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July 15, 2011 Volume 8 CITYLAND 85

JULY 15, 2011 center for new york city law VOLUME 8, NUMBER 6CITYLAND

Highlights

CITY COUNCILQueens rezoning modified . . . . . . . 85Queens restaurant expansion . . . . 87Flushing project approved . . . . . . . 88SI shopping center approved . . . . . 89 Developer’s proposal withdrawn . 89

CITY PLANNING COMMISSIONNavy Yard proposal certified . . . . .90Freshkills North Park Phase I . . . . 91

LANDMARKSEast Village HDs proposed . . . . . . 91Crown Heights HD designated . . . 92 MTA fan plant proposal heard . . 93Ladies’ Mile building OK’d . . . . . . 94New building in Tribeca . . . . . . . . 95

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP.UES Sanitation garage RFP . . . . . 97Hunts Pt . industrial site RFP . . . . 97

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGSComptroller audits DOB . . . . . . . . 98

CITYLAND PROFILEBrad Lander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96

CHARTSDCP Pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87ULURP Pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91BSA Pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Landmarks Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Landmarks Pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Citylaw .org New Decisions . . .98–99

(cont’d on page 87)

The City Planning Commission certified the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation’s pro-posal to redevelop Admirals Row at the corner of Nassau and Navy Streets in Brooklyn. See story on page 90. Image: Courtesy of GreenbergFarrow.

apartment buildings. The popula-tions of both neighborhoods have increased during the past two de-cades, and subsequent out-of-scale development has disrupted street wall continuity and led to inappro-priate commercial uses on residen-tial side streets.

Planning’s proposal would replace the study area’s 50-year old zoning with contextual zon-ing districts to establish building heights, reinforce existing develop-ment patterns, and provide resi-dential development opportunities along appropriate corridors. Ac-companying zoning text amend-ments would alter sidewalk cafe regulations along Queens Boule-vard and Skillman Avenue and ap-ply the City’s Inclusionary Housing Program along a portion of Queens Boulevard in Woodside.

Queens Community Board 2 and Borough President Helen M. Marshall supported the rezoning, and no one opposed the proposal at the City Planning

CITY COUNCIL

Rezoning/Text Amendment

Sunnyside/Woodside, Queens

Council modifies 130-block rezoning in western Queens

Modification established 80-foot building height limit along portion of Queens Boulevard . On June 23, 2011, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified the Depart-ment of City Planning’s rezoning proposal for the Sunnyside and Woodside sections of Queens. The plan would impact 130 blocks in western Queens south of the Sun-nyside Rail Yard and east of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

Sunnyside, bisected by Queens Boulevard in the western portion of the rezoning area, is predominantly characterized by large residential and commercial buildings. Wood-side, in contrast, is characterized by one- and two-family detached and semi-detached homes and low-rise

86 Volume 8 CITYLAND July 15, 2011

CITYLAND

CENTER FOR NEW YORK CITY LAW ADVISORY COUNCIL

The Center expresses appreciation to the

individuals and foundations supporting the

Center and its work: The Steven and Sheila Aresty

Foundation, Fund for the City of New York,

The Durst Foundation, The Charina Endowment

Fund, The Murray Goodgold Foundation,

Jerry Gottesman, The Marc Haas Foundation and

The Prospect Hill Foundation.

CITYLAND (ISSN 1551-711X) is published 11 times a year by the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School, 185 West Broadway, New York City, New York 10013, tel. (212) 431-2115, fax (212) 941-4735, e-mail: [email protected], website: www.citylaw.org © Center for New York City Law, 2011. All rights reserved. Printed on recycled paper. Maps presented in CITYLAND are from Map-PLUTO copyrighted by the New York City Depart-ment of City Planning. City Landmarks and Hist- oric Districts printed with permission of New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CITYLAND, 185 West Broadway, New York, New York 10013-2921. Periodicals postage paid at New York, New York.

CITYLAND ADVISORY BOARD

Stanley S. Shuman, ChairArthur N. Abbey ’59Sheila Aresty ’94Harold Baer, Jr.David R. BakerMichael A. CardozoAnthony ColesEdward N. CostikyanPaul A. CrottyRichard J. DavisMichael B. GerrardJudah GribetzKathleen Grimm ’80

Eric Hatzimemos ’92Michael D. HessLawrence S. Huntington ’64William F. Kuntz IIEric LaneRandy M. Mastro Richard MatasarRobert J. McGuireFrancis McArdleJohn D. McMahon ’76Thomas L. McMahon ’83Gary P. NaftalisSteven M. Polan

Gail S. Port ’76Norman RedlichJoseph B. RoseErnst H. Rosenberger ’58Rose Luttan RubinFrederick P. SchafferFrederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr.O. Peter SherwoodEdward WallaceRichard M. WeinbergPeter L. ZimrothJames D. Zirin

Kent Barwick Andrew Berman Molly Brennan Albert K. Butzel

Howard Goldman Jerry Gottesman David Karnovsky Ross Moskowitz ’84

Frank Munger Carol E. Rosenthal Michael T. Sillerman Paul D. Selver

Ross Sandler Professor of Law and Director, Center for New York City Law

Frank Berlen ’07 Associate Director Managing Editor

Peter Schikler ’08 CityLand Editor

Eugene Travers ’10 Marissa Fierz ’10 Fellows

Lebasi Lashley Art DirectorPetting Zoo Design

Jesse Denno Staff Writer, Production Asst .

Sarah Knowles Administrative Coordinator

Frank St. Jacques ’11 Student Writer

COMMENTARY

New York Law School Dean Rick Matasar Resigns After serving eleven years as dean of New York Law School, Rick Matasar served notice that the academic year 2011–12 would be his last as dean. He has not said what he will do next, but he has indicated that he has become very interested in higher education issues outside of legal education and that he is considering possibilities in un-dergraduate or non-traditional education areas. As a tenured professor he is welcome to remain on the New York Law School faculty as have prior deans Harry Wellington and James Simon. New York Law School’s magnificent new building at 185 West Broadway stands as a major legacy of Rick Matasar’s tenure, but there is much more that is less visible. Rick arrived in 2000 and had hardly gotten start-ed when the attack on the World Trade Center occurred. Rick courageously stood in the law school’s doorway all that morning helping students with advice, counseling and assurances. The law school was closed for two weeks after 9/11 and, when it reopened, the trauma remained along with dust, noise and the endless parades of trucks removing debris from Ground Zero eight blocks south of the law school. Rick’s leadership allowed the school to regain its balance. His efforts made sure that the students were able to complete their work and enter the legal profession. Another of Rick’s legacies is his insistence that law schools look realistically at the law profession. The pro-found changes occurring in the practice of law have equally profound impacts on law schools. Law school faculties, protected by the academy, tend to go about their teaching and writing without considering the professional world about them. Rick has insisted that New York Law School come to terms with change. He has done this by leading the effort to create a new curriculum aimed at skills, attracting new hires that have brought non-traditional teach-ers into the law school, creating targeted programs for students with particular interests, and by a persistent vocal challenge to professors and law schools generally to move in step with the profession. As it enters its 121st year, New York Law School is in a strong position because of the leadership of Rick Matasar.

Ross Sandler

87July 15, 2011 Volume 8 CITYLAND

Commission’s public hearing. 8 CityLand 75 (June 15, 2011). The Commission unanimously ap-proved the rezoning plan.

At the Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee hearing on June 21, local Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer announced that the proposal had been modified. Van Bramer stated that the eastern portion of Queens Boulevard would be rezoned R7A rather than R7X, and the western portion of Queens Boulevard would be rezoned C4-4A rather than C4-5X. These modifica-tions would reduce the proposed maximum building height along Queens Boulevard from 125 feet to 80 feet. The Subcommittee unani-mously approved the modified pro-posal, and the Land Use Committee followed suit. On June 29, 2011, the full Council forwarded the modified proposal back to the City Planning Commission for review.

Review ProcessLead Agency: CPC, Neg. Dec.Comm. Bd.: QN 2, App’d, 38-1-2Boro. Pres.: App’dCPC: App’d, 13-0-0Council: Pending

Council: Sunnyside-Woodside Rezon-ing (June 23, 2011).

CITY COUNCIL

Rezoning

Whitestone, Queens

Controversial catering hall rezoning approved

State Senator and residents opposed addition of catering hall to White-stone restaurant . On June 29, 2011, the City Council approved a modi-fied version of Joe Franco’s proposal to rezone the western side of 154th Street between 10th and 11th Av-enues in the Whitestone section of Queens. The plan rezoned five lots and will facilitate the expansion of Franco’s White House restau-rant located at 10-24 154th Street. The White House currently con-tains a cellar-level banquet room, a

ground-floor restaurant, and a va-cant apartment on the second floor. Franco proposed rezoning the west-ern frontage of 154th Street from R2A to R3-1 with a C2-2 commercial overlay in order to renovate and en-large the second floor to contain a 20,512 sq.ft. catering hall. The proj-ect would also provide 110 surface and below-grade parking spaces.

