Government briefs

Related proposes land swap with community college

The Related Companies is promoting a proposal to secure the Borough of Manhattan Community College as anchor tenant of the Moynihan Station project, the New York Times reported. The proposal would move the college to 1.1 million square feet inside the Farley Post Office building on Eighth Avenue. Related would simultaneously build a new train hall, train platforms and underground connections to Penn Station at the front end of the post office. In return, Related would use the college’s current campus downtown for residential development. Related and development partner Vornado Realty Trust were selected eight years ago by the state to develop Moynihan Station, but their initial plans fizzled during the 2008 financial crisis. After wooing college officials for more than a year, Related chairman Stephen Ross met with the Cuomo administration in January hoping to convince them that this is the most viable option. But Cuomo and the City University of New York, which runs the college, have not embraced the proposal, the Times reported.

NYCHA to lease land to developers

The New York City Housing Authority announced a plan last month to lease its land to private developers, who will then build some 3 million square feet of luxury apartments, the New York Daily News reported. The apartments will be built on top of parking lots, community centers, playgrounds and baseball fields within NYCHA developments. The plan calls for 4,330 apartments in eight developments, 20 percent of which will be set aside as “affordable” and offered to families of four making $50,000 or less. Developers will sign 99-year leases, with the payments to the authority frozen for the first 35 years.

New FEMA maps double the number of property owners in flood zones

Following extensive Hurricane Sandy damage, the Federal Emergency Management Agency last month released new maps with hugely expanded flood zones, Crain’s reported. The change impacts more than 35,000 New York property owners, who could now face diminished property values and rising costs associated with being located in a flood zone. They may also have a harder time securing mortgages. The Bloomberg administration moved to address some of the uncertainty surrounding the expanded flood zones, however, by issuing an executive order suspending certain zoning restrictions, such as building heights, which could hinder property owners in their rebuilding efforts. “Homeowners need to be able to rebuild to sound flood-protection standards without facing conflicts with current zoning regulations,” said New York City Planning Commission chair Amanda Burden. “This limited and targeted suspension of zoning regulations in the flood zones … will help ensure that new and rebuilt homes and businesses and other buildings will be safeguarded from coastal floodwaters.”

Stringer announces plan to spruce up East River waterfront

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer last month announced a new plan for the East River waterfront, the New York Times reported. The proposal calls for developing a new public beach and kayak launch beneath the Brooklyn Bridge and two boat launches at Stuyvesant Cove, installing marshlands and sea walls and planting trees and greenery along the FDR Drive. While no money has been set aside to pay for the plan, Stringer has pledged $3.5 million in capital funding toward the new marshlands.

Compiled by Sanna Chu