If the President wants to send you a text, you'll be required to receive it on your smart phone under a new emergency alert system that the FCC and FEMA are rolling out in NYC and D.C. by the end of the year. Announced today, the new Personal Localized Alerting Network [PLAN] lets customers who own an enabled mobile device "receive geographically-targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area." If you don't want The Man telling you there's an imminent threat to your safety, you can opt out of a second tier of alerts, such as warnings about less catastrophic natural disasters or AMBER Alerts. But the messages from Obama are going to be shoved down your cell phone's throat, just like health care! more ›

At least one part of the city's planned rehabilitation of Coney Island seems to pay homage to the amusement district's gritty history. Newly installed sections of the Coney Island Boardwalk are already starting to fall apart — less than a year after they were screwed down. "It's not even a year old, and we're right back to square one," Todd Dobrin, chairperson of Friends of the Boardwalk, told the Daily News. "Something is wrong, and we need to find it out now before we waste all our resources on something that needs to be done again." more ›

We play tennis at McCarren Park a couple of times a week, so it's exciting to see someone trying to do something about those ridiculously busted old courts, which the Parks Department charges $100 a year or $7 an hour to use. But the folks involved with the McCarren Tennis renovation group aren't just demanding that the badly cracked courts get a long-overdue resurfacing, they've got much bigger plans. Those familiar with the park know that on weekends, the big concrete lot next to the courts is occupied by a crowd of, um, spirited softball players. Well, these fellows will be mighty interested to know that their tennis-playing neighbors have their eye on that lot, and are campaigning to have it turned into more courts! There is no way that happens without a riot, despite the fact that the entire area was originally devoted exclusively to tennis "once upon a time," as Brownstoner notes. We'll be sure to share that interesting bit of history with those softball gents this weekend, particularly the individual who inexplicably yelled, "HAMBURGER" over and over again for more than an hour during their game last Sunday. more ›

Despite objections from Save Coney Island and others, the City Council's land-use committee approved the city's controversial rezoning of Coney Island, putting the plan on track for full Council approval on July 29th. Some opponents were hoping the committee would send the plan back to the drawing board so that the proposed open-air amusement park be expanded and four high-rise hotel towers planned for the south side of Surf Avenue could be relocated. According to City Room, Councilman Dominic Recchia Jr. hinted that the city may expand the amusement area, but that will only happen if the Bloomberg administration can finalize a long-stalled deal to buy 10.5 acres of land from developer Joe Sitt before the full council votes. Sitt, who could probably best Bruce Ratner in a douchiest developer contest, told the Post yesterday, "I'm the guy who controls this—it's my sandbox." He added that he's willing "to share my sandbox with my friend Mayor Mike," but Mike wants to buy the land outright, and hasn't ruled out seizing the sandbox through eminent domain. more ›

If you've ever queued up for a spin on Coney Island's landmark Wonder Wheel, you may have noticed that one of the cars is really going to the dogs. Well, one dog, at least: Sunny, a 12-year-old Rottweiler who guards the property by night and rides in car number four by day. Amos Crowley, who has worked at Deno's Wonder Wheel for the past 10 years, tells the Daily News, "Some people think it's funny, some people think it's cruel, but the dog thinks otherwise. We don't do it to be funny; we do it because she likes it. It's tradition. It's been going on for years and years." more ›

Alright Gowanus Canal, where were we? The NY Times reports on the latest developments surrounding the clean-up debate, which is split between those who want it to be labeled a Superfund site and those who are afraid of that label's stigma (real estate developers). City officials are sided with the latter group, and have proposed an alternative cleanup plan that would be overseen by the EPA, would take less time, and wouldn't have such a scary word attached to it. more ›

The DOT unveiled its latest plan [pdf] to resolve Brooklyn's Kent Avenue bike lane wars at a packed community meeting Wednesday night, and guess what? Not everyone is pleased about the proposal, which would turn part of Kent, a heavily-trafficked two-way truck route, into a one-way, northbound street. Business owners and residents have decried the bike lanes ever since they were installed last fall because they came at the cost of precious parking spots, and members of South Brooklyn's Satmar Jewish community who were said to chafe at the influx of immodestly dressed female cyclists. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's controversial plans to rezone and develop the Coney Island amusement district have been long stymied due to a breakdown in negotiations between the city and developer Joe Sitt, who has bought up much of the beachfront property in the area targeted for development. The city wants to purchase Sitt's 10.5 acres of property, which includes the now-desolate Astroland, for approximately $110 million, according to the Post. more ›

