Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee

Sidewalk cafe permit denied

DCA revoked restaurant’s previous permit after discovering plan inaccuracies. On August 20, 2009, the City Council denied Spitzer’s Corner’s application for an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at the corner of Rivington and Ludlow Streets in the Lower East Side. Spitzer’s application called for eight tables and 16 chairs fronting 101 Rivington Street.

At the Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee hearing, Spitzer’s architect, Steve Wygoda, testified that in 2007 the Council approved an application for a sidewalk … <Read More>

Carnegie Hill townhouse reconstruction approved

4-8 East 94th Street. Photo: Brett Reitter.

Applicant claimed that combining office building and residential townhouse would improve surrounding area. On August 20, 2009, the City Council approved a developer’s plan to combine two buildings on East 94th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues into one 67-foot, six-story residential building within the Carnegie Hill Historic District. Originally built in the 1890s, developers converted 4 East 94th Street into a seven-story, 75-foot office building in 1963. … <Read More>

Modified Coney Island Plan Approved

Council increases affordable housing component and removes Wonder Wheel from new parkland. The City Council approved the City’s controversial rezoning and revitalization plan for Coney Island at its July 29, 2009 meeting. In addition to rezoning 19 blocks running from West 8th to West 20th Streets between Mermaid Avenue and the Riegelmann Boardwalk, the City will also create a 27-acre amusement and entertainment district. The City will map new streets, including Wonder Wheel Way east … <Read More>

300 blocks of West Central Queens rezoned

Plan builds on several 2006 Queens downzonings. On July 29, 2009, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s 300-block rezoning proposal for the three west-central Queens neighborhoods of Middle Village, Maspeth, and Glendale. The plan seeks to decrease future out-of-character development and builds on several 2006 rezoning plans within the area.

Characterized by detached and semi-detached single- and two-family housing, the area’s R3-2, R4, and R5 zoning, which was largely unchanged since 1961, … <Read More>

New Midtown rail station approved for ARC Project

Nation’s largest mass transit project will double NJ Transit’s commuter rail capacity into Manhattan. The City Council approved the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s applications related to the $8.7 billion Access to Region’s Core (ARC) passenger rail project. Jointly sponsored by the Port Authority and New Jersey Transit, the project’s goal is to double the capacity of NJ Transit’s commuter rail service into Manhattan by building a rail tunnel under the Hudson … <Read More>

Modified Coney Island Master Plan Moves to Council

Modifications include increasing ground floor amusement requirements and easing bulk restrictions. On June 17, 2009, the City Planning Commission approved the seven linked applications comprising the City’s extensive redevelopment plan for Coney Island. The approval included demapping of streets and parkland, creation of new streets and parkland, and a 19-block rezoning, running from West 8th to West 20th Streets between Mermaid Avenue and the Riegelmann Boardwalk.

The product of over 300 public meetings dating back … <Read More>