The surrounding neighbor-hood is characterized by a range of commercial, manufacturing, and residential uses. Franco owns the lot immediately south of the White House, which includes a two-story mixed-use building and a park-ing lot that wraps around the rear of the restaurant. The lots imme-diately to the north of the White House include two single-family homes and a bank. In 2005, as part of the Whitestone Rezoning, the City rezoned portions of the five lots from R2 to R2A. The interior por-tion of the block to the east was re-zoned from R2 to R3-1. 3 CityLand 3 (Feb. 15, 2006).

Queens Community Board 7 and Borough President Helen M. Marshall supported Franco’s proposal. Marshall, however, rec-ommended that the commercial overlay not include the residential properties to the north and that Franco use plantings to screen the restaurant from the adjacent residential property.

The proposal was met with opposition at the City Planning Commission’s March 2011 hear-ing. Marlene Cody, vice president of the Greater Whitestone Taxpay-ers Civic Association, presented a petition with 176 signatures in op-position. Brian Garry, owner of the house adjacent to the White House, demanded that Franco withdraw his “greedy” application and instead pursue a variance from BSA. Writ-ten testimony submitted from State Senator Tony Avella stated that the proposal contradicted the 2005 Whitestone Rezoning and would set a “dangerous precedent.”

Those testifying in support in-

CITY PLANNING PIPELINE

New Applications Filed with DCP — June 1 - 30, 2011 APPLICANT PROJECT/ADDRESS DESCRIPTION ULURPNO. REPRESENTATIVE

ZONINGTEXTANDMAPAMENDMENTS

DCP Williamsbridge/Baychester, BX Rezone 181 blocks to protect density 110384ZMX

Brooklyn Navy Yard Admirals Row Plaza, BK Rezone site from M1-2 to M1-4; 110382ZMK; spec. perm. allow yard encroach.; 110375ZSK; spec. perm. to exceed signage regs.; 110376ZSK; spec. perm. for 266-space acces. lot; 110377ZSK; spec. perm. to allow UG 6 or 10A; 110378ZSK; cert. for waterfront public access; 110379ZCK; acq. site from U.S. National Guard; 110380PQK; disp. site to BNYDC via long-term 110381PPK; lease; text amend. to allow special 110383ZRK; perms.; cert. wtrfrnt. acc. compliance 110389ZCK

DCP Spec. 4th Ave. District, BK Establish spec.enhanced commercial 110386ZMK; dist.; text amend. to restr. grd.-fl. uses 110387ZRK

SPECIALPERMITS/OTHERACTIONS

Post Office Garage 340 West 31st Street, MN Spec. perm. to incr. existing grg. cap. 110374ZSM Anthony Saytanides

HPD El Rio Residence, BX UDAAP & dispo. of City-owned prop. 110365HAX

HPD Bronx River Art Center, BX UDAAP & dispo. of City-owned prop. 110366HAX

R.A. Real Estate Inc. Coney Island Ocean Mod. spec. perm. to incr. streetscape 110060AZSK; Greenberg Traurig Dreams, BK waiver; mod. to reallocate floor area 110062AZSK

DOT/DDC 142nd St. Realignment, QN Realign street & auth. for acq. & disp. 110388MMQ

DDC S.I. Museum Geothermal Proj. Auth. for exterior of geothermal system 110367ZAR Gluckman Mayner

Raymond Masucci 1002 Annadale Road, SI Cert. to subdivide lot for 10 units 110372RCR Calvanico Assocs.

Rocco Pompa 208 Lamoka Avenue, SI Cert. school seats for 1, 2-fam. home 110371RCR Chris Ponisi

Michael Rapcavage 382 Vernon Avenue, SI Cert. school seats for 1, 2-fam. home 110373RCR Calvanico Assocs.


cluded Geri Entler, an employee of Franco’s, who claimed that the project would revitalize the area by creating more than 100 jobs. Local Council Member Daniel J. Halloran, speaking through a representative, claimed that the area had been “in-accurately” rezoned in 2005, which pushed Franco’s site into further non-compliance with the zoning regulations. Halloran, however, op-posed extending the commercial overlay to the residential properties.

The Commission modified the plan by removing the proposed commercial overlay from the resi-dential properties north of the White House. The Commission noted that Franco had agreed to provide an eight-foot landscaped buffer adja-cent to the residential property.

Commissioner Anna Levin op-posed the proposal. At the Commis-sion’s review session on April 11, 2011, Levin stated that altering the 2005 rezoning would undermine the integrity of the Commission’s decision-making.

Opposition remained at the Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee hearing. Council Member Halloran acknowledged that the proposal had divided the community, but noted that Franco had agreed to the landscaped buffer area and was willing to relinquish the White House’s existing cabaret license. Brian Garry reiterated his opposition and accused Halloran of acting as a lobbyist for Franco. Urban planner Paul Graziano ap-plauded the decision to reduce the commercial overlay, but requested that the residential properties be removed entirely from the rezoning proposal. The hearing was closed without a vote.

When the Subcommittee re-convened, Chair Mark S. Weprin announced that the plan had been modified to extend the commercial overlay’s northern boundary five feet. The modification would per-mit Franco to create the landscaped buffer zone while still providing a sufficiently wide entrance to the

M1-1 to R6 with a C2-2 commercial overlay. Solow requested the rezon-ing in order to redevelop his prop-erty at 135-05 Northern Boulevard. The site is occupied by the Crown Auto Parts store, which Solow plans to demolish and replace with a 52,570 sq.ft. mixed-use building.

Solow’s seven-story project will include 34 market-rate apartments, 7,100 sq.ft. of ground floor retail space, 9,560 sq.ft. of community fa-cility space on the second floor, and a 62-space underground parking facility. The project will also include 3,000 sq.ft. of landscaped outdoor space on the roof of the extended second floor. The area to the west of the project site is zoned M1-1 and developed with low-rise commer-cial buildings and warehouses. To the east, the area is zoned R6/C2-2 and is developed with a mix of resi-dential, commercial, and commu-nity facility space.

No one opposed the project at the City Planning Commission’s hearing on May 25, and the Com-mission unanimously approved the proposal. The Commission noted that that it recently approved an eleven-story mixed-use project to the north of the site, and that the BSA in 2005 approved a seventeen-story residential building nearby at 135-35 Northern Boulevard. 8 City-Land 74 (June 15, 2011).

At the Council’s Zoning & Fran-

restaurant’s parking area. The Sub-committee and Land Use Commit-tee approved the modified proposal, and the Council sent the modified plan to the City Planning Commis-sion for review. At its June 20 review session, the Commission found that the modification was within the scope of the rezoning.

The full Council unanimously approved the proposal.

ULURP ProcessLead Agency: CPC, Rev. Neg. Dec.Comm. Bd.: QN 7, App’d, 29-6-0Boro. Pres.: App’dCPC: App’d, 10-1-0Council: App’d, 50-0-0

Council: 10-24 154th Street Rezoning (C 100457 ZMQ – rezoning) (June 29, 2011) (Architect: Papa Architect PC).

CITY COUNCIL

Rezoning

Flushing, Queens

Mixed-use project along Northern Boulevard OK’d

Mixed-use project with 34 market-rate apartments will replace auto parts store in Flushing . On June 29, 2011, the City Council approved Mark Solow’s rezoning proposal for three lots at the northeast corner of Northern Boulevard and Prince Street in Flushing, Queens. The ap-proval rezoned the three lots from

Seven-story mixed used development at the corner of Northern Boulevard and Prince Street in Flushing, Queens. Image: Courtesy of Anthony Morali Architect PLLC.


CITY COUNCIL

Rezoning

Cambria Heights, Queens

Private rezoning withdrawn prior to Council review

Cambria Heights community ex-pressed concern about impact of pro-posed one-story commercial build-ing on adjacent community garden . Prior to a public hearing before the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee, Ryan Pedram with-drew his rezoning proposal to ex-tend a C1-3 commercial overlay to an existing R3-2 district at the north-east corner of Linden Boulevard between 226th and 227th Streets in Cambria Heights, Queens. Pedram had requested the rezoning in order to develop a one-story, 8,100 sq.ft. commercial building on a vacant lot adjacent to a community garden owned by the Trust for Public Land.

