The preponderance of big chain stores on the Upper West Side could be severely reversed under a plan introduced by the Department of City Planning. Acting on concerns from the Upper West Side community and elected officials, the city is considering rezoning part of the neighborhood to create two Special Enhanced Commercial Districts. Each of these zones would limit the frontage of new and expanding banks and residential lobbies along Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. Overall store size would not be restricted, so big chains could still burrow underground, but city planners argue that "over time the general multi-store character of Amsterdam and Columbus avenues would be maintained, while promoting a more varied and active retail environment on Broadway." more ›

Everyone loves boobs and everyone loves food, which means everyone loves talking about that natural and naturally controversial topic, breast-feeding! First Lady Michelle Obama is promoting it, celebrities are doing it, there are foods being made from breast milk, many states require offices to have lactation rooms, and people (rightfully) get upset when they can't do so in public. But one Upper West Side condo board isn't so keen on "breast-feeding resource center" The Upper Breast Side, which is located in its first floor. more ›

Even though a Community Board and the City Council approved the rezoning an industrial area in Williamsburg for low-rise housing, a judge blocked any development in order to hear a lawsuit claiming that the process to rezone the area favored whites and Hasidic Jews over other minorities. Now, the NY Times reports that Justice Emily Jane Goodman scheduled a hearing next month "to determine whether the city's plan...would essentially foster segregation." more ›

Last year, Queens Councilman Eric Gioia proposed that new fast food restaurants should be prohibited from opening within one-tenth of a mile of NYC schools. Now Council Speaker Christine Quinn wants the newly formed City Charter Commission to examine whether "the zoning resolution should be reworked to establish fast-food restaurants as an entity separate and apart from other restaurants." Quinn says she's "frustrated" that fast food restaurants are not differentiated from other establishments in the city's charter, making it difficult to limit them in poor neighborhoods. more ›

Just a reminder that real estate horror stories happen to rich and poor alike in this city: tenants of 54 high-rise apartments in the landmark building at 1182 Broadway were abruptly evicted from their homes yesterday. WCBS reports that the city ordered the evacuation after finding that the building was converted from warehouse space without any permits, and not up to any residential safety codes. The 16-story building is equipped with one stairwell, no alarms and no sprinkler system. more ›

The plan to turn a 26-acre rail yard in the West 30s into a residential and commercial neighborhood won a major victory yesterday when City Council approved a rezoning for a significant portion of the property, according to the Times. The Council voted in favor of the plan after coming to a consensus with developers Related Companies and Goldman Sachs — who hope to construct more than 5,000 apartments in eight high-rises between 11th and 12th avenues and 30th and 33rd streets — about the amount of new and maintained affordable housing in and around the Hudson Yards development. more ›

A cautionary tale: In Franklin Park, NJ, a historic tavern was, uh, accidentally torn down. How? The Asbury Park Press reports, the building's owner "put the wrong address on the application to demolish the structure, leading to an approval by a zoning official." The building, formerly a Dutch farm, had been on the Route 27 property since the Revolutionary War, and the township explained since the address was incorrect, the historic commission didn't know about the permit approval. The building's former owner John Allegro lamented to the APP that when he needed to change anything with the building, "It took months and there were a lot of hearings...I guess the face of the town is changing and that's understandable. But I'm not happy with the way this all went down. What is the sense of having a Historic Commission? This place had Queen Anne construction, a vaulted tin ceiling and timbers that were 300 years old. It was a really cool old building." more ›

At 1 p.m. tomorrow, the eyes of the world will be on a City Planning Commission Review Session in Spector Hall at 22 Reade Street, where the city will make a formal, public presentation of its controversial rezoning plan for Coney Island. Last week the Mayor's Office of Environmental Coordination quietly released their Final Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which outlines how the city will rezone the area to encourage the development of towers up to 27 stories tall, expanded retail spaces, 4,500 new housing units (800 of which would be built to be affordable units), and a new 27-acre indoor-outdoor amusement district to be dubbed the "People’s Playground." more ›

In 2005, the city approved new upzoning laws for the Greenpoint waterfront, allowing up to 30 stories (pictured: the city's rendering of what the waterfront could look like). Now the Brooklyn Paper reports that developer Dean Palin (the man behind this monstrosity) wants to build a 40-story, 422-unit rental tower as part of a 620-unit development at his 155 West Street property. Brownstoner points out that he "paid a whopping $84,750,000 for the site a couple years back and has just recently filed for demolition permits." He'll have to fight to get those extra 10 stories, which he claims to need because "he cannot build within 50 feet of a sewage pipe that runs through the lot, and he cannot touch a 25-foot section of wetlands at the corner of the property." However, Assemblyman Joe Lentol of Williamsburg says the developers knew what they were getting into upon purchasing the property; Lentol strongly opposed 40-story towers at the Domino Sugar development earlier this year. more ›

Though most of the neighborhood around the Gowanus Canal has not yet been rezoned for residential construction, one development company has just won approval for a big condo project with buildings up to 12 stories high and a public park along the canal. Blogger Pardon Me For Asking sat through a "long and drawn out" Landmark/Land Use committee meeting last night (so we didn't have to). She calls the near-unanimous vote "a sad outcome for the community":

Let me just say that no amount of testimony from concerned residