Policy

City Council Speaker pushing legislation to expand NYC’s food truck industry

Photo via Megan Morris/Flickr

December 7, 2017

City Council Speaker pushing legislation to expand NYC’s food truck industry

By Devin Gannon

Before the end of her tenure on Dec. 31, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is making an eleventh-hour push for legislation aimed at expanding the city's food vending industry. As Politico New York reported, the bill adds 335 more licenses for food vendors over 10 years, with 35 set aside for veterans. Currently, there are 5,100 licensed food vendors in the city. While the bill's passage could be a victory for immigrant workers, many who make a living working on food trucks or carts, although sometimes on the black market, critics say increasing the number of permits allowed for rent-free vendors could hurt brick-and-mortar shops.
Find out more

Policy

City officials aim to close loophole for construction of Two Bridges skyscrapers

Rendering of 247 Cherry Street via SHoP Architects

December 6, 2017

City officials aim to close loophole for construction of Two Bridges skyscrapers

By Devin Gannon

In an effort to slow construction of three residential towers in the Two Bridges neighborhood, City Council Member Margaret Chin and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer will submit an application to the Department of City Planning that forces the plan to go through the city’s land use review process. Developments at the waterfront site include a 1,000+ foot tower from JDS Development Group, a 1.1 million-square-foot development from L+M Development and CIM Group, and a 724-foot rental building from Starrett Development. According to Politico, the Manhattan pols hope the review process will encourage public scrutiny of the projects, including a demand for shorter structures.
Find out more

Policy

Former IRT Powerhouse on West 59th Street, once the world’s largest, gets landmark status

Image via NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.

December 5, 2017

Former IRT Powerhouse on West 59th Street, once the world’s largest, gets landmark status

By Michelle Cohen

This morning, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the former IRT Powerhouse (now the Con Ed Powerhouse) at 12th Avenue and 59th Street an official New York City landmark. The Beaux-Arts style building, designed in 1904 by McKim, Mead & White, is considered a remarkable example of the style applied to a utilitarian building. It was bestowed with such grandeur to convince the public to embrace the subway, a newly-created transportation option at the time. The monumental building not only powered the city's the first subway line but upon completion 111 years ago it was the largest powerhouse in the world.
Find out more

De Blasio to extend policy restricting number of street fairs in NYC next year

A typical street fair in NYC, photo courtesy of Mark Carter on Flickr

December 4, 2017

De Blasio to extend policy restricting number of street fairs in NYC next year

By Devin Gannon

Mayor Bill de Blasio will impose a moratorium on permits issued for street fairs and festivals in 2018, restricting the number of new vendors allowed to set up shop. Last fall, the de Blasio administration pushed a plan that would reserve more permits for local businesses in hopes of diversifying the types of goods sold. Failing to convince elected officials and community board members of its goal, the proposal was later withdrawn. Despite this previous effort to overhaul street fairs, the mayor has decided to freeze the number of permits allowed for neighborhood street fairs next year, according to the New York Post.
Find out more

Policy

Architect Rem Koolhaas turns to the countryside for answers in upcoming Guggenheim exhibition

Koppert Cress, a farm in the Netherlands that uses low-energy magenta LED lamps in its greenhouses. Photo credit: Pieternel van Velden, courtesy of Guggenheim Museum.

December 4, 2017

Architect Rem Koolhaas turns to the countryside for answers in upcoming Guggenheim exhibition

By Michelle Cohen

World renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, known for being both innovative and committed to urban living, has turned his eye toward a new frontier–literally. The focus of the peripatetic starchitect’s upcoming 2019 exhibition, titled “Countryside: Future of the World,” to be installed in the spiral rotunda at the Guggenheim Museum, will be the world’s rural landscapes and how they have been altered by technology, migration and climate change. According to the New York Times, Koolhaas asks us to consider the countryside–that is, "anything but the city," for reasons of architecture, culture–and politics, in light of events like Brexit and President Trump's election.
Find out more

Construction halted at 800-foot Sutton Place tower after City Council approves rezoning

The original rendering of 3 Sutton Place by Foster + Partners

December 1, 2017

Construction halted at 800-foot Sutton Place tower after City Council approves rezoning

By Devin Gannon

Gamma Real Estate will stop work on Sutton 58, a proposed 800-foot-tall residential tower at 3 Sutton Place, after the New York City Council voted on Thursday to rezone 10 blocks on the Upper East Side. According to The Real Deal, the rezoning requires properties between 51st and 59th Streets east of First Avenue to follow ‘tower-on-a-base” rules, meaning 45 to 50 percent of the building must be built below 150 feet. This drastically changes the developer's plan for a soaring skyscraper and also caps the height of future buildings.
Find out more