Linden Boulevard is the main commercial corridor in Cambria Heights and is characterized by low-rise commercial, mixed-use, and residential buildings. In 2005 the City approved a contextual rezoning of Cambria Heights. 2 CityLand 100 (Aug. 15, 2005). Pedram’s property was residentially developed at the time and its R3-2 zoning was left un-changed. East of Pedram’s property, Linden Boulevard is zoned R3-2 with a C2-3 commercial overlay. To the west, Linden Boulevard is zoned R3-2 with C1-3 commercial overlay. Pedram initially proposed extend-ing the C1-3 overlay 90 feet east to include his lot and ten feet of the community garden.

Queens Community Board 13 and Borough President Helen M. Marshall opposed the proposal. CB 13 stated, among other things, that the project would be inconsistent with the 2005 rezoning and claimed that the proposed building would block light to the community gar-den. CB 13 also claimed that local Council Member Leroy Comrie had previously requested that Pedram

row and Foster Roads. The Savos submitted multiple applications to facilitate the project, including a request to apply a C2-2 commercial overlay to the R3X-zoned project site and for a zoning text amendment to remove a portion of the project site from the Special South Richmond Development District’s designated open space boundaries. Pursuant to the special district’s regulations, the proposal also needed the Commis-sion’s authorization to modify the site’s topography.

Staten Island Community Board 3 and Borough President James P. Molinaro supported the project, and no one opposed the proposal at the City Planning Com-mission’s April 27 hearing. Attorney Eric Palatnik, representing the Sa-vos, testified that the C2-2 commer-cial overlay would permit a broader range of uses in the new buildings, including trade schools and dance studios. The project’s urban planner, Phil Rampulla, explained that the proposed circular parking lot would remedy problems associated with the current lot’s “awkward” diago-nal grid and dead ends. The Com-mission unanimously approved the project.

At the Council’s Zoning & Fran-chises Subcommittee hearing, local Council Member Vincent Ignizio stated that both he and the commu-nity welcomed the current propos-al. Ignizio noted that he had been working to address parking issues at the site since he served as chief of staff to former Council Member Andrew Lanza.

The City Council unanimously approved the proposal.

Review ProcessLead Agency: CPC, Cond. Neg. Dec.Comm. Bd.: SI 3, App’d, 30-0-0Boro. Pres.: App’dCPC: App’d, 13-0-0Council: App’d, 50-0-0

Council: Woodrow Plaza (C 080482 ZMR – rezoning); (N 080483 ZRR – text amend.); (N 080484 RAR – mod. topo.) (June 29, 2011) (Architect: Rampulla Associates).

chises Subcommittee hearing, Chair Mark S. Weprin inquired about the amount of parking and whether residents would be charged for us-ing the proposed garage. Solow’s attorney, Eric Palatnik, pointed out that the project would provide more parking than required by the zoning regulations, and according to archi-tect Tony Morali, residents would not be charged for parking.

The Subcommittee unani-mously approved the project, and the Land Use Committee and full Council followed suit.

Council: Solow Center (June 29, 2011) (Architect: Morali Architect PLLC).

CITY COUNCIL

Rezoning/Text Amendment

Woodrow, Staten Island

Staten Island shopping center rezoning approved

Small rezoning would facilitate ex-pansion of Woodrow Plaza shopping center . On June 29, 2011, the City Council approved Ottavio and Le-onello Savo’s proposed expansion of the Woodrow Plaza shopping center at the corner of Woodrow Road and Rossville Avenue in Staten Island. Woodrow Plaza was built in the early 1980s and includes two, one-story buildings and a surface parking lot accessible from Rossville and Alverson Avenues. The project site consists of two wooded, vacant lots located south of the parking lot along Woodrow Road. In 2001, the shopping center’s prior owner proposed building two, one-story buildings on the vacant lots, but the City Planning Commission denied the application.

The Savos plan to develop two, two-story commercial buildings to-taling 37,200 sq.ft. and a 124-space parking lot facing the existing shop-ping center. They plan to improve circulation in the expanded parking lot by reconfiguring the driveways and adding a curb cut at an existing three-way intersection at Wood-


consider allowing the City to acquire the property for a project “more conducive” to the area.

At the City Planning Commis-sion’s April 13 hearing, opponents reiterated the concerns expressed by CB 13. Kelli Singleton, president of the Cambria Heights Civic As-sociation, said that the community wanted to preserve the area’s resi-dential character and claimed that Pedram had not properly main-tained the property in the past.

Pedram described how the proposal had been altered to ad-dress community concerns. Pedram pointed out that he would provide an eight-foot side yard adjacent to the garden to reduce shadows. He also agreed to provide water, elec-tricity, and a small shed for the gar-den, as well as rent-free space with-in his building for community use. In addition, Pedram pledged not to lease commercial space to bars, li-quor stores, or pawn shops.

The Commission modified the proposal by reducing the extension of the commercial overlay by ten feet to align with Pedram’s property line. Under the zoning resolution, plac-ing the commercial overlay bound-ary at the lot line would require Pe-dram to provide the eight-foot side yard adjacent to the garden.

The Commission approved the proposal by an 11-2-0 vote. Com-missioner Karen Phillips opposed the proposal stating that the rezon-ing would undermine the predict-ability sought through the 2005 rezoning. Commissioner Irwin Can-tor also opposed the proposal cit-ing the community’s opposition to the proposal.

At the Council’s Zoning & Fran-chises Subcommittee hearing on June 21, Chair Mark S. Weprin an-nounced that the proposal had been withdrawn. No further explanation was provided.

ULURP ProcessLead Agency: CPC, Rev. Neg. Dec.Comm. Bd.: QN 13, Den’d, 21-1-2Boro. Pres.: Den’dCPC: App’d, 11-2-0Council: Withdrawn

Council: Linden Boulevard (C 100342 ZMQ – rezoning) (June 21, 2011).

CITY PLANNING COMMISSION

Certification

Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn

Admirals Row redevelop-ment begins public review

Mixed-use project at southeast cor-ner of Brooklyn Navy Yard would in-clude adaptive reuse of two historic buildings . On June 20, 2011, the City Planning Commission certified the Brooklyn Navy Yard Economic De-velopment Corporation’s proposed mixed-use development, known as Admirals Row Plaza, on a federally owned site at the southeast edge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard at Navy and Nassau Streets in Brooklyn. The site is occupied by ten residences along Nassau Street built between 1850 and 1901 to house naval offi-cers, and a large timber shed along Navy Street dating from the 1830s that stored ship-building materi-

als. The buildings have been va-cant for more than 20 years and are severely deteriorated.

The U.S. Army National Guard Bureau retained control of the six-acre site after the City purchased the rest of the Brooklyn Navy Yard complex in 1967. In 2007 the Bureau commenced the federal review pro-cess to transfer control of the prop-erty to the City, which plans to lease the site to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation intends to demolish nine of the historic structures to make way for Ad-mirals Row Plaza. One of the offi-cers’ quarters (Quarters B) and the timber shed would be rehabilitated, and three new buildings would be developed along the perimeter of the site. A five-story building on the eastern side of the property would feature a 74,000 sq.ft. supermar-ket, with 127,000 sq.ft. of indus-trial space on the top four floors. A two-story building fronting Nas-sau Street would provide 35,000 sq.ft. for multiple retail tenants, and a two-story building to the north of the timber shed along Navy Street would provide an additional 31,000 sq.ft. of retail space. Quarters B and the timber shed would provide a combined 19,500 sq.ft. of communi-ty facility space. The project would include a 295-space surface parking lot at the interior of the site which would be accessible from Navy and Nassau Streets.

The project would require mul-tiple actions, including the acquisi-tion of the site by the City and sub-sequent disposition of the site to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation through a master lease. In addition, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation submit-ted applications to rezone the site from M1-2 to M1-4 and for special permits to allow the parking lot and proposed signage.

Although PA Development had initially been selected to develop the site, the Brooklyn Navy Yard De-

CITYLAND Correction: In our June 15, 2011 issue we failed to report that the City Coun-cil had modified the Depart-ment of City Planning’s Special 125th District Text Amend-ment by permitting sidewalk cafes in five additional areas. Unenclosed large sidewalk cafes will be permitted along the west side of Malcolm X Boulevard between 124th and 125th Streets and the east side of Fifth Avenue between 125th and 126th Streets. Small side-walk cafes will be permitted along the east side of Malcolm X Boulevard between 124th and 125th Streets, the south side of 125th Street in front of the pro-posed Harlem Park Hotel, and along the north side of 125th Street east of Madison Avenue. The Council approved the zon-ing text amendment on June 29, 2011. We regret the error.


velopment Corporation will issue a new request for proposals to desig-nate a developer. The project is ex-pected to be completed by 2014.

