http://www.planNYC.org/ PlanNYC | New York City Planning Information Portal en-us ja3n@earthlink.net http://www.plannyc.org Bronx residents, community groups, and advocacy groups are dissatisfied with the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation’s attempt to replace parkland that was lost when the construction of the new Yankee Stadium began. The new stadium is being constructed on 22 acres of continuous parkland, while the replacement parks are spread throughout the South Bronx and vary in size between 0.24 and 8.9 acres. The cost to replace the 22 acres of parkland used for the stadium has increased substantially from $95.5 million to $174 million and the date of completion for some parks may be postponed at least two years. The Department of Parks and Recreation expects all of the replacement sites to be completed in 2011. 2008-08-19 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger provides a dual critique of the Museum of Arts and Design’s new home at 2 Columbus Circle. From the outside, he laments that the renovated structure resembles too closely the building it replaced, the nearly windowless building once called the “Lollipop Building.” From the inside however, the building, which once housed Huntington Hartford’s largely unsuccessful Gallery of Modern Art, has been transformed into a completely new space, which Goldberger calls “functional, logical, and pleasant to be in.” 2008-08-18 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org Amidst the buzz around Governors Island and its ongoing redevelopment, some Brooklyn community leaders are making noise about the island’s inaccessibility for Brooklyn residents. Governors Island is a mere 400 yards from the Brooklyn waterfront, yet a trip from Red Hook to the island would involve about an hour and a half of traveling on a bus, two subways, and a ferry. The water taxi service between the island and Red Hook was terminated last summer due to lack of subsidies from the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation. There have been a few proposals to make Governors Island’s development more inclusive, including a proposal for the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn to share the island, which is legally part of Manhattan, and the proposed gondola service connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan via Governors Island. Yet some Brooklynites worry that as the island gets developed, they will be left out and it will become an “exclusive preserve for Manhattan visitors.” 2008-08-15 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has announced a $195 million cap on its contribution to the 9/11 memorial planned for the World Trade Center site. The greatest financial commitment to the 8-acre memorial, $530 million, will come from the memorial’s foundation, which is directed by Mayor Bloomberg. 2008-08-15 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org The new Mets and Yankee stadiums have announced opening dates for next year. The Mets Citi Field will open on April 14 while the new Yankee stadium will open on April 16. The Mets first broke ground in 2006 and the Yankees announced construction plans in 2005. 2008-08-15 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org Council Member Hiram Monserrate introduced legislation on Thursday that would require a financial report to be produced before eminent domain could be used. The legislation would require local development corporations to conduct a study on the costs and benefits of a project, any additional tax revenue from the project over a three year period and any assistance that the city must provide for the project financially. The reports would be given to anyone who participates in the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). Council Member Monserrate would like to pass the legislation before the Willets Point plan is approved. If passed, the legislation is not likely to affect other large project that will use eminent domain to seize property including Atlantic Yards and Columbia University’s expansion. 2008-08-14 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org The latest lawsuit filed to stop the Atlantic Yards project is based off a provision in the New York State Constitution that prohibits subsidies to be used on renewal projects that will only provide affordable residential units. Lawyers and other legal scholars are interested in the argument and what it will mean for the project moving forward. 2008-08-14 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org Four recently renovated parks in the Bronx opened to the public. The renovations to the park facilities were financed through a fund of $200 million that was set aside for by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the city’s Municipal Water Finance Authority to make up for loss of parkland and community disturbance during the Croton Water Filtration Plant construction. 75 projects will be financed through this fund. 2008-08-14 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org Community members and elected officials are using the results of a recent study by an independent engineering firm that says that the dorm built by St. John’s will cause significant sewer backup to stop construction. The dorm is supposed to open next August and has faced much community opposition because of its height and density. The developer says that it has followed everything that the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has required. 2008-08-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org At a hearing on the rezoning of Willets Point, the Lower East Side (LES) and south Hunters Point, many in opposition to the rezoning of Willets Point protested. Council Member Hiram Monserrate, who led the opposition protest, has garnered the support of more than thirty of his colleagues in the City Council who say they will not support the rezoning until changes are made, especially regarding affordable housing and the use of eminent domain. At the hearing, 14 of the 54 people who testified oppose the Willets Point Plan. The City Planning Commission will make a recommendation on the plan next month before the City Council votes. Opponents of the LES rezoning also protested outside the hearing. 2008-08-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org A potential part of the new development taking place in Coney Island will be an amphitheater called The Coney Island Center. The center would include a large entertainment venue as well as a community center. The plan is only in its beginning stages and must go through a lengthy process prior to being approved. 2008-08-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org The Governor's Island Preservation and Education Corp sent out a request for proposals for art installations and other recreation opportunities for the island in the coming years. They speculate that entertainment such as the Big Apple Circus could come to Governors Island as well as art exhibits and other entertainment and dining options. 