Policy

With ridership booming, NYC Ferry could get new express routes

November 30, 2017

With ridership booming, NYC Ferry could get new express routes

By Devin Gannon

In a city with both its subway and bus currently in crisis, hearing anything positive about a transit system seems impossible. But, as the New York Times reports, the popularity of New York City’s ferry service continues to grow, with its fleet carrying 700,000 more passengers than officials had first expected. Plus, two of the four ferry routes already serve more riders than had been projected for 2019. The success of the citywide ferry, which serves as an alternative to the problem-plagued trains, has officials brainstorming ideas for express routes to get commuters to their destinations even faster.
Find out more

PAU’s revised Domino Sugar Factory proposal gets the green light from Landmarks

Domino Sugar Refinery rendering via Practice of Architectural Urbanism

November 28, 2017

PAU’s revised Domino Sugar Factory proposal gets the green light from Landmarks

By Devin Gannon

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved on Tuesday a project to redesign the iconic 19th century Domino Sugar Factory building in Williamsburg into a modern office space. While the proposal from Vishaan Chakrabarti’s Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) was first rejected by the commission in October, during the hearing Tuesday, LPC said the revised design “sets the landmark free.” Overall, the commissioners were enthusiastic about the retention of part of the original building, giving credit to PAU’s “novel and creative approach.”
More this way

Mayor de Blasio makes it officially legal to dance if you want to

Jitterbug dancers via Wikipedia

November 28, 2017

Mayor de Blasio makes it officially legal to dance if you want to

By Michelle Cohen

Mayor Bill de Blasio today signed legislation that repealed the city's 91-year-old Cabaret Law, making it legal to bust a move without getting busted in the city's drinking and gathering establishments. Though it's somewhat of a formality that's arguably trivial, the law's official demise represents an epic victory for decades of nightlife denizens. 6sqft previously reported on a petition started by the Dance Liberation Network and the NYC Artist Coalition calling for to repeal the onerous law with racist roots on the grounds that the law is out of place in a cultural Mecca like New York City.
Find out more

Landmarks votes to consider Philip Johnson’s postmodern AT&T Building for historic designation

November 28, 2017

Landmarks votes to consider Philip Johnson’s postmodern AT&T Building for historic designation

This morning the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the postmodern skyscraper at 550 Madison Avenue, designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1984. The world’s first skyscraper built in a postmodern style was originally known as the AT&T Building, as the tower served as the company headquarters. Sony moved in in the 1990s, giving it the nickname of the Sony Tower. Last year, the building sold to the Olayan Group and Chelsfield for a whopping $1.4 billion. Their resulting renovation plan, led by Snøhetta, has elicited protest from preservationists who do not want to see changes to the building's impressive arched entryway. Now that the tower's calendared, the developers' $300 million renovation will eventually come up for a landmarks vote by the LPC.
See renderings of Snøhetta's proposal

Popular Articles

Running at the slowest pace in the country, NYC buses lost 100 million passengers since 2008

A Brooklyn-bound bus, photo via Wikimedia

November 28, 2017

Running at the slowest pace in the country, NYC buses lost 100 million passengers since 2008

By Devin Gannon

Among large cities, New York City’s bus system runs at the slowest pace in the nation, traveling at just 7.4 miles per hour, according to a report released by City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Monday. Due to an outdated fleet, inefficient routes and buses running at near-crawling speeds, the system lost 100 million passengers over the last eight years. And while it serves more than two million passengers each day, more than the daily ridership of LIRR, MetroNorth, PATH and NJ Transit combined, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has largely ignored the system’s failures. In his report, Stringer urges the MTA and city to better coordinate to address the bus system's crisis and lists 19 recommendations, which includes updating routes, replacing old buses and introducing all-door boarding and tap-and-go fare payment options.
Find out more

MTA hires Toronto’s Andy Byford to fix growing subway woes

Photo via Wikipedia

November 22, 2017

MTA hires Toronto’s Andy Byford to fix growing subway woes

After a wide-ranging investigation by the New York Times into the failures of the New York City subway system, the MTA is trying to step up its game, announcing that Andy Byford will become the next president of New York City Transit, the MTA agency responsible for subways, buses, para-transit services, and the Staten Island Railway. (Talk about pressure.) Byford, however, has a good track record after five years of reducing delays, improving rider satisfaction, and modernizing the Toronto Transit Commission. The MTA's plan, according to the Times, is to change up leadership to "restore accountability and change a culture that for years has left the system lacking adequate funding or support." But they're already dealing with a high rate of turnover, as this will mark the agency’s fifth full-time leader in the past ten years.
He still faces massive challenges

Number of tourists visiting NYC hits record high despite drop in international visitors

Photo via pixabay

November 20, 2017

Number of tourists visiting NYC hits record high despite drop in international visitors