At the Commission’s review session, Commissioner Shirley McRae expressed concern about how the project would impact ve-hicle traffic in the area. McRae stated that she would be interested to know how the Department of Transportation planned to ad-dress the increased vehicle traffic resulting from the supermarket, noting that the nearby intersec-tions were already heavily used during rush hour by drivers making their way toward the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

The project still needs approvals from the City Planning Commission and the City Council. As of June 29, 2011, Brooklyn Community Board 2 has 60 days to issue an advisory rec-ommendation on the project.

CPC: Certification of Admirals Row Plaza (C 110380 PQK – acquisition of prop.); (C 110381 PPK – dispo. of prop.); (C 110382 ZMK – rezoning); (C 110383 ZRK – text amend.); (C 110375 ZSK to C 110378 ZSK – spec. perms.) (June 20, 2011) (Architect: GreenbergFarrow).

CITY PLANNING COMMISSION

Authorization

Freshkills Park, Staten Island

Freshkills Park development moves forward

Parks needed Commission’s au-thorization to develop Phase 1 of Freshkills’ North Park . The City Planning Commission granted the Department of Parks and Recre-ation’s request for authorization to alter natural features in Staten Is-land to facilitate the development of Phase 1 of Freshkills Park’s North Park. Freshkills Park, described as a “natural wonder” by Chair Amanda M. Burden at a review session spe-cial presentation, will be a naturally vegetated park built over the former Fresh Kills Landfill on the western

shore of Staten Island.In 2001 the City closed the Fresh

Kills Landfill. Five years later the City released a draft master plan for Freshkills Park. The 2,200-acre park will be nearly three times the size of Central Park and the largest park de-veloped in the City in the last centu-ry. Freshkills Park will comprise five main areas: North Park; South Park; East Park; West Park; and a central area on the north and south sides of Fresh Kills Creek, known as the Con-fluence. The park will be developed in phases over the next 30 years, and each area will have a distinct charac-ter and programming.

North Park will encompass 233 acres adjacent to the William T. Da-vis Wildlife Refuge and the neigh-borhood of Travis. Phase I of North Park will include approximately 20 acres. North Park will feature mead-ows, wetland areas, and creeks, with paths leading visitors to recre-ational activities. Scenic overlooks and space for picnicking and bird-watching will also be provided.

A 2.8-acre portion of North Park Phase I is subject to the City’s Special Natural Area District regu-lations. In 1975 the City created the Special Natural Area District regula-tions to help preserve unique natu-ral features in parts of the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. The special district regulations required Parks to obtain authorization from the Commission to alter natural features before proceeding with the

park’s development.

CPC: Fresh Kills Park North Park Phase I (N 090409 ZAR – authorization) (June 7, 2011).

LANDMARKS PRESERVATIONCOMMISSION

Designation Calendaring

East Village, Manhattan

Two East Village historic districts proposed

Landmarks takes first steps to des-ignate East Village/Lower East Side Historic District and East 10th Street Historic District . On June 28, 2011, Landmarks proposed designating the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District and the East 10th Street Historic District in Manhat-tan. The districts were developed in the early half of the 19th century and reflect the social history of the vari-ous waves of immigrant groups that once occupied these areas.

The proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District would include 270 buildings along Second Avenue between St. Mark’s Place and East 2nd Street, as well as the adjacent side streets. The district would also include buildings along East 6th and East 7th Streets as far as Avenue A. The area is dominated by tenement apartment buildings which replaced older rowhouses built to house German and Irish

ULURP PIPELINE

New Applications Certified into ULURP

PROJECT DESCRIPTION COMM.BD. ULURPNO. CERTIFIED

Beaver House Garage Special permit MN 1 110344HKM 6/6/2011

El Rio Residence UDAAP, disp. of City prop. BX 6 110365HAX 6/20/2011

BX River Arts Ctr. UDAAP, disp. of City prop. BX 6 110366HAX 6/20/2011

Williambridge rezoning Rezoning BX 12 110384ZMX 6/20/2011

Admirals Row Plaza Zoning text amendment; BK 2 110380PQK; 6/20/2011 rezoning; acquire & dispose N110381PPK; of City prop.; special 110382ZMK; permits; certification N110383ZRK; 110375ZSK – 110378ZSK; N110379ZCK

Special 4th Ave. Zoning text amendment; BK 2, 6, 7 110386ZMK; 6/20/2011 Commercial Dist. rezoning N110387ZRK


immigrants in the 1850s. The tene-ments reflect a variety of architec-tural styles, including Italianate, Neo-grec, and Queen Anne. The area along Second Avenue became known as “Yiddish Rialto,” due to the number of Yiddish-language theaters. Latin American immi-grants moved to the neighborhood after World War II. The area grew more desirable following the remov-al of the elevated Third Avenue line in 1955, and shortly thereafter the neighborhood was christened the “East Village” by realtors seeking to attract middle class tenants.

The East 10th Street Historic District would include 26 buildings across from Tompkins Square Park along East 10th Street between Av-enues A and B. Following the open-ing of the park in 1834, speculative investors developed the block to at-tract wealthy residents. At least five of the buildings were designed by architect Joseph Trench, who also designed the landmarked Odd Fel-lows Hall on Grand Street and the A.T. Stewart Department Store on Broadway. The Tompkins Square

area did not remain fashionable for long, and the buildings were eventu-ally converted to multi-family dwell-ings while the block’s vacant lots were developed with tenements.

Landmarks did not set a date for public hearings on either proposed district.

LPC: East Village/Lower East Side His-toric District, Manhattan (LP-2491); East 10th Street Historic District, Man-hattan (LP-2492) (June 28, 2011).

LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION

Designation/Calendaring

Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Crown Heights North II Historic District designated

New district would comprise more than 600 buildings south of origi-nal Crown Heights North Historic District . On June 28, 2011, Land-marks voted to designate the Crown Heights North II Historic District in the northwest section of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The residen-

tial district includes more than 600 buildings generally bounded by Bergen Street to the north, Eastern Parkway to the south, Brooklyn Av-enue to the east, and Nostrand Ave-nue to the west. It lies directly south of the Crown Heights North Historic District which Landmarks desig-nated in 2007. 4 CityLand 60 (May 15, 2007). The two districts feature similar architecture.

The Crown Heights North II Historic District encompasses land once owned by the Lefferts fam-ily. Development in the area began in the 1870s shortly after the heirs of Leffert Lefferts Jr. auctioned off the family farm as 1,600 lots. Fol-lowing the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, high-end freestand-ing houses were built in the area to accompany existing rowhouse developments. The construction of the elevated railway along Fulton Street in 1888 led to the develop-ment of hundreds of detached and attached homes. By the early 1900s the area became known as the St. Mark’s District. Elevator buildings were developed after the extended IRT subway line reached the area. Development in the area slowed after World War II, and the neigh-borhood became home to a large African-American and Caribbean immigrant community.

The district features a variety of architectural styles including Romanesque Revival, Colonial Re-vival, Dutch Renaissance, and Art Deco. Notable structures include the 1889 Brooklyn Methodist Epis-copal Church Home, the Roman Church of St. Gregory the Great, and an Art Moderne apartment building at 919 Park Place. District residents have included the singer and actress Ethel Waters and Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

Before calling for a vote, Chair Robert B. Tierney praised the dis-trict’s architectural integrity and well-preserved historic fabric. Com-missioner Christopher Moore noted the district’s social, historical, and

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Proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District in Manhattan. Image: Courtesy of LPC.


Village Historic District if the MTA did not modify the plan to better integrate the facility with the area’s residential and commercial uses.

Doris Diether, representing Manhattan Community Board 2, criticized the proposed window pattern and argued that the MTA should reduce the building’s height to maintain a consistent cornice line with adjacent rowhouses. The Greenwich Village Society for His-toric Preservation’s Elizabeth Fin-kelstein called the proposed struc-ture “an overly complicated and awkward hybrid.”

The Commissioners also criti-cized the proposal. Commissioner Fred Bland stated that the plan was “patronizing to what the Village is about” and likened the use of the faux historic screens to “hiding be-hind a fig leaf.” Commissioner Joan Gerner believed that a more utilitar-ian approach would be appropriate. Commissioner Christopher Moore believed that the proposal was the product of “a lot of thought and good intentions,” but ultimately in-adequate for the site. Commissioner Michael Goldblum claimed that the plan for the Tiles of America exhibit

cultural significance while Commis-sioner Fred Bland called the district “an extraordinary mosaic of Ameri-can architecture.”

At the same meeting, Land-marks calendared the Crown Heights North III Historic Dis-trict. The proposed district would consist of 640 buildings gener-ally bounded by Kingston and Al-bany Avenues to the east of Crown Heights North I and II. Landmarks did not set a date for the proposed district’s public hearing.

