Midtown East

The city is moving forward with its proposal to rezone Midtown East, and will kickstart the official six-month public review process in early April, Crain’s reported. At a presentation Thursday to a community board task force examining the rezoning proposal, the Department of City Planning revealed that the city would sell air rights for $250 per square foot within the rezoned area, and identified 32 buildings — including the Yale Club, the Roosevelt Hotel and the MetLife tower — as “potential” landmarks that would be protected from the upzoning. [more]

From left: Mayor Bloomberg, 22 Reade Street and Speaker Christine Quinn (source: NYMag)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg tore into City Council for formally blocking the sale of city-owned 22 Reade Street, the New York Post reported. The Council opposed the plan to sell 22 Reade Street, where the Department of City Planning has its offices, because City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and her supporters want a guarantee from the Mayor’s office that the building would become a museum for a nearby African burial ground, the Post said.

Bloomberg reportedly said the only way to do that would be to sell the property, then work with a developer to build the museum at the site. He noted that the city needs the income from the sale. [more]

A rendering of Lightstone Group’s Gowanus Canal project

The Lightstone Group is facing further efforts to halt its massive mixed-use project on the Gowanus Canal. The Brooklyn Law School Community Development Clinic has asked the Department of City Planning not to consider the developer’s application to modify the project because of concerns over the review process, Pardon Me For Asking reported.

Lightstone has asked City Planning to approve modifications to its previously approved permit for the project, located at 363-365 Bond Street between Carroll and 2nd streets. The changes include bumping up the number of apartments from 447 to 700 units, relocation of parking entrances, and changes to the project’s base height, building heights and building footprints, the blog said. [more]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Midtown East

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s massive Midtown East rezoning plan does not go far enough and will therefore not produce the sweeping changes necessary in the aging office district, according to an opinion piece by Steve Cuozzo published in the New York Post.

Cuozzo says that Bloomberg is correct that the area desperately needs larger, newer office stock to keep high-profile firms in that area of the city. But the program the mayor is proposing proposing requires too much red tape and too many expenses to be implemented successfully, the column states. [more]

View of the manufacturing buildings near Spring and Hudson streets

The Department of City Planning today certified a rezoning proposal for the Hudson Square neighborhood that paves the way for residential development, Crain’s reported.  The plan was spearheaded by Trinity Real Estate, the largest landlord in the area bounded by the Hudson River, Sixth Avenue, Houston and Canal streets, in an effort to make the neighborhood a more mixed-use one.

Hudson Square is currently zoned for manufacturing, and the rezoning is meant to preserve some of the existing structures, encourage more open space, while bringing schools and housing to the neighborhood. The goal is to allow for residential development without stifling the influx of tech and new media businesses to the area’s loft-style office space, according to the New York Observer. [more]

From left: Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden and Vanderbilt Avenue

Although plans are not yet complete, the Vanderbilt Avenue pedestrian plaza is not likely to resemble Times Square. The Department of City Planning — not the Department of Transportation — is behind efforts to transform the block, and Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden does not want a plaza speckled with temporary furniture items, the New York Post reported. [more]

While a new pedestrian plaza near Grand Central Terminal has grabbed the headlines this week, it’s really just a small aspect of a widespread rezoning of Midtown East to which Mayor Michael Bloomberg is reportedly pinning his legacy.

Bloomberg News reported that the Department of City Planning presented the mayor’s preliminary vision for the rezoning, which is aimed at encouraging modern office development in Midtown East, to Community Board 5 yesterday. [more]

Brooklyn Grange's rooftop farm in LIC

Rooftop farms have been sprouting across the five boroughs, led most recently by a city-issued request for proposals for possibly the world’s largest in Hunts Point, and according to the New York Times, New York City is now a leader in the field. And because the Department of City Planning eased zoning regulations to encourage rooftop greenhouses and farms, the city could continue to pull away from the pack. [more]

City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden

The Department of City Planning proposed zoning changes that aim to reduce the required number of parking spots developers must build for Downtown Brooklyn residential buildings, Crain’s reported. City Planning sent the proposal to Brooklyn Community Board 2 and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz in an effort “to better reflect actual parking demand in Downtown Brooklyn,” said the department in its zoning amendment.

Downtown Brooklyn developers must create four parking spaces for every ten residential units in their buildings, which has increased building costs while making for a parking space surplus. City Planning’s proposal centers on cutting that required number in half to two parking spaces for every 10 residential units. [more]

From left: West 145th Street in West Harlem and Hancock Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant

Two of the city’s traditionally less affluent neighborhoods are poised to gain recognition for their historic character. The Department of City Planning said today it is launching the public review process for rezonings of West Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant North meant primarily to preserve the areas’ existing character. [more]