Court enjoins Washington Square renovation

Plans sent back to Community Board, Landmarks and Art Commission. Under Parks’ plan to renovate Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, the off-center fountain would be moved 22 feet to align it with the park’s famous arch at its Fifth Avenue entrance. The new fountain would be raised to grade level, have a 45-foot high water plume, and be 23 percent smaller than its current size. Parks received approvals for renovations from Manhattan’s Community Board … <Read More>


Modern 9-story residential building approved for SoHo

Residential and retail building to replace parking lot on Wooster Street. Landmarks approved the construction of a modern eight-story- plus-penthouse glass building within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, replacing a surface parking lot on the southwest corner of Wooster and Grand Streets. Designed by Henry Smith-Miller of Smith-Miller + Hawkinson, the building will be eight stories along Grand Street, clad by a glass curtain wall, and will wrap around the intersection with Wooster Street. The … <Read More>


Village BID expanded

BID expansion will double number of properties receiving sanitation and security assistance. The Planning Commission unanimously approved an application by the Village Alliance Business Improvement District Management Association and the Department of Small Business Services for expansion of the Village Alliance BID, originally established in 1993.

The existing BID, which comprises 129 predominantly mixed-use properties, is currently bounded by Sixth and Second Avenues to the west and east, West 4th Street to the south, and … <Read More>


New text approved for historic districts

Amended text needed for 85-unit apartment building, 150-space garage to be built on SoHo parking lot. United American Land, LLC applied for a text amendment and three special permits to allow a 137,000-square-foot, mixed-use development on a lot at 311 West Broadway within Manhattan’s SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The 28,200-square-foot site currently contains a 206-space parking lot and a two-story building.

Before applying to City Planning, United sought Landmarks approval. Landmarks suggested that United eliminate … <Read More>


Superior Ink factory site to get fifteen-story development

Poor soil conditions and site contamination create hardship. The owner of 469 West Street sought to construct a 64-unit, fifteen-story mixed-use development with ground floor retail and an underground 60-space accessory parking garage on the current site of the Superior Ink factory. The proposed development would consist of a three-story base topped with a twelve-story residential tower and a series of five, three-story townhouses fronting Bethune Street. In support of a variance, the owner argued … <Read More>


Council denies cafe a sidewalk renewal permit

Council rejection based on owner’s failure to pay $16,000 in City fees. Dominick DeSimone, owner of the Stonewall Bistro, the Stonewall Bar and the Stonewall Nightclub in Greenwich Village, applied to renew his sidewalk permit for the Bistro at 113 Seventh Avenue South. Community Board 2 and residents opposed the renewal.

At the Council hearing before the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, DeSimone alleged that the community ‘s opposition to the renewal application was based … <Read More>