Policy

Get a closer look at Snøhetta’s new designs for Phillip Johnson’s 550 Madison Avenue
January 14, 2019

Get a closer look at Snøhetta’s new designs for Phillip Johnson’s 550 Madison Avenue

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In December, 6sqft reported that architecture firm Snøhetta had unveiled a preservationist-friendly revision to a controversial design for an updated AT&T building at 550 Madison Avenue. Now you can get a look at the full details of the Certificate of Appropriateness proposal that will be presented to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) tomorrow. The latest design is one of several revisions, each followed by controversy over being seen by preservationists as diverting too much from the building’s original design by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. In addition to comparisons to the original, new designs must consider the subsequent revamp that made it the Sony building in 1994, which replaced the building’s open Madison Avenue arcade with “Sony Experience” storefronts and covered a rear public arcade with a glass roof.
Compare the new with the old
City’s plans for Soho and Noho may include rezoning and removal of Artist In Residence law

Image: Steven Pisano via Flickr.

January 11, 2019

City’s plans for Soho and Noho may include rezoning and removal of Artist In Residence law

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The Department of City Planning, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Council Member Margaret Chin announced today the launch of a six-month public engagement process addressing the future of NYC's Soho and Noho neighborhoods. The series of public meetings and consultation with local stakeholders are an early phase in outlining a vision for the future of those neighborhoods; the city's plans include updating what many consider outdated zoning laws, including the removal of rarely-enforced restrictions on ground floor retail tenancy and Soho's Artist In Residence law.
Find out more
De Blasio creates new office to protect NYC tenants from landlord abuse

Via Pexels

January 11, 2019

De Blasio creates new office to protect NYC tenants from landlord abuse

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Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday created a new city office to protect tenants from landlord abuse. During his State of the City address, de Blasio signed an executive order to form the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants, which will lead the city's anti-harassment and outreach initiatives across multiple agencies. The mayor warned that the "city's worst landlords will have a new sheriff to fear," referring to the new oversight office.
Get the details
De Blasio promises to increase NYC bus speeds and number of designated lanes

Via Flickr

January 10, 2019

De Blasio promises to increase NYC bus speeds and number of designated lanes

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Significant improvements will be made over the next two years to the New York City's outdated bus system, Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to announce during his State of the City address on Thursday. A report released by City Comptroller Scott Stringer in 2017 found the city's buses run at the slowest pace in the nation among large cities, traveling at just 7.4 miles per hour on average. The mayor aims to increase the bus speeds by 25 percent to just over 9 miles per hour by the end of 2020, as amNY first reported.
More this way
Council bill would require NYC developers to disclose relationships with public officials

Via Wikimedia

January 9, 2019

Council bill would require NYC developers to disclose relationships with public officials

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Real estate developers would be required to disclose prior relationships with politicians before signing any deals with the city under a new bill being introduced Wednesday by Council Member Ben Kallos. The legislation would also make developers reveal their ownership interests and their Minority Women Business Enterprise status. "Well-connected developers should not be getting sweetheart deals on the taxpayer's dime," Kallos said in an email.
About the bill
SNL comic Michael Che plans benefit comedy show to raise funds for NYCHA residents

Photo via Pexels

January 8, 2019

SNL comic Michael Che plans benefit comedy show to raise funds for NYCHA residents

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Stand-up comic and SNL’s Weekend Update co-anchor Michael Che is organizing a benefit show for New York City public housing residents this week. There are still a few tickets left for "A Night for NYCHA" on January 11, as amNY reported earlier today. Che is the headliner, “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross will be hosting, and Michelle Wolf will feature in a “top secret lineup” of comics. “It's gonna be a fun show and a GREAT cause," Che posted on his Instagram stories earlier this month. "A lot of residents don't have heat this winter. This money could really help. I grew up in a building like that, and it's really tough."
Get all the details
Government shutdown could cost MTA $150M per month in federal funds