LPC: Crown Heights North II Historic District, Brooklyn (LP-2361); Crown Heights North III Historic District (LP-2489) (June 28, 2011).


Advisory Report

Greenwich Village, Manhattan

MTA ventilation plant slated for Mulry Square

Elected officials and residents urged MTA to refine design of subway ven-tilation building . On June 14, 2011, Landmarks issued a negative ad-visory report on the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s design for a pro-posed four-story ventilation plant at the intersection of Seventh Avenue South and Greenwich Avenue in the Greenwich Village Historic District. The building will provide emer-gency ventilation for the Seventh Avenue and IND subway lines. The triangular lot, known as Mulry Square, is the site of the “Tiles for America” 9/11 memorial featuring decorated ceramic tiles hung from the chain-link fence that surrounds the unimproved lot.

Judith Kunoff, chief architect of MTA New York City Transit, de-scribed the challenges of designing a secure utilitarian structure that would also be aesthetically suit-able for the historic district. MTA planned to attach cast-brick “over-lay screens” six inches in front of the concrete-clad, windowless building.

The brick overlays would attempt to mimic the 19th-century Greek-Revival rowhouses common in the district. The concrete walls would be visible through the “windows” of the overlays and at the points where the overlays attach to the building. The set back fourth story would not be masked with the brick screen. The windows would be subtly illumi-nated at night. The Tiles for America memorial would be preserved and secured to a chain link fence at-tached to the building’s first floor.

Residents, preservationists, and elected officials criticized the proposal. Representatives of Con-gressman Jerrold Nadler, Manhat-tan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, State Senator Thomas K. Duane, and Assembly Member Deborah Glick urged the MTA to reconsider the plan. Quinn’s rep-resentative stated that the building should feature a continuous facade and incorporate additional design elements to better highlight the 9/11 memorial. In his submitted testi-mony, Duane stated that it would be “an affront” to everyone who has worked to preserve the Greenwich

BSA PIPELINE

New Applications File d with BSA — June 1 - 30, 2011

APPLICANT PROJECT/ADDRESS DESCRIPTION APP.NO. REPRESENTATIVE

VARIANCES

514-516 E. 6th LLC 514 E. 6th St., MN Waiver (FAR, no. of units) 96-11-BZ Marvin B. Mitzner

Annie Ribak 2224 Avenue S, BK Enlarge 1-family dwelling 89-11-BZ Fredrick A. Becker

Sau Ping Lin 23 Windom Ave., SI Permit 2-fam. dwelling (lot size) 91-11-BZ Malcolm Kaye

SPECIALPERMITS/OTHERACTIONS

Parkchester Pres. 1382 Metropolitan Ave., BX Permit phys. cult. est. 81-11-BZ Rothkrug Rothkrug

Ilyaho Choueka 2020 Homecrest Ave., BK Enlarge 1-family dwelling 82-11-BZ Sheldon Lobel PC

Leonid Vayner 159 Exeter St., BK Enlarge 1-family dwelling 87-11-BZ Eric Palatnik PC

Eugene Loevinger 1349 E. 26th St., BK Enlarge 1-family dwelling 92-11-BZ Sheldon Lobel PC

Yeshiva Mordechai 1536 62nd St., BK Convert factory to retail/warehouse 93-11-BZ Moshe M. Friedman

149 N. Plaza LLC 149-06 Northern Blvd., QN Permit phys. cult. est. 94-11-BZ Victor K. Han

Fern Corp. 1279 Redfern Ave., QN Permit day care in M1-1 88-11-BZ Rothkrug Rothkrug

APPEALS

327-335 E. 9 Realty 333 E. 9th St., MN Vary MDL to enlg. bldg. 84-11-A Marvin B. Mitzner

327-335 E. 9 Realty 335 E. 9th St., MN Vary MDL to enlg. bldg. 85-11-A Marvin B. Mitzner

Perlbinder Holdings 663 Second Ave., MN Reverse revocation of sign app. 86-11-A Cozen O’Connor

159 W. 78th Corp. 159 W. 78th St., MN Vary MDL to enlg. bldg. 83-11-A Marvin B. Mitzner

Breezy Pt. Co-op. 385 Bayside Dr., QN Enlg. dwelling in mapped st. bed 95-11-A Gary Lenhart


was “too incidental” and could be better integrated into the design.

Because the property is owned by a State agency, Landmarks could

only issue a non-binding advisory report on the MTA’s proposal. Chair Robert B. Tierney credited the MTA for attempting to design an appro-

priate structure for the district, but he agreed with the other Commis-sioners that the current proposal was inappropriate. Tierney stated that Landmarks would issue a re-port recommending that the MTA reconsider the use of the overlay screens and rethink how to preserve the memorial.

LPC: 61 Greenwich Ave., Man-hattan (11-0180) (June 14, 2011) (Architect: MTA).


Certificate of Appropriateness

Ladies’ Mile, Manhattan

Amended plan for new Ladies’ Mile building OK’d

Landmarks approved plans for 22-story glass building in 2005, but project stalled . On June 14, 2011, Landmarks approved Anbau En-terprises’ proposal to amend a cer-tificate of appropriateness for a 22-story glass and metal building on a through-block lot at 39 West 23rd Street in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District. In July 2005 Landmarks approved by a 6-3 vote the prior owner’s plans for a 22-story tower fronting West 23rd Street and a five-story townhouse fronting West 24th Street. 3 CityLand 108 (Aug. 15, 2006). The proposal featured a five-story glass and metal base with a seventeen-story glass and metal tower cantilevered over the adjacent building to the east. The tower’s cantilevered “bulge” receded as it reached the top. Manhattan Com-munity Board 5 and preservationists opposed the original plan.

The prior owner obtained a special permit from the City Plan-ning Commission to modify height and setback requirements in De-cember 2006. However, the devel-opment stalled and the owner lost control of the property in 2008. Anbau recently purchased the property and sought to amend the C of A, which is set to expire on

