Welcome to CityLand‘s fifth annual top ten stories of the year! We have selected a range of our most popular and prominent stories, and guest commentaries concerning New York City land use in 2016. Our fifth year as an online publication was marked by the fight to pass the Mayor’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing plan, proposed reforms to the building code to prevent illegal home conversions, and capped by the passage of state laws prohibiting … <Read More>
Designation of 115-property district widely supported by community and elected officials, though Columbia University and religious organizations opposed the inclusion of their properties within boundaries. On December 6, 2016, Landmarks held a hearing on the potential designation of the Morningside Heights Historic District. The potential district consists of 115 properties and is bounded by Riverside drive to the west, with 119th Street and 109th Street as its rough northern and southern boundaries. Landmarks officially added… <Read More>
Gregory Dietrich, Principal of Gregory Dietrich Preservation Consulting, works as one of the small number of privately practicing historic preservation consultants. His vocation brings him into close contact with regulatory bodies, developers, land use agencies, advocacy groups, non-profit organizations and more. This gives him a unique perspective, and requires a wide range of expertise he continues to broaden. In conversation, his intellectual versatility becomes readily apparent, as he discussed his work, his background, and … <Read More>
Proposal met with strong opposition from community members, elected officials and preservationist organizations. On June 21, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and heard testimony on an application to replace a 1921 garage building with a new residential structure at 11-19 Jane Street. The site lies within the Greenwich Village Historic District. The garage at the site is two stories tall, and it once replaced two townhouses.
Ridgeton Poultry Inc. proposed to demolish heavily altered, mid-19th-century one-story building, and develop new five-story mixed-use structure. On November 27, 2012, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered a proposal for the demolition of a one-story building at 70 Henry Street in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, and the construction of a new mixed-use building on the property. The building, located on the corner of Orange and Henry Streets, is now occupied by the Brooklyn Heights … <Read More>