Via Flickr

January 7, 2019

Government shutdown could cost MTA $150M per month in federal funds

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With each passing month of the partial government shutdown--currently in its third week--the Metropolitan Transportation Authority stands to lose $150 million per month in federal funds, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday. Without funds from Washington, which are allocated for track repair work and construction projects, the MTA may have to cut back service or borrow money, if the shutdown continues. "They can last another four weeks, but after that, [the MTA has] got real trouble," Schumer said during a news conference, as the New York Post reported. "They may have to borrow which would increase their costs. They may have to cut back, which would be a very bad thing."
More here
Four days late, de Blasio launches Fair Fares program with some caveats

Image via Flickr cc

January 4, 2019

Four days late, de Blasio launches Fair Fares program with some caveats

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After facing sharp criticism this week from almost all New York media outlets for missing the January 1st start date of Fair Fares, Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson held a press conference this afternoon to officially launch the program. As of now, the joint initiative will provide half-priced MetroCards to approximately 30,000 low-income New Yorkers who are receiving cash assistance benefits from the Department of Social Services. In April, an estimated additional 130,000 New Yorkers receiving SNAP benefits will be able to apply. But as the Daily News' City Hall bureau chief Jill Jorgensen mentioned on Twitter, limiting the program to these two groups means that no undocumented residents are eligible to apply.
More details here
Cuomo says MTA board must sign off on L train plan, one day after it was presented as a done deal

Via Wikipedia

January 4, 2019

Cuomo says MTA board must sign off on L train plan, one day after it was presented as a done deal

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The dreaded 15-month L train shutdown, planned and studied for three years, is canceled. Or is it? Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday presented a proposal for a new L train plan that would no longer require a 15-month closure of the Carnasie Tunnel, the link between Manhattan and Brooklyn and which was damaged by saltwater floods during Hurricane Sandy. During the news conference, Cuomo, along with a panel of experts, engineers, and the acting chair of the MTA, Fernando Ferrer, touted the project as being the shortest and best way to fix the tunnel. But in a conference call with reporters on Friday, the governor called on the MTA board to hold an emergency meeting to vote yay or nay on his new plan, of which most had heard about on the same day it was announced.
More here
Cuomo calls for last-minute halt of L train shutdown in favor of a new tunnel design
January 3, 2019

Cuomo calls for last-minute halt of L train shutdown in favor of a new tunnel design

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Knight in shining armor or kink in the chain? In an unexpected, last-minute announcement on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he is halting the 15-month L train shutdown in April, calling for a new tunnel design instead that would coincide with night and weekend work for 15 to 20 months. The news comes just a few weeks after the governor toured the Hurricane Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tunnel with engineering experts from Cornell and Columbia Universities. Though he said at the time he was "confident it cannot be done any other way and it cannot be done faster than the MTA is doing it," Cuomo today threw a curveball saying he and the MTA have agreed on a new design that has never before been used in the U.S. and will mean that it "will not be necessary to close the L Train tunnel at all."
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Judge blocks NYC law that forces Airbnb to disclose names and addresses of hosts

Via Creative Commons

January 3, 2019

Judge blocks NYC law that forces Airbnb to disclose names and addresses of hosts

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In a win for Airbnb, a federal judge on Thursday blocked a New York City law aimed at curbing illegal short-term rentals, the New York Times reported. The law, signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio last August and originally expected to take effect in February, would have required Airbnb and similar home-share companies to disclose the names and addresses of its hosts to the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement monthly. Soon after, Airbnb filed a lawsuit against the city claiming an "extraordinary act of government overreach." U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer granted the company's request for a temporary injunction against the law, which he wrote was likely unconstitutional.
More here
With no details from de Blasio, Fair Fares pilot program misses Jan. 1 start date

Via Flickr

January 3, 2019

With no details from de Blasio, Fair Fares pilot program misses Jan. 1 start date

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A program to provide discounted MetroCards to low-income New Yorkers missed its target start date of Jan. 1, and the city has not provided any concrete details on its rollout, amNY reported Wednesday. The Fair Fares pilot program, which was agreed upon in June by Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, would provide half-price MetroCards for those who fall below the federal poverty line. One day after the original launch date passed, the mayor on Wednesday told reporters that more information on how to apply for the program will be provided "in literally just a few days."
More on the Fair Fares flop
New 2019 NYC laws ban foam, restrict cigarettes, address paid family leave, minimum wage and more

Photo via NYC.GOV

January 2, 2019

New 2019 NYC laws ban foam, restrict cigarettes, address paid family leave, minimum wage and more