Landmarks Actions Taken in June 2011

FINALPERMITSTOBEISSUEDAFTERLANDMARKSRECEIVESCONFORMINGPLANS

ADDRESS LANDMARK/HISTORICDISTRICT DESCRIPTION CASENO. APP’D

June 7, 2011

300 W. 57th St., MN Hearst Magazine Building Install signage 11-8506 Yes

175 Broadway, BK Williamsburg Savings Bank Const. egress platform, ramp 11-7878 Yes

186 Franklin St., MN Tribeca West HD Const. roof add., alter rear 11-5388 No

150 Fifth Ave., MN Ladies’ Mile HD Install storefront infill 11-7045 W/Mod

343 W. 20th St., MN Chelsea HD Legalize work 11-9253 No

239 E. 61st St., MN Treadwell Farm HD Alter stoop, areaway 11-7853 Yes

147 W. 70th St., MN Upper West Side/CPW HD Install 2 canopies 10-9724 W/Mod

121 W. 81st St., MN Upper West Side/CPW HD Const. rear yard addition 11-8513 Yes

288 Carlton Ave., BK Fort Greene HD Reconstruct rear facade 11-6943 Yes

384 Waverly Ave., BK Clinton Hill HD Inst. infill, wall, gate, fence 11-8562 Yes

76 Henry St., BK Brooklyn Heights HD Legalize rear addition 11-7420 Yes

171 Baltic St., BK Cobble Hill HD Inst. rear add., balcony 11-6632 Yes

June 14, 2011

110 E. 42nd St., MN Bowery Savings Bank Leg. banking hall alterations 10-2591 Yes

254 Front St., MN South St. Seaport HD Mod. C of A (facades) 11-8838 Yes

35 Walker St., MN Tribeca East HD Const. roof add., light well 11-6287 W/Mod

83 Walker St., MN Tribeca East HD Const. new building 11-7388 Yes

88 MacDougal St., MN MacDougal-Sullivan Gdns. HD Paint front facade 11-9198 W/Mod

252 Bleecker St., MN Greenwich Village HD Ext. II Modify illegal signage 11-3093 Yes

54 Great Jones St., MN NoHo HD Ext. Install wall sign 11-8755 W/Mod

335 Bleecker St., MN Greenwich Village HD Install infill, cornice 11-8642 Yes

2 Fifth Ave., MN Greenwich Village HD Replace facade brick 11-8761 W/Mod

48 W. 8th St., MN Greenwich Village HD Replace windows 11-6643 Yes

387 Bleecker St., MN Greenwich Village HD Legalize storefront infill 11-4058 Yes

21 Seventh Ave., MN Greenwich Village HD Replace infill, signage 11-7325 Yes

27 Ninth Ave., MN Gansevoort Market HD Install painted wall sign 11-6175 Yes

39 W. 23rd St., MN Ladies’ Mile HD Amend. C of A (new bldg.) 11-8899 W/Mod

2 W. 86th St., MN Upper West Side/CPW HD Construct access ramp 11-6336 W/Mod

148 East End Ave., MN Henderson Place HD Demo., const. roof addition 11-7925 W/Mod

186 Riverside Dr., MN Riverside-West End HD Est. master plan (windows) 10-0756 Yes

351 Convent Ave., MN Hamilton Heights HD Construct addition 11-5490 Yes

178 Dean St., BK Boerum Hill HD Construct roof, rear adds. 11-7324 Yes

228 Washington Ave., BK Clinton Hill HD Repl. windows, const. walkway 11-7603 Yes

June 21, 2011

19 West St., MN Downtown Athletic Club Inst. signage, play area 12-0400 Yes

120 Broadway, MN Equitable Building Install storefront infill 11-9171 W/Mod

City Hall, MN City Hall Install mechanical equip. 11-7774 Yes

302 Canal St., MN Tribeca East HD Install infill, repl. windows 11-8103 Yes

45 Barrow St., MN Greenwich Village HD Legalize stoop gate 11-9104 W/D

421 W. 13th St., MN Gansevoort Market HD Legalize sign, lighting 11-8491 Yes

21 E. 26th St., MN Madison Square HD Const. roof adds., alt. facades 11-5872 W/Mod

305 W. 78th St., MN West End-Collegiate HD Construct rooftop addition 11-9095 Yes

22 W. 95th St., MN Upper West Side/CPW HD Legalize window guards 11-7054 Yes

232 Adelphi St., BK Fort Greene HD Replace church roofs 11-6732 Yes

143 Bergen St., BK Boerum Hill HD Leg. exc., rear facade work 11-6497 Yes

9 College Pl., BK Brooklyn Heights HD Maintain temporary signage 11-9075 Yes

29 Center Dr., QN Douglaston HD Enlg. garage, const. driveway 11-8151 Yes

June 28, 2011

740 Broadway, MN NoHo HD Inst. infill, signs, awnings 11-4204 W/Mod


July 19, 2011.At Landmarks’ May 2011 meet-

ing, Anbau’s attorney, Francis Ange-lino, claimed that the modifications were needed due to changes in the building code and environmental regulations. According to architect Peter Samton, of Gruzen Samton, the most significant modification would be reducing the amount of exterior glass in order to increase the building’s energy efficiency.

The original project’s architect, Carlos Zapata, presented the revised design. The new project would re-tain its originally proposed height and form along West 23rd Street, but angled indentations on the facade and east wall would be removed for a simpler and more streamlined ef-fect. Portions of the building’s exte-rior would now be clad in limestone rather than glass. The tower’s west-ern sidewall would feature bands of limestone and glass. The building fronting West 24th Street would no longer emulate the form of the ad-jacent townhouse, which has since been demolished, and would now feature a flat facade.

Chair Robert B. Tierney stated that the Commissioners’ review of the modifications would effectively be a “second look” at the proposal, noting that denying the amend-ment would likely end the project.

Landmarks’ General Counsel Mark Silberman explained that the Com-missioners were charged with de-termining whether the proposed changes would be “in the spirit of the previous approval.” If they want-ed to radically alter the project in terms of scale, shape, or materials, Landmarks would need to bring the project back for a full public hearing.

The Commissioners respond-ed ambivalently to the revised de-sign. Vice Chair Pablo Vengoechea characterized the changes as a “simplification” that diminished the original design’s dynamic character. Commissioner Michael Goldblum, who was not a member of Landmarks in 2005, stated that the increased use of limestone de-tracted from the building’s sculp-tural quality. Commissioner Libby Ryan noted that she approved of the design in 2005, and found it appropriate today. Commissioner Joan Gerner, who voted against the proposal in 2005, found the revised design more contextual and appro-priate. Finding no consensus, Chair Tierney closed the meeting without calling for a vote.

Anbau returned in June with a revised proposal. The plan retained the simplified facade along West 23rd Street, but reincorporated glass into the design to replace the masonry elements. According to Zapata, the project would maintain energy efficiency by using insulated, translucent glass. The revised pro-posal also reduced the height of the building fronting West 24th Street from five to three stories.

The Commissioners generally supported the revised proposal, al-though several objected to a pro-posed balcony on the northeast corner of the tower that was not included in the initial proposal. Landmarks approved the modifica-tions with the condition that Anbau revise the plan to eliminate the bal-cony. Commissioner Margery Perl-mutter opposed the project.

LPC: 39-41 West 23rd Street, Man-hattan (11-8899) (June 14, 2011)

(Architects: Carlos Zapata Studio; Gruzen Samton).


Certificate of Appropriateness

Tribeca, Manhattan

Nine-story building approved in Tribeca

Design for new building on Walker Street features reverse relief of cast-iron facade . On June 14, 2011, Land-marks approved Abra Construction’s proposal to develop a nine-story residential building on a narrow, vacant lot at 83 Walker Street in the Tribeca East Historic District. Land-marks in 2003 approved a plan to build an eight-story glass and metal building on the lot, but the project was never developed.

Architect Morris Adjmi pre-sented Abra’s proposal at Land-marks’ hearing on May 17. Adjmi described the building’s facade as a “negative of a cast-iron building,” in which the features of a typical cast iron facade would be reversed. Instead of curving out, columns would be indented into the glass-reinforced concrete facade. The cor-

Proposed tower at 39-41 West 23rd Street in Manhattan’s Ladies’ Mile Historic District. Image: Courtesy of Carlos Zapata Studio.

Proposed nine-story building at 83 Walker St. in Manhattan’s Tribeca East Historic District. Image: Courtesy of Morris Adjmi Architects.


cil’s Nadezhda Williams called the proposal “an interesting thing to contemplate,” but suggested that it might not be compatible with the block. Williams also expressed concern about the durability of the glass-reinforced concrete. Manhat-

nice would step back instead of for-ward, and windows would protrude from the facade instead of being re-cessed. The building would feature three window bays, and as initially proposed, the slightly taller ground floor would feature the same arched

windows as the rest of the building. In addition to Landmarks’ approval, Abra would also need to obtain City Planning Commission variances to modify the zoning resolution’s height and setback requirements.

The Historic Districts Coun-

CITYLAND PROFILES Council Member Brad Lander on current initiatives affecting land use in the City

C ouncil Member Brad Lander, chair of the City Coun-cil’s Landmarks, Pub-lic Siting & Maritime Uses Subcommittee, draws from his expe-

ing Businesses in June, Lander believes that these efforts must be expanded. One initiative included a proposed special permit for siting large hotel uses within designated Industrial Business Zones. Lander notes that large hotels as well as other major commer-cial uses command higher rents than manu-facturing businesses and thereby contribute to the erosion of the City’s manufacturing base. The special permit would require a finding that a proposed hotel development is compatible with the manufacturing policy of the Industrial Business Zones. Lander would like to see the hotel special permit require-ment expanded to include big box retailers and large office buildings and to apply to all of the City’s manufacturing zoning districts.

Lander takes issue with the City’s usage of mixed-use zoning districts as well, cit-ing the proposed Gowanus rezoning as an example. According to Lander, these “transitional” districts provide no protection for manufacturing businesses and therefore facilitate the conversion of manufacturing uses to residential uses. Traditional land use controls, such as height limits or inclusion-ary zoning, likewise cannot protect manu-facturing. Finding a new solution, Lander explains, is part of the Council’s role in the land use review process.

A living wage. The City Council is con-sidering a bill that would impose wage man-dates on certain employers who receive City economic development incentives. Lander believes that this citywide policy would create good jobs without hurting the City’s economy. Lander points to the development of the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront, Willets Point, and Coney Island as examples where specific employees were covered by wage agreements. Lander also notes that the City’s existing living wage law covers only certain employees when the City contracts for services. Lander believes that a major benefit of the proposed living

rience as a public policy advocate when executing his duties.

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Land-er in 1991 earned a liberal arts degree from the University of Chicago. He then earned a master’s degree in Social Anthropology at the University College London in the United Kingdom, where he worked with community groups to research how a controversial plan to redevelop the London Docklands would impact local maritime communities.

Lander in 1993 returned to the United States and joined the Fifth Avenue Com-mittee, a Brooklyn community group that advances economic and social justice. Dur-ing his tenure Lander earned a second master’s degree in City and Regional Plan-ning from the Pratt Institute. In 2003 he was named director of the Pratt Center for Com-munity Development. He was also involved in advocating for the use of inclusionary zoning, which allows developers to construct larger buildings in exchange for allocating a portion to affordable housing. The campaign helped spearhead the City’s use of inclusionary zon-ing in neighborhoods outside of Manhattan.

