High Line, the next generation
The High LineThe second section of the High Line park on Manhattan’s West side officially opened last month. Running from 20th Street to 30th Street, the new phase is an extension of the first part of the park, which opened two years ago along a former freight rail structure. The project includes a public gathering spot known as “The Lot at 30th Street,” with a 350-seat bar operated by chef Tom Colicchio, a collection of food trucks and a public art exhibition. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the second phase, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a $5 million challenge grant to Friends of the High Line to help finance the third section of the park. When completed, the High Line will be 1.45 miles long and stretch to 34th Street.
Dumbo ‘incubates’ new businesses
The New York City Economic Development Corporation last month announced a $250,000 grant to establish a business incubator to support technology startups in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood, according to Crain’s. The Polytechnic Institute of New York University will operate the incubator, which is slated to become fully operational by this fall. NYU-Poly signed a three-year lease with Two Trees Management, which will offer the 6,440-square-foot space, located at 20 Jay Street, rent free for six months. Upon opening, the project will become New York City’s ninth city-sponsored business incubator.
City cracks down on illegal apartments
In the wake of fire-related fatalities in improperly subdivided New York City apartments, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a new initiative to locate illegally converted units, Crain’s reported. The plan will identify illegal conversions by tracking buildings’ ages, locations, financial records and code histories, and assign investigators to them within 48 hours of an illegal sublet being reported. In the past, inspectors have not been able to easily access these apartments because they were frequently turned away by landlords. Last year, inspectors were only able to enter 45 percent of the apartments they visited. But the new plan calls for inspectors to be joined by other officials, most notably uniformed firefighters. Critics said the plan could place too much of a burden on the city’s fire department, which may lose up to 20 fire companies due to budget cuts, according to the Daily News. FDNY chief of fire protection Thomas Jensen told the Daily News that fire companies “could be quite taxed” by the new policy.
Compiled by Russell Steinberg