Coming soon to Times Square and Herald Square: Vehicle-free Broadway! Starting on Memorial Day, two stretches of Broadway, from 42nd to 47th streets and from 32nd to 35th streets, will transformed into pedestrian plazas in an experiment that will last through the end of the year and may become permanent, the Post reports. Mayor Bloomberg is expected to announce the plan today, and promise that the change will actually improve the overall traffic flow, because Broadway disrupts traffic where it intersects with other streets. As part of the changes, Seventh Avenue will be widened from three to four lanes at 45th Street. more ›

Isn't it irritating how when you take the subway or PATH to Herald Square en route to Penn Station you have to clamber up to the street and wade through the mob scene just to schlep a block over to Seventh Avenue and go back underground again? Why can't there be a tunnel connecting the two stations? Turns out there is; it's just that it was closed sometime around 1990, possibly because nobody wanted to pay for its maintenance. more ›

Reacting to a surge in foreclosures, the city will begin overseeing a program to turn boarded-up houses into renovated homes. Announced in October, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program will subsidize housing rehabilitation through a nonprofit group, which will hold title to the properties until they can be sold to families making roughly $80,000 to $90,000 a year. more ›

Late last year it was announced that the city dumped plans to redevelop the Red Hook waterfront. Now the Brooklyn Eagle is reporting that the "Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is returning to Red Hook’s Atlantic Basin with a symbolic hat in hand, but also with a new development plan that is ready to be executed." The new plan is allegedly less glamorous, but one key business that could rise from the ashes of the old is (appropriately) Phoenix Beverages—a major beer distributor of Heineken, Guinness and Smirnoff Ice! It looks like it would be housed at Pier 11, and NYMag points out that under the new plan they'll be joined in the neighborhood American Stevedoring, "a docking facility for harbor-operated boats, a cultural institution, and a green space." Sadly, this means that "there is no space for Brooklyn Brewery, which hoped to move to Pier 7." more ›

After a long, bitter public battle, St. Vincent's hospital has won permission from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village and build a 299-foot-tall medical tower. The hospital applied for, and was granted, a “hardship-status” exemption, which allows nonprofit landlords to demolish landmark buildings if they can prove that the building is preventing them from carrying out their charitable mission. Community groups, preservationists and local celebrities like Susan Sarandon have opposed the scope of the project, which also calls for a 235-foot-tall luxury condominium (in partnership with the Rudin Management Company). In a statement, hospital officials said they can now take "another step forward to building a 21st century, technologically advanced hospital for Manhattan’s West Side and Downtown." more ›

When the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing Monday night to consider an ambitious proposal to raze the Pier 17 mall at the South Street Seaport to make room for boutiques, a hotel and a 42-story condo, there was fierce objection from the Municipal Arts Society, who opposed not just the "out of scale" tower but plans to relocate a 1903 landmark building from its current location in the shadow of the FDR to the pier's edge. Formerly part of the Fulton Fish Market, it's called the Tin Building, and NY1 reports that many people don't even know about it because of its lousy location and also because it was gutted by a fire in 1995. The developer sees moving it as an opportunity to restore and rebuild it with "authentic materials," but MAS says relocating it would "set a troublesome precedent...The Tin Building is important because it's really the only historic building on the water side of the FDR Drive." more ›

Never mind that mall owner General Growth Properties—the current leaseholder of the South Street Seaport, as well other retail outlets nationwide—has been scrambling recently to refinance massive debt by selling off $2 billion in rapidly devaluing stock. The company is still pushing forward with an ambitious plan (rendered above) to turn the underwhelming Seaport tourist trap into a more vibrant destination, by razing the existing Pier 17 mall, relocating the landmark Tin Building, and throwing up a 42-story waterfront condo/hotel tower, as well as a wood-based boutique hotel and two-story retail structures designed by SHoP Architects. more ›

The Landmarks Preservation Commission met again yesterday to deliberate on St. Vincent's Hospital’s “hardship-status” application, which, if approved, would let the hospital raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village and build a 299-foot-tall medical building and a 233-foot tall luxury condominium. Unlike previously rowdy sessions that featured protest from local celebrities, there was no public comment this time. Instead, the commission heard from outside experts like Michael Meola at the city’s Economic Development Corporation, who testified that no other sites “would be a viable alternative to the O’Toole Building.” Developer William C. Rudin added, “Now more than ever, the city needs a project like this as an investment in our future.” No decision was made yesterday, but Andrew Berman at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation tells the Times, "A lot of people are questioning whether they will actually stick with this." more ›

More than 100,000 people have taken the free ferry over to Governors Island so far this year, up from 56,000 in 2007 and 26,000 in 2006. Today the Times takes a look at the 172-acre island's new-found popularity among everyone from crowd-surfing punks to exuberant swing dancers. If only those groups could one day share the same dance floor! more ›