When former Council Member Bill de Blasio ran for Public Advocate in 2009, Land-er ran for the vacant seat and was elected to the City Council in November 2009 as the representative for the 39th District.

Preserving manufacturing. Lander believes that the City has not allocated sufficient resources to retain and promote manufacturing uses. While generally sup-portive of the 22 initiatives proposed by the Mayor’s Office of Industrial and Manufactur-

wage law would be the certainty provided to developers. According to Lander, broader questions such as job quality are better answered by measured policy rather than ad-hoc agreements between developers and local council members.

Stalled sites. Under the building code, work permits lapse if construction is sus-pended at a development site for more than twelve months. The Department of Buildings maintains a publicly accessible list of stalled sites, all of which are inspected regularly by Buildings. These inspections cost the City upwards of one million dollars annually, not including emergency repairs which are billed directly to site owners. In response to health and safety hazards created by stalled project sites within his district, Lander launched a website to allow residents to track progress at these sites. In creating the website, Lander discovered that many of the stalled sites in his district had not been included on Buildings’ list.

To remedy this gap, Lander in April 2011 introduced legislation, Intro 536, which would create a stalled site registry to codify Build-ings’ list. The purpose of the bill is to offset the cost that Buildings incurs in performing safety inspections at stalled sites by charging site owners a fee. Impacted owners would be required to pay 25 percent of the annual stalled site inspection fee, as determined by Buildings, on a quarterly basis. The law would allow a waiver of the fee if an owner agreed to build a certain percentage of affordable housing once construction resumed, or alter-natively, to temporarily transform the site into open space, a community garden, or other beneficial public use. Owners participating in Building’s Stalled Sites safety program, which codifies best practices for mitigating hazardous conditions at stalled sites, would also be exempt from paying the fee. The Council has not set a hearing date for the bill.

— Eugene Travers


a 410,000 sq.ft., 150-vehicle facility serving Manhattan Community Dis-tricts 6 and 8. The City, however, has indefinitely delayed construction of the facility due to a lack of capital funds. Since 2008, Sanitation has been using three temporary garages in Chelsea, Harlem, and Inwood.

EDC is seeking redevelopment proposals that would include the garage facility and a health care, education, or science facility. The developer would fund and build the garage at “minimal or no cost” to the City and within Sanitation’s design parameters. The institutional facility must be the site’s primary use, other than the garage, but the developer may propose complementary sec-ondary uses. The developer would need to achieve at least a LEED Sil-ver rating for the garage.

The site is zoned M3-2, and Sanitation once planned to request that the City rezone the site to M1-6 to facilitate the original redevelop-ment proposal. Prospective devel-opers would be required to identify any land use actions, including re-zonings or special permits, neces-sary to redevelop the site. Prospec-tive developers are permitted to propose alternative sites within or near CD 6 and 8 for the new garage, but EDC will discount relocation proposals relative to those propos-ing to develop the garage on site.

EDC intends to enter into a con-tract of sale for the site in early 2012. Responses must be submitted by July 28, 2011.

EDC: Request for Proposals – East 73rd Street Development (May 20, 2011).

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

Open Request for Proposals

Hunts Point, Bronx

EDC seeks developer for Hunts Point industrial site

Opportunity to develop food-related or wholesale industrial use on 9 .75-acre site near Fulton Fish Market .

tan Community Board 1 approved the plan by a vote of 18-13-1.

The Commissioners generally supported the design, but recom-mended revising the building’s base. Commissioner Fred Bland suggest-ed that the ground floor be clad in metal rather than concrete and be-lieved transom windows rather than arched windows would strengthen the base. Commissioner Margery Perlmutter called the project “a fas-cinating idea,” but argued that the ground floor had “the wrong vo-cabulary.” Commissioners Michael Devonshire, Diana Chapin, and Joan Gerner found the project approv-able as presented. Adjmi agreed to rethink the base, and Chair Robert B. Tierney asked the applicant to re-turn with a revised proposal.

Adjmi returned in June with a revised proposal, featuring, among other things, a squared-off entrance and display windows. Chair Tierney complimented Adjmi on the revi-sions, and Landmarks unanimously approved the proposal.

LPC: 83 Walker St., Manhattan (11-7388) (June 14, 2011) (Architect: Morris Adjmi Architects).

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

Request for Proposals

Upper East Side, Manhattan

Developer sought for East Side Sanitation garage site

City seeks developer for East River site which will house Sanitation ga-rage and institutional facility . The Economic Development Corpora-tion issued a request for proposals for the redevelopment of a Depart-ment of Sanitation-owned lot at 525 East 73rd Street in Manhattan. The roughly 68,000 sq.ft. site occupies the eastern half of a block bounded by East 74th and East 73rd Streets, and FDR Drive and York Avenue. Sanita-tion in 2008 demolished an existing garage on the site in order to build

LANDMARKS PIPELINE

Proposed Designations – June 2011

NAME ADDRESS ACTION DATE

William Garner Mansion 355 Bard Ave., SI Calendared; 6/7/2011

Heard 6/28/2011

Cities Service Building 70 Pine St., MN Designated 6/21/2011

Cities Service Bldg. Interior 70 Pine St., MN Designated 6/21/2011

James Whiting House 22 E. Broadway, MN Heard 6/28/2011

339 Grand St. House 339 Grand St., MN Heard 6/28/2011

Hardenbrook Somarindyck House 135 Bowery, MN Designated 6/28/2011

32, 34, 36, 38 Dominick 32, 34, 36, 38 Heard 6/28/2011 Street Houses Dominick St., MN

310 Spring Street House 310 Spring St., MN Heard 6/28/2011

East Village/LES HD East Village, MN Calendared 6/28/2011

East 10th Street HD East Village, MN Calendared 6/28/2011

154 W. 14th St. Building 154 W. 14th St., MN Designated 6/28/2011

Madison Belmont Bldg. Int. 181 Madison Ave., MN Calendared 6/28/2011

Fisk-Harkness House 12 E. 53rd St., MN Designated 6/28/2011

Barbizon Hotel 140 E. 63rd St., MN Calendared 6/28/2011

West End-Collegiate HD Ext. Upper West Side, MN Heard 6/28/2011

150 Caroll St. House 150 Caroll St., BX Heard 6/28/2011

Grammar School No. 102 190 Fordham St., BX Heard 6/28/2011

Captain Stafford House 95 Pell Place, BX Heard 6/28/2011

Booth House 30 Centre St., BX Heard 6/28/2011

St. Casimir’s Church 40 Greene Ave., BK Heard 6/28/2011

Crown Hts. North II HD Crown Heights, BK Designated 6/28/2011

Crown Hts. North III HD Crown Heights, BK Calendared 6/28/2011

East NY Savings Bank 1123A Eastern Pkwy., BK Heard 6/28/2011

Eldridge House 87-61 11th St., QN Heard 6/28/2011


New Decisions Added to CITYADMIN www .citylaw .org – June 2011*

CITYCOUNCIL

RES.NOS. PROJECT DESCRIPTION DATE

845–46 W. 139th St. & Lenox Ave., MN Delete parcel from HPD project; 5/26/2011 conveyance of property

847 289 Manhattan Ave., MN Revocable consent (sidewalk cafe) 5/26/2011

*Bold indicates the decision is covered in this issue. The symbol † indicates that the decision was covered in a previous issue. City Council decisions available in hard-copy format at the Center for New York City Law.

found that Buildings’ Brooklyn and Queens offices did not select New Building (NB) and Alteration Type 1 (Alt-1) applications for auditing. The Brooklyn and Queens offices prior to issuing NB and Alt-1 per-mits reviewed these applications for zoning compliance only. Therefore, according to the Comptroller’s Of-fice, Buildings withheld these appli-cations from audit review of “critical matters such as fire safety, egress, and disability act compliance.”

The Comptroller’s report made eight recommendations, including that Buildings implement controls to ensure that all applications se-lected for audit are actually audited, and that the Brooklyn and Queens offices conduct audits of all types of building permit applications as required by Buildings’ policies and procedures.

Buildings generally agreed with the Comptroller’s recommenda-tions, stating that it was committed to audit the target number of pro-fessionally certified applications de-spite a reduction of staff in its review departments. As to issues related to the Brooklyn and Queens offices, Buildings said that the zoning re-view was prioritized over other audit items because issues such as bulk, height, and setback are “extremely hard” to cure once construction be-gins. Liu responded that Buildings’ emphasis on conducting zoning reviews should not preclude review-ing other safety and regulatory mat-ters as required by the agency’s own policies and procedures.

Audit Report on the Department of Buildings’ Audit of Professionally Certi-fied Building Applications, Office of the Comptroller, June 7, 2011.