By Devin Gannon

New estimates from the city’s tourism promotion agency, NYC & Company, show that the number of visitors to New York City will increase again this year, making 2017 the eighth straight year of record-high tourism. As the New York Times reported, the city will take in 61.8 million visitors this year, an increase from 60.5 million visitors in 2016. However, the agency does expect the first drop in international visitors to the city since 2009, due to President Donald Trump’s “America First” rhetoric and his revised restricted travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries.
More this way

Policy

New York lawmakers have underinvested in the subway system for decades, report finds

Image © 6sqft

November 20, 2017

New York lawmakers have underinvested in the subway system for decades, report finds

By Devin Gannon

The crumbling of New York City’s subway system didn’t happen overnight. According to an investigation by the New York Times, the system’s current problems stem from nearly three decades of underinvestment by transit officials and elected politicians, who, despite its aging signals and equipment, have actually directed funding away from much-needed repairs. Now, New York’s subway has the worst on-time performance of any major rapid transit system in the world when looking at the data of the 20 biggest systems. Only 65 percent of weekday trains reach their destinations on time, the lowest rate since the transit crisis of the 1970s.
Find out more

Plan for LaGuardia AirTrain inches forward with $55M lift from Port Authority

Rendering of LaGuardia Airport via Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office

November 17, 2017

Plan for LaGuardia AirTrain inches forward with $55M lift from Port Authority

By Devin Gannon

The Port Authority on Thursday approved $55 million in funding for the second phase of planning for an AirTrain to LaGuardia airport, a project first announced nearly three years ago. The authority previously allocated $20 million for the AirTrain which would run between Mets-Willets Point and the airport, one part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to revamp LaGuardia. According to the Daily News, the total $75 million will go towards technical planning, design work and developing an environmental impact report. Despite this new investment, the AirTrain still has no final cost estimate or a completed study, but previous estimates price the project at $1 billion.
More this way

Policy

Framlab proposes 3D-printed modular microneighborhoods to shelter NYC’s homeless

Image: Framlab

November 16, 2017

Framlab proposes 3D-printed modular microneighborhoods to shelter NYC’s homeless

By Michelle Cohen

The growing population of homeless New Yorkers is sending creative agency Framlab up a wall–literally. The Oslo- and New York City-based agency has proposed a way to provide shelter for the city's homeless in an arrangement of 3D-printed micro-neighborhoods comprised of hexagonal modules designed to attach to a scaffold structure, creating a second layer of properties, basically, alongside a building's empty wall (h/t designboom). In the project, called "Homed," the modular pods can be clustered together, creating a "cellular mosaic" with their fronts facing the street.
Way better than giant ads

City Planning gives the go ahead for controversial 800-foot Sutton Place tower

The original rendering of 3 Sutton Place by Foster + Partners

November 16, 2017

City Planning gives the go ahead for controversial 800-foot Sutton Place tower

By Devin Gannon

The City Planning Commission approved a resident-proposed plan to curb the development of supertall, skinny towers in Sutton Place on Wednesday, capping the height of future buildings. However, because of a clause inserted by the commission, projects already under construction will be grandfathered into the current zoning rules. This comes as good news for Gamma Real Estate, the developer currently constructing an 800-foot-tall residential tower, now called Sutton 58, at 3 Sutton Place. Gamma needs to finish the foundation planned for their luxury condominium tower before the city votes on the rezoning proposal, to be immune from new height restrictions (h/t Crain's).
More this way

De Blasio’s affordable housing ‘road map’ includes tiny homes and micro-units

Image: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office

November 15, 2017

De Blasio’s affordable housing ‘road map’ includes tiny homes and micro-units

By Michelle Cohen

Calling it "Housing New York 2.0," Mayor Bill de Blasio has just released a new road map to his goal of building and preserving 300,000 affordable New York City homes–100,000 more than his previous pledge. The plan accelerates and expands the production of new housing, fights tenant displacement, creates more housing for seniors and working families and provides new home ownership tools. Among the more technologically advanced strategies outlined are plans to use innovative smaller homes on vacant lots that are too small for traditional housing and the expansion of modular buildings and micro-units.
Mitchell-Lama, vacant lots, modular building and micro-units, this way

Luxury condos may be off the table at Crown Heights armory after City Council hearing

Rendering of the Bedford Courts development planned for the Bedford-Union Armory; image: BFC Partners/Bedford Courts

November 15, 2017

Luxury condos may be off the table at Crown Heights armory after City Council hearing

By Michelle Cohen

Amid growing opposition, the proposed Crown Heights Bedford-Union Armory redevelopment project began its evaluation by the City Council at a hearing Tuesday on land use applications filed by the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), amNewYork reports. The massive armory, once housing for the National Guard, became city property in 2013. The EDC plans to sell the property to developer BFC Partners for the creation of 56 condos, of which 20 percent would be income restricted. The remaining market rate condos would help pay for the rest of the project, which would be leased by BFC Partners and would include 330 rentals (165 affordable), office space and a recreation center. Critics say the city is setting a dangerous precedent by leasing public land for private use, especially when market-rate condos are included. The de Blasio administration has championed the recreation center and housing, but the plan has has come under fire by neighborhood advocacy groups and has had an uphill battle in achieving the City Council approval it needs.
Find out more

