City Council looks at larger landmarks role
The City Council may get more involved in deciding what buildings and neighborhoods are designated as landmarks. A Queens councilman last month introduced a bill that would empower the Council to determine what is considered by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, according to the New York Sun.
OK given for lower Staten Island rezoning
Community Board 3 in Staten Island recently approved a controversial rezoning that favors large homes in sections of the borough’s southern half, the Staten Island Advance reported. The rezoning would make 5,700 square feet the minimum lot size for new, detached homes. The rezoning now goes to the City Planning Commission.
City bids to buy far West Side rail yards
The city has offered to buy the far West Side rail yards from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, WNBC reported. Last month, the city offered a formal proposal to the MTA of $500 million to buy the yards, which run from 30th to 33rd streets and from 11th to 12th avenues. The yards had been the site of the proposed West Side stadium, which was nixed last summer by a state board.
Study lays out effects of Atlantic Yards
A 1,400-page draft Environmental Impact Statement has laid out the effects the Atlantic Yards project would have on downtown Brooklyn. For one thing, a new school would be needed to handle the number of children the project would bring to the area. The project’s many buildings would also throw more of the surrounding neighborhoods into shadow during the day, the New York Times reported.
Gowanus Canal Conservancy formed
The Gowanus Canal now has its own conservancy, the New York Post reported. Activists in southwest Brooklyn recently announced the creation of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy in a further attempt to clean up a waterway once dubbed Lavender Lake for its chemically altered hue.
Fiterman Hall demolition delayed
Fiterman Hall, a 15-story building on West Broadway badly damaged on September 11, won’t be demolished anytime soon as originally planned, according to the New York Daily News. Bids from four contractors were rejected by the state on the grounds that none fully addressed the environmental issues surrounding a demolition.
City comptroller to World Trade Center insurers: Pay up
The city comptroller is urging five insurance companies to settle billions of dollars in claims related to the September 11 attacks as part of an April deal between World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein and the government. Comptroller William Thompson sent letters last month to the CEOs of the insurance companies, Crain’s reported.
City approves financing for baseball stadiums
The Yankees and the Mets will get $1.58 billion of tax-exempt financing to build new baseball stadiums. The city’s Industrial Development Agency approved the financing last month. The stadiums have now been approved by the City Council, the Empire State Development Corporation and the Public Authorities Control Board.
Rent board approves biggest hikes since 2003
At a raucous meeting at the end of June, the city Rent Guidelines Board voted 5 to 4 to allow landlords to raise the rent on more than 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in the five boroughs. Increases of as much as 7.25 percent on two-year leases and 4.25 percent on one-year leases — the highest increases since 2003 — would apply to leases renewed between September 2006 and October 2007.
City sets aside funds for hip-hop museum
The City Council allocated $1.5 million last month for a hip-hop museum in the northeastern Bronx, the Sun reported. The museum will rise at the corner of 212th Street and White Plains Road.