On June 2, 2011, the Economic De-velopment Corporation issued an open request for proposals for the redevelopment of a City-owned site in Hunts Point, Bronx. The unim-proved 9.75-acre parcel fronts Hal-leck Street and Food Center Drive, and is within the Hunts Point Dis-tribution Center which includes the Hunts Point Produce Market, the Hunts Point Meat Market, and the New Fulton Fish Market. EDC is seeking a developer to redevelop the site into a food-related and/or wholesale industrial use pursuant to a long-term ground lease. The site is zoned M3-1, which permits heavy manufacturing uses.

According to EDC, food-relat-ed uses may include wholesale and retail components, so long as the retail use is ancillary to the wholesale use. Because the parcel is located within a designated market area un-der the State Agriculture and Mar-kets Law, proposed “market-con-sistent” uses including the buying, selling, processing, manufacturing, and warehousing of food, flowers, or ornamental plants, would not require review under the City’s land use review process.

EDC’s open RFP process al-lows interested parties to submit proposals on or before four quar-terly submission dates. EDC may negotiate with respondents after the initial submission date and close or re-open the O-RFP, or add response periods, at its discretion. The sub-mission dates for proposals are: Au-gust 31, 2011, November 30th, 2011, February 29, 2012, and May 23, 2012.

EDC: Open Request for Proposals – Halleck Industrial Development Site at Hunts Point (June 2, 2011).

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS

City Comptroller Audit

Citywide

Audit faults Buildings on self-certification program

Comptroller found that Buildings did not audit requisite percentage of professionally certified building per-mit applications . City Comptroller John C. Liu issued an audit report on Buildings’ compliance with its rules governing the internal auditing of professionally certified building ap-plications. The audit found, among other things, that Buildings audited a “significantly lower” number of applications than required, and that Buildings’ borough offices in Brook-lyn and Queens failed to fully review certain audit applications.

The professional certification program was created in 1995 and allows registered architects and li-censed engineers to “self-certify” certain building permit applications by affirming that the plans com-ply with all applicable codes and laws. Self-certified applications by-pass examination by Buildings, but the program’s rules require Build-ings to randomly audit at least 20 percent of the applications. Audits must be performed within ten days after a permit has been obtained.

The Comptroller’s Office con-cluded that only 55 percent of the 10,094 applications selected for au-dit by Buildings in Fiscal Year 2010 were actually audited. Further, the Comptroller’s Office had difficulty determining whether an accurate number of applications were sub-ject to auditing due to Buildings’ un-reliable and inconsistent data.

The Comptroller’s Office also


New Decisions Added to CITYADMIN www .citylaw .org – June 2011*

CITYCOUNCIL(CONT.)

RES.NOS. PROJECT DESCRIPTION DATE

848 118 Greenwich Ave., MN Revocable consent (sidewalk cafe) 5/26/2011

849 660 Jerome St., BK UDAAP by HPD (2 lots) 5/26/2011

CITYPLANNINGCOMMISSION

PROJECTNAME DESCRIPTION LOCATION ULURPNO. DATE

Sunnyside/WoodsideRezoning Rezoning;zoningtextamend. QN2 C110207ZMQ; 6/6/2011 (inclusionaryhousing);zoningtext N110208ZRQ; amend.(sidewalkcafes) N110209ZRQ

St. Paul’s Evangelical Church Landmark designation BK 1 N110296HKK 6/7/2011

210 Joralemon Street Disposition of City property BK 2 C110224PPK 6/7/2011

164th Street Rezoning Rezoning (C1-2 in R3-2) QN 8 C090347ZMQ 6/7/2011

N.Y. Public Baths Landmark designation MN 6 N110344HKM 6/22/2011

Teddy’s Bar & Grill Rezoning (C2-4 in R6B) BK 1 C080491ZMK 6/22/2011

Brooklyn Union Gas Co. Landmark designation BK 2 N110345HKK 6/22/2011

Truxton Residence UDAAP by HPD (48 units) BK 16 C110250HAK 6/22/2011

Gotham Center Change parking reqs. for disposed City prop. QN 2 C110225PPQ 6/22/2011

FDNY Warehouse Site selection, acq. of property QN 2 C110228PCQ 6/22/2011

FDNY Transmitter Site selection, acq. of property QN 2 C110229PCQ 6/22/2011

TD Bank Rezoning (C1-2 in R3A) QN 7 C100175ZMQ 6/22/2011

Eaton Place Bridge City map amend. (fac. bridge replacement) SI 1 C960021MMR 6/22/2011

De Hart Avenue Bridge City map amend. (reconstruct bridge) SI 1 C960011MMR 6/22/2011

BOARDOFSTANDARDS&APPEALS

ADDRESS DESCRIPTION ACTION CASENO. REPRESENTATIVE

377 Greenwich St., MN Legalize hotel penthouse footprint App’d 101-05-BZ Friedman & Gotbaum

50 E. 69th St., MN Ext. of term (medical office) App’d 307-81-BZ Francis R. Angelino

2960 Webster Ave., BX Ext. time to compl. const. (garage) App’d 301-06-BZ Wachtel & Masyr

1413 Grant Highway, BX Reinstate variance (Getty station) App’d 45-10-BZ Sheldon Lobel PC

2129A White Plains Rd., BX Permit phys. cult. est. (Planet Fitness) App’d 9-11-BZ Sheldon Lobel PC

75 Junius St., BK Const. 10-story community facility App’d 304-09-BZ Stuart A. Klein

760 Parkside Ave., BK Enlarge medical facility App’d 25-11-BZ Sheldon Lobel PC

61-19 190th St., QN Ext. of term (Meadows Spa) App’d 65-90-BZ Gerald J. Caliendo

69-47 Austin St., QN Ext. of term (N.Y. Sports Club) App’d 95-97-BZ Fredrick A. Becker

29-11 39th St., QN Ext. time to compl. construction App’d 202-10-BZY Marvin B. Mitzner

181-30 Aberdeen Rd., QN Enlarge 1-family dwelling App’d 16-11-BZ Eric Palatnik PC

265 Hull Ave., SI Ext. of term (parking) App’d 289-99-BZ Vito J. Fossella

LANDMARKSPRESERVATIONCOMMISSION

ADDRESS LANDMARK/HISTORICDISTRICT DESCRIPTION CASENO. APP’D ISSUED

CERTIFICATEOFAPPROPRIATENESS

2301 Amsterdam Ave., MN Highbridge Play Center Const. locker pavilions, inst. signs 12-1560 Yes 6/14/2011

† 87 Chambers St., MN Tribeca South HD Construct new building 12-1562 Yes 6/14/2011

186 Franklin St., MN Tribeca West HD Const. rooftop add., alter rear facade 12-1337 No 6/7/2011

75 Christopher St., MN Greenwich Village HD Replace storefront infill 12-0978 Yes 5/26/2011

Washington Mews, MN Greenwich Village HD Reconstruct street bed, sidewalks 12-1133 Yes 6/1/2011

14A Washington Mews, MN Greenwich Village HD Alt. secondary facades, const. bulkhead 12-1028 Yes 5/27/2011

413 W. 14th St., MN Gansevoort Market HD Replace infill 12-1287 Yes 6/6/2011

343 W. 20th St., MN Chelsea HD Legalize work (windows, rear painting) 12-1496 No 6/10/2011

239 E. 61st St., MN Treadwell Farm HD Alter front facades 12-1614 Yes 6/15/2011

26 E. 64th St., MN Upper East Side HD Replace stoop, inst. signage 12-0819 Yes 5/24/2011

105 W. 77th St., MN Upper West Side/CPW HD Legalize storefront 12-1247 Yes 6/6/2011

122 E. 78th St., MN Upper East Side HD Alter ground floor facade 12-0941 Yes 5/24/2011

121 W. 81st St., MN Upper West Side/CPW HD Alter, enlarge rear addition 12-1512 Yes 6/10/2011

1083 Fifth Ave., MN Carnegie Hill HD Remove flagpoles, install banner signs 12-1040 Yes 5/27/2011

156 Court St., MN Cobble Hill HD Install new infill 12-1109 Yes 6/6/2011*Bold indicates the decision is covered in this issue. The symbol † indicates that the decision was covered in a previous issue. City Council decisions available in hard-copy format at the Center for New York City Law.

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InformationonC

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Manatt, Phelps &

Phillips LLP

Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City Council

Weil, Gotshal &

Manges LLP

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Kramer, Levin, Naftalis &

Frankel LLP

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver &

Jacobson LLP

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AGENCY

NUMBEROF

YEARS

NAME

DECISIONSAVAILABLE

BSA 3,375

2002-Present

Council 1,084

2003-2005

CPC 1,664

2003-Present

DOB 68

1999-Present

Landmarks

2,326 2002-Present

Loft Board 2,843

1996-Present

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