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As a new year dawns, you may find you're harboring illegal contraband that was–as recently as last year–the perfectly legal container for your takeout dinner. As part of Mayor Bill De Blasio's Zero Waste campaign, manufacturers and stores may not sell or offer single-use foam items such as cups, plates, bowls, trays, or clamshell containers as of January 1, 2019. The foam ban joins more notable new legislation on the books as of 2019 including laws affecting minimum wage, cigarette sales, baby changing tables, paid family leave and gender options on birth certificates.
Read on for details
Plan for homeless men’s shelter on Billionaires’ Row temporarily stopped

Via Wikimedia 

December 28, 2018

Plan for homeless men’s shelter on Billionaires’ Row temporarily stopped

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The West 58th Street Coalition, a group of residents suing over the city’s controversial plan to open a homeless shelter on Manhattan’s Billionaires' Row, has won a temporary injunction to halt construction at the former Park Savoy Hotel, the New York Post reported Thursday. The residents sued the city in July, claiming the proposed shelter posed a significant fire hazard and also fearing their new neighbors would usher in increased crime and loitering in the area as well as “un-quantifiable economic harm to the value of their property,” as court papers stated.
Find out more
City Council votes to name NYC streets after Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, and Woodie Guthrie

Via Flickr

December 27, 2018

City Council votes to name NYC streets after Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, and Woodie Guthrie

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The New York City Council last week unanimously voted to co-name streets in honor of three NYC music icons, Notorious B.I.G., the Wu-Tang Clan, and folk singer Woody Guthrie, Gothamist reported. If the bills are signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, the block in Brooklyn where B.I.G. grew up will be called Christopher Wallace Way, after the rapper's birth name, Staten Island's Vanderbilt Avenue and Targee Street will be known as the Wu-Tang Clan District, and Woodie Guthrie Way will be found on Mermaid Avenue, marking where the singer lived in Coney Island.
More here
Statue of Liberty will stay open during government shutdown

Photo via NPS

December 24, 2018

Statue of Liberty will stay open during government shutdown

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The third partial federal government shutdown of 2018 kicked off this weekend after Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill. As with the first two that occurred earlier this year, the government shutdown can affect New York City by temporarily closing its national parks and some of its federally-funded museums, leaving thousands of federal workers in the city without pay. But one major landmark will remain open throughout the duration of the shutdown. With help from the state, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island will stay open during the shutdown, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday.
More on the shutdown
City Council passes comprehensive Garment District rezoning plans
December 21, 2018

City Council passes comprehensive Garment District rezoning plans

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On Thursday, the City Council unanimously passed a rezoning of the Garment District in Midtown Manhattan. As part of a larger manufacturing strategy, the plan for Midtown is intended to preserve production space and ensure long-term stability for the fashion industry, while also supporting the other industries that are growing in the area. As 6sqft previously reported, the citywide plan includes the creation of a 200,000-square foot garment production hub at the Made in NY Campus in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Find out more
Governor Cuomo takes his second tour of the Gateway Tunnel

Via Flickr

December 20, 2018

Governor Cuomo takes his second tour of the Gateway Tunnel

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Last night, Governor Cuomo toured the Gateway Tunnel to survey its levels of corrosion and damage beneath the Hudson River. He was joined by the same experts from Cornell University's College of Engineering and Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science who toured the Canarsie Tunnel last week with the Governor. The purpose of the tour was to provide insight into rehabilitating the Canarsie Tunnel ahead of the L train shutdown. However, the tour may definitely have done double duty as a push to the Trump administration, reiterating the importance of this critical project which won’t be able to go forward without federal support.
Find out more
Cuomo tours damaged L train tunnel four months before shutdown
December 14, 2018

Cuomo tours damaged L train tunnel four months before shutdown

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While the plan to shut down the L train for over a year to perform necessary repairs in the East River tunnel it runs through has been in the works for years, Gov. Andrew Cuomo decided this week to see the damage for himself, four months ahead of the looming closure. During a midnight tour of the Canarsie Tunnel on Friday, which connects Manhattan and Brooklyn, Cuomo said he saw "a very old tunnel that needed a lot of work," the New York Post reported. The governor toured the tunnel with two engineering experts from Cornell and Columbia Universities to get a first-hand look and determine whether a 15 month-shutdown is the best-case scenario for commuters.
Too little, too late?
‘I ♥ NY’ designer Milton Glaser not thrilled with Amazon rip-off