LPC approves Roman Abramovich’s revised Upper East Side mega-mansion proposal

Image: Landmarks Preservation Commission

November 14, 2017

LPC approves Roman Abramovich’s revised Upper East Side mega-mansion proposal

By Michelle Cohen

Shortly after Roman Abramovich added a fourth Upper East Side townhouse to his now-$96-million assemblage on East 75th Street, the Russian billionaire's three-house, 18,000-square-foot mega-mansion plans changed ever so slightly, with renovation efforts to be concentrated on numbers 9, 11 and 13, leaving number 15 out of the running for the mega-combo. As 6sqft previously reported, the steel magnate and owner of the Chelsea Football Club has been working with architect Steven Wang with big-name firm Herzog & de Meuron as a design consultant. The first proposal for the project, “an 18,255-square-foot mansion with a six-foot front yard, 30-foot backyard, and pool in the cellar" was rejected by the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the DOB in April 2016, but a revised plan was approved two months later. Tweaked again to include the new property, the revised plan has been officially approved on Tuesday by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Find out more

Anable Basin proposal envisions a massive mixed-use district along the Long Island City waterfront

Rendering courtesy of WXY architecture + urban design

November 14, 2017

Anable Basin proposal envisions a massive mixed-use district along the Long Island City waterfront

By Devin Gannon

The plastics company, Plaxall, announced on Tuesday a massive rezoning proposal to allow for a mixed-use district in Anable Basin, the area surrounding a 149-year-old inlet located in Long Island City. Since founding the company more than 70 years ago, the Plaxall family has purchased and rehabilitated properties in the neighborhood and currently manages over one million square feet of space. Achieved through rezoning, the proposal calls for 335,000 square feet for industrial uses, 4,955 housing units with 25 percent of them affordable, a 700+ seat public school and a new, elevated promenade. If the rezoning is approved, construction is anticipated to begin in 2020 with a completion date in 2034, but no official timeline has been set.
Find out more

Amid decline in ridership, MTA boosts service on six train lines

The 7-train will be getting the biggest boost in service this spring, photo via Wikimedia

November 14, 2017

Amid decline in ridership, MTA boosts service on six train lines

By Devin Gannon

In an attempt to increase subway ridership, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority next spring will add trains to six lines: the 2, 3, 7, N, W, and Q trains. The boost in service comes after data released by the MTA revealed that riders are opting for alternative transportation, like Uber, Lyft or Citibike, instead of dealing with the often delayed and disrupted subways and buses. According to amNY, the additional trains, which will cost the MTA $5 million annually, will run on nights and weekends, times when the authority believes demand is not being effectively met.
Find out more

Second phase of Penn Station track work will not bring a winter of hell

Amtrak workers setting concrete on track 10 at Penn Station this summer, image via Amtrak

November 14, 2017

Second phase of Penn Station track work will not bring a winter of hell

By Devin Gannon

Amtrak announced on Monday its plan for the second phase of track renewal projects for Penn Station, set to begin this winter. Between January 5 and May 28 of next year, there will be continuous single-track closures, affecting Amtrak and commuter train operation at the Midtown transit hub. While similar to the infrastructure repairs that took place for eight weeks this past June, dubbed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the “summer of hell,” the impact will be less severe for commuters and most of the work will take place on the weekends.
More here

Brooklyn Queens Connector unveils first streetcar prototype

Photo courtesy of Friends of the BQX

November 13, 2017

Brooklyn Queens Connector unveils first streetcar prototype

By Devin Gannon

A group of public officials and advocates joined the Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) today to unveil the inaugural prototype of the streetcar proposed to run between Astoria and Sunset Park. First backed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in February 2016, the BQX project, expected to cost $2.5 billion, would connect Brooklyn and Queens along the East River. Despite significant setbacks, including a bleak assessment about the finances and logistics of the project from Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen in April, BQX supporters are urging the de Blasio administration to make the project a priority during his second term.
See the streetcar

MTA’s new cardless fare system could benefit low-income New Yorkers

Image via WNYC

November 13, 2017

MTA’s new cardless fare system could benefit low-income New Yorkers

By Devin Gannon

Not only would the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s new electronic fare payment system make commuting more efficient, it might also save money for low-income straphangers. According to amNY, advocates and experts say the new “contactless” technology could make the system more equitable through a policy called fare capping: riders pay per ride until the daily or weekly capping rates are reached, with every ride being free after that.
Find out how it works

58
59
60
61
62