2008-08-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org As part of a technicality a parcel of the land in the Con Ed site is not fully owned by Sheldon Solow, but rather belongs to him through a 1,000 year lease from the City. Because a sale of the small parcel would result in a bidding war through the Uniform Land Use Procedure, Solow leased the property from the City. 2008-08-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org Many members of the City Council wrote a letter to Department of City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden yesterday to contest the current Willets Point plan. They warned the administration that they would not approve the plan as is and demand speaking with and working out some of the issues prior to the plan being submitted for approval. Leading off the list of concerns is the use of eminent domain. 2008-08-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org The rezoning of Rockaway will go into effect if the City Council votes yes on Thursday. It is hoped the rezoning will preserve the less dense character of the neighborhood and extends for 280 blocks. 2008-08-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org Manhattan borough president, Scott Stringer, called for more oversight at government-owned buildings to comply with the building code. Currently more than 800 government-owned buildings are exempt from certain safety inspectors. In order to increase safety and prevent accidents, Stringer would like to see all buildings comply. 2008-08-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org A new plan has been proposed to increase security surrounding the World Trade Center site and Lower Manhattan by placing license plate scanners on all crossings to Manhattan. Each license plate would be scanned and sent to an NYPD database. The plan is currently being debated. 2008-08-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org Thirty Councilmembers sent a letter today to City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden expressing their opposition to the Willets Point redevelopment plan. The letter articulated concern regarding the use of eminent domain, the amount of affordable housing, and the plans for displaced workers and businesses. The Queens borough president and the community board have voted in favor of this plan. The City Planning Commission (CPC) is the next entity to vote on the plan and it is holding a hearing on Wednesday to hear the public’s opinion. Ultimately, the City Council will have the final word in deciding whether the redevelopment proposal will go through. 2008-08-12 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org The City Planning Commission (CPC) voted in favor of the Whitney Museum’s plans to open a new site near the High Line in downtown Manhattan. The proposal received unanimous approval from the CPC because commissioners felt that the project had a “creative design” and could successfully be incorporated into the neighborhood. The proposal will now go before a City Council subcommittee before being presented to the entire City Council for the final approval. If the project receives endorsement from the City Council, it will likely open in 2012 or 2013. 2008-08-12 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org The one million square foot Gateway Center Mall is expected to open in fall 2009. The mall will include both national and local retailers, 2,600 parking spots, and possibly a hotel. According to Seth Pinsky of the Economic Development Corporation, the new mall will provide the South Bronx with access to shopping opportunities that the community has been deprived of, in addition to roughly 4,000 jobs. The Gateway Center Mall will be located on the former Bronx Terminal Market site where ethnic food vendors were once stationed. 2008-08-12 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org City plans to blast at the Jerome Park Reservoir may be further delayed due to a potential rodent problem. A community lawsuit is already holding up plans for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to connect the reservoir to the water filtration plant being constructed in Van Cortlandt Park, and now the City’s Health Department claims that the site is filled with rats that could disperse once the blasting starts. DEP maintains that they are already working with a rodent control company to deal with the issue. 2008-08-11 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org The MTA plans to expand Metro-North service, which currently terminates at Grand Central Station on the east side, to include some trains that terminate at Penn Station on the west side of Manhattan. While this service expansion is said to be relatively inexpensive, since the necessary rail lines to accommodate the new routes already exist, it is only feasible if the authority can complete its East Side Access project. The East Side Access project will connect the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) to Grand Central Station, freeing up rail and platform space to allow for the Metro-North expansion. Many Metro-North customers say the expanded service would be very convenient, while others worry that it would result in reduced service to Grand Central. 2008-08-11 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org Many Mets fans are rallying around the plans to develop Willets Point Queens, the neighborhood adjacent to Shea Stadium, which is currently occupied mostly by auto repair shops and salvage yards. These fans look to other vibrant stadium neighborhoods such as those surrounding Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago as models of what the area surrounding Shea – and the new Citi Field – could be. The fans are showing their support by posting to blogs and providing information about project updates and public meetings to other like-minded fans, as well as speaking out in favor of the development at meetings. 2008-08-08 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org The 421-a tax abatement program, which was approved by both the city council and the state legislature in 2007, is set for review when the state legislature returns to session in the winter. Many legislators seek to expand the program’s exclusion area, making it more likely that new developments in their neighborhoods will have affordable units. The program, which has a built-in review feature based on economic conditions, provides tax incentives to developers for producing units that are affordable to middle and low-income residents. While many legislators are supportive of strengthening the affordability mechanism, many in the development industry fear the unintended consequences of a wider exclusion area. 2008-08-08 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org Manhattan Community Board 1 has approval plans by the City’s Economic Development Corporation (CDC) for Pier 15 on the East River Waterfront. The designs for the pier, which feature two-tiers of park space and maritime education, were revised after the community board originally objected to a “cutout” section for small boats and kayaks. The design proposal must still be approved by a host of city and state agencies, including the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 2008-08-08 00:00:00