/2014 BELOW)
Developers seek permission for three floors of retail over community objections. On September 16, 2014, the New York City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on a proposed six-story commercial building at 19 East Houston Street in the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District of Manhattan, between Broadway and Crosby Street. The lot was incorporated into the Historic District after the Landmarks Preservation Commission expanded the … <Read More>
Proposed Development Neighboring Silk Building Now Before City Council [Update: Council Land Use Committee Approves Unanimously]
New NoHo mixed-use development faced continued opposition from neighboring Silk Building residents during Council public hearing.On March 18, 2014, the City Council Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public a hearing for a special permit application by Downtown Re Holdings LLC to build a mixed-use development located at 688 Broadway in the NoHo Historic District. The twelve-story, fourteen-unit building with non-eating and drinking ground floor retail is proposed to … <Read More>
NYU Campus Expansion Plan Reduced Again [UPDATE: Plan Approved by Full Council]
This article was originally published on 7/20/2012 (see below for update).
NYU agreed to limit heights of the Zipper Building and Boomerang Buildings, and to provide community center if no public school is built on site. On July 17, 2012, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified New York University’s campus expansion proposal in Greenwich Village. Opposition to the project, which had already been reduced by the City Planning Commission, remained when it … <Read More>
Chinatown BID approved despite opposition
Due to active opposition, the Council held first-ever oversight hearing on a proposed BID. On September 21, 2011, the City Council approved the establishment of the Chinatown Business Improvement District for more than 6,000 businesses in Manhattan. The BID comprises 50 blocks generally bounded by Broome Street to the north, Worth and Madison Streets to the south, Allen Street to the east, and Broadway to the west. The first-year budget will be $1,300,000.
At the … <Read More>
Council refused to landmark Bowery rowhouse
- 135 Bowery. Image: CityLand
Owner of Federal-style building plans to redevelop site with sevenstory office building. On September 21, 2011, the City Council rejected Landmarks’ June 2011 designation of the Hardenbrook-Somarindyck House at 135 Bowery in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The three-and-ahalf story Federal-style rowhouse was built circa 1817 and is owned by First American International Bank. Pursuant to the Charter the Council may modify or disapprove a landmark designation.
The bank purchased 135 Bowery … <Read More>