Court Orders DOB to Revoke Permit and Compel Owner to Remove Floors in Upper West Side Condominium Development

Advocates applaud decision while developers find decision deeply flawed. On February 15, 2020, the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development and the Municipal Art Society of New York,  won an Article 78 case regarding the construction of a 668 foot, 52-story condominium building located at 200 Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. New York County Supreme Court Justice W. Franc Perry’s ruling requires the Department of Buildings to revoke the building permit … <Read More>


Subcommittee Coaxes Upfront Commitment for $100 Million Out of Developer for Trust

Council Member Corey Johnson still feels hesitant about proposed St. John’s Terminal development and seeks more concessions by the developer. On November 1, 2016, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on the proposed 550 Washington Street rezoning and redevelopment, and the creation of a special district in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The proposed development would create three separate city blocks for five separate buildings which would include four mixed-use buildings … <Read More>


BSA Amends Variance to Facilitate Development Rights Transfer

Board distinguished the application from relevant case law.  On July 28th, the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to reopen and amend a variance for the applicant, 124 West 24th Street Condominium, to facilitate the conveyance of unused development rights.  The site from which the rights were to be transferred was the subject of a previous Board variance and could not be transferred without Board approval.


City Planning Approves Conversion of Historic District Building

Permit would allow vacant commercial building to convert into a single-family residence.  On May 6, 2015 the City Planning Commission approved a special permit for Tower Management Holdings LLC to convert a vacant commercial building at 20-22 East 71st Street in the Upper East Side Historic District of Manhattan into a single-family residence.  The building was constructed as a single-family five-story townhouse in 1923, but was used as commercial offices from 1986 until 2007.  The … <Read More>


Zoning Subcommittee Hears Proposal for New Through-Block Residential Building

The fifteen-story building would be built over an open rail cut in the Special Clinton District.  On March 24, 2015, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises heard a proposal by 1818 Nadlan LLC to construct a new fifteen-story residential building at 505 West 43rd Street in the Special Clinton District of Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.  The proposed building would consist of two segments, one fronting on West 43rd Street and the other fronting on … <Read More>


City Planning Holds Hearing on One Vanderbilt Proposal

Representatives from the project developers, Grand Central Terminal, and private citizens argued the proposal.  On February 4, 2015 the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposed One Vanderbilt skyscraper project.  The proposed building would be 1,450 feet high and take up a block bounded by Madison Avenue to the west, Vanderbilt Avenue to the east, 42nd Street to the south, and 43rd Street to the north.  The project would also include transit … <Read More>