With the fiscally strapped state and city cutting financial
support for the development of new buildings, a number of
New York City and state higher education institutions are
working with business leaders to construct much needed
facility expansion and upgrades.

Over the last decade, schools and hospitals have found their
funding for new facilities through public-private partnerships.
Recently, the City University of New York, for example, is a
leader in the public-private partnership strategy. [more]

From left: Christine Quinn, Gary Barnett and Riverside Center

The New York City Council voted unanimously today to approve Extell Development’s controversial Riverside Center, a planned mixed-use complex slated for a swath of land extending between West End Avenue and Riverside Boulevard and between 59th and 61st streets, according to a spokesperson for the developer, Gary Barnett. Riverside Center is expected to include 2,500 apartments, a 250-room hotel, 104,000 square feet of office space and a kindergarten-through-eighth grade school. TRD [more]

While Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is known as a devoted West Sider, nowadays he’s getting a taste of life in the wake of the Second Avenue Subway project. In this video from the New York Times, Stringer explains the challenges he’s faced after moving to a rental on the corner of 83rd Street and Second Avenue after a fire damaged his Upper West Side home. Along with the noise, dust and unsightly construction activity, Stringer expounds on “the collateral damage of the construction” — most notably the numerous shuttered retail locations. [more]

In an effort to assess its Homebase housing program, the city is denying assistance for two years to people who are behind on rent and in danger of being evicted, with researchers tracking them to see if they end up homeless. The city’s Department of Homeless Services said the study was necessary to determine whether the $23 million program is working effectively, the New York Times reported. However, some public officials and legal aid groups have denounced the study, calling it unethical and cruel, and demanding that the city help all the test subjects who had been denied assistance. “They should immediately stop this experiment,” Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said. [more]

A new rezoning plan organized by the Department of City Planning and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is taking shape in West Harlem, where an expansion in Manhattanville by Columbia University is underway. “We had to create a balance between helping a university that will have such a positive impact for New York City, in terms of jobs and economic opportunities,” Stringer told the Observer. “At the same time, we have to make sure we return the favor to West Harlem and protect the people who have always been there.” [more]

Brian Cook

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has appointed Brian Cook
as the new land use director. He previously served as senior urban
planner and policy advisor to Stringer and was involved in evaluating
the 97th to 100th Street Rezoning in Manhattanville, Fordham
University’s expansion proposal and New York University’s Community
Taskforce for campus development. Cook is replacing Anthony Borelli,
who resigned in July after four years to take a position at Edison Properties as its vice president for planning and real estate. TRD

[more]

Scott Stringer and the proposed mosque site

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer voiced support for a proposed 15-story mosque and community center, after Community Board 1 approved the project’s proposal to build on a site adjacent to the World Trade Center last night. The approval came after a contentious debate between supporters, who say the project will be a boon to the city’s diversity, and opponents, who claim the mosque’s placement is inconsiderate to those affected by 9/11. Stringer criticized opponents of the mosque plan, specifically targeting conservatives aligned with the Tea Party movement, calling their comments “unfortunate” and accusing them of “looking to divide [the] city” through their opposition. “By voting to support this multi-faith community and cultural center, [CB1] sent a clear message that our city is one that promotes diversity and tolerance,” Stringer said, following the vote. The $100 million project has been popular with downtown community groups, and its construction funding is largely in place already. TRD

[more]

The city’s would-be third-tallest tower won the conditional approval of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer yesterday, sending the proposal to the City Planning Commission with a renewed confidence. The Vornado-built 15 Penn Plaza, which would rise 1,200 feet on the site of the current Hotel Pennsylvania, was handed a resounding “no” by the community board last month, which took issue with the density of the project. Stringer’s recommendations for the skyscraper centered largely on open space and pedestrian flow. “The proposed development represents a unique opportunity to encourage high-density transit-oriented development, strengthen the nation’s largest central business district and improve local an regional mass-transit systems,” he wrote. [NYO]

[more]

The city’s would-be third-tallest tower won the conditional approval of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer yesterday, sending the proposal to the City Planning Commission with a renewed confidence. The Vornado-built 15 Penn Plaza, which would rise 1,200 feet on the site of the current Hotel Pennsylvania, was handed a resounding “no” by the community board last month, which took issue with the density of the project. Stringer’s recommendations for the skyscraper centered largely on open space and pedestrian flow. “The proposed development represents a unique opportunity to encourage high-density transit-oriented development, strengthen the nation’s largest central business district and improve local an regional mass-transit systems,” he wrote. [NYO]

[more]

From left: a map of the NYU proposal, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and NYU President John Sexton (click image for larger version of the map)

After last night’s open house unveiling of New York University’s 2031 expansion plan, critics are still reeling.
The school’s latest plans, which include building two so-called “superblocks” in the Washington Square Park neighborhood and possibly establishing a remote academic center on Governors Island, drew a glut of opposition from groups including the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the East Village Community Coalition and the Washington Square Village Tenants Association, which all attended the open house.
Prior to the event yesterday, the sixth of its kind that the school has hosted, Andrew Berman, executive director for the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, held a press conference to speak out against NYU’s plans.
But he’s not stopping there. [more]