It's that time of year again, when, with a regularity that rivals the swallows' return to Capistrano, the operator of the Astroland amusement area on Coney Island stares into her future and beholds a murky void. The tradition, which dates all the way back to 2007, is deeply troubling for Carol Albert, who has no idea whether developer Joe Sitt will renew her lease on the land that Astroland has occupied for 46 years. Sitt's company Thor Equities bought the property two years ago. more ›

Susan Sarandon and husband Tim Robbins testified before the Landmarks Preservation Commission today in protest against St. Vincent’s proposal to raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village, as well as four other buildings to make room for a 299-foot-tall medical building and a 235-foot-tall luxury condominium (in partnership with the Rudin Management Company). For the former Bull Durham stars, all that would mean a lot of noise and dust soiling the air near their building, which is a block away. more ›

General Growth Properties released the details of their redevelopment plan for South Street Seaport today. GGP's CEO John Bucksbaum said, "Our vision for the transformation of the Seaport is the centerpiece of GGP's commitment to New York and its residents. We are proud to work closely with the New York City Economic Development Corporation to preserve and restore the unique character of this historic area while addressing the immediate and long-term needs of Lower Manhattan's growing community." more ›

In presenting their argument for a massive demolition and construction project in the West Village – one that would raze the distinctive O’Toole Building (pictured) – representatives of St. Vincent’s hospital told the Landmarks and Preservation Commission yesterday that it will have to shut down if their proposal is not approved. Last month the commission unanimously rejected the hospital’s $1.6 billion development plan, which would demolish nine buildings to make room for a 329-foot-tall medical building on the O’Toole site and a 265-foot-tall luxury condominium in partnership with the Rudin Management Company. more ›

The Sun has it that their new pitch would still demolish the O’Toole building, but the new hospital would be 9% shorter than previous plans, rising to less than 300 feet. Rudin Management Co., which would buy eight buildings from the hospital to finance the project, would also build a somewhat smaller luxury condominium once they tear down the buildings – it would drop to 233 feet from 265 feet and be 60 feet less wide. Rudin would also spare four of the purchased buildings. more ›

Remy Ma, better known for her court hearings than for her Grammy nomination, is having trouble becoming "an honest woman," as the saying goes. The rapper was supposed to be married on Rikers Island yesterday to her fiancée Papoose -- but when her groom brought a questionable gift for his bride, the wedding was called off. more ›

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Preliminary work could begin as soon as next month on the ambitious $500 million plan to transform Governors Island into a premiere destination for cyclists, nature lovers, large-scale music concerts and rock climbing. Last December a consortium of five design companies was chosen to turn the flat southern part of the island into an oasis with manmade hills and a shoreline promenade. Ultimately (say, 2013?) 90 acres of parkland will be remade for anyone willing to take the seven minute ferry ride from Lower Manhattan. more ›

Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission is holding a public hearing to consider the largest proposal in its 43-year history: An application by the St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center to demolish eight structures in Greenwich Village on West 11th and 12th Streets, near Seventh Avenue, and construct an $800 million, 21-story, 329-foot-tall hospital and condominium tower. Falling to the wrecking ball would be the 1963 O’Toole Building which houses the hospital. The plans are strongly opposed by local residents, The Municipal Art Society, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff:

It’s historical censorship. The O’Toole Building was one of the first buildings in the city to break with the Modernist mainstream as it was congealing into formulaic dogma… It represents a moment when some architects rebelled against Modernism’s glass-box aesthetic in favor of ornamental facades… In patronizing fashion, hospital officials have suggested that preservationists are choosing buildings over lives, as if the two were in direct opposition. This is the kind of developer’s cant that is ruining our city. The addition of up to 400 co-op apartments is about money, not saving lives. There are plenty of other ways that the hospital could upgrade its facilities.

New York's about to get a lot shadier. According to the NY Times, the City Planning Commission just approved a new section of the Zoning Resolution, that requires developers to plant trees. For every 25-feet of street, one tree must be planted. This new rule goes hand in hand with MillionTreesNYC, an initiative of the Parks Department and New York Restoration Project that aims to plant one million new trees in the next ten years (a number that doesn't take into account programs like Trees Not Trash). more ›

A proposal by City Council Member Hiram Monserrate would give hybrid car drivers free parking at meters for a year after their initial purchase. If the legislation passes, drivers with receipts for hybrid cars could apply for the permits, which the Queens councilman says would cost the city little in lost revenue, because the taxes from new car sales would make up for the quarters lost at parking meters. more ›