Via NYCEDC and Wiki Commons

December 13, 2018

‘I ♥ NY’ designer Milton Glaser not thrilled with Amazon rip-off

By
This week the city's Economic Development Corporation released documents of its detailed pitch to lure Amazon to move to the city, which included offering up prime real estate in four different New York City neighborhoods and nearly $3 billion in incentives. Another thing city and state officials pitched to the tech company, which chose Long Island City last month for its HQ2 complex, is the state's famous "I love NY" logo. In their pitch, city and state officials swapped the iconic logo's heart out for Amazon's arrow-smile, which assumingly reads "I Amazon NY."
Glaser's thoughts ahead
NYC plans to sell $1B in NYCHA air rights to developers

Via Creative Commons

December 13, 2018

NYC plans to sell $1B in NYCHA air rights to developers

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The New York City Housing Authority will sell its unused air rights to developers for the first time ever, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday. The authority said it will transfer a portion of its 80 million square feet of air rights to generate $1 billion in capital repairs for nearby developments. The air rights announcement is one part of a 10-year plan the mayor unveiled, called NYCHA 2.0, which aims to resolve $24 billion in necessary repairs at public housing. In total, the agency needs nearly $32 billion over five years for necessary repairs.
Get the details
Landmarks designates new Inwood historic district

Image courtesy of NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission via Flickr.

December 11, 2018

Landmarks designates new Inwood historic district

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The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission voted today to designate the Park Terrace West-West 217th Street Historic District in the Inwood section of Manhattan. The historic district features an enclave of picturesque early 20th-century houses with landscaped topography that stand out among the neighborhood’s apartment buildings.
Find out more
How New York won Amazon: See the official proposals for each NYC neighborhood

A rendering of One Court Square, where Amazon will temporarily move in 2019; via NYCEDC

December 11, 2018

How New York won Amazon: See the official proposals for each NYC neighborhood

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City and state officials lured Amazon to open its new office complex in New York with an extensive pitch, complete with four suggested neighborhoods and the promise of prime real estate, according to documents released by the city's economic development corporation on Monday. In exchange for 25,000 new jobs, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio are offering Amazon nearly $3 billion in incentives and grants. And while last month Amazon selected the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City as its new home, officials had proposed bringing Amazon's campus to the Farley Building, 3 World Trade Center, Brooklyn Height's Watchtower building, Bjarke Ingels' The Spiral, and even Governors Island.
See the full pitch
Poll shows a majority of New Yorkers approve of Amazon’s move to Queens

Rendering of Plaxall’s proposed (but not approved) mixed-use LIC project courtesy of WXY architecture + urban design

December 6, 2018

Poll shows a majority of New Yorkers approve of Amazon’s move to Queens

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A majority of New Yorkers approve of Amazon moving to Long Island City despite opposition from Queens activists and politicians, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday. Fifty-seven percent of all respondents said they support the company's plan to build a waterfront office complex in Queens, with 26 percent disproving. And approval among Queens residents is even higher, with 60 percent supporting the deal. But the poll did find a more divided opinion about the potential $3 billion in public incentives and grants offered to Amazon by the city and state, with 46 percent approving of the subsidies and 44 percent disapproving.
More here
This new tool helps NYC tenants fight back against landlord violations

Via City Realty

December 5, 2018

This new tool helps NYC tenants fight back against landlord violations

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In an effort to demystify property ownership and management company networks across New York City, JustFix.nyc, a Brooklyn-based tenant advocacy nonprofit, launched a new tool today to help tenants easily obtain the information they need to deal with difficult landlords. The free tool, available at WhoOwnsWhat.nyc, aims to cut through some of the opaque practices of landlords, like the tendency to use a shell company or LLC to preserve their anonymity. The platform makes it possible to connect dots that are often hidden and will provide tenants, housing advocates, and local officials with the information to fight speculative behavior, harassment, and discrimination.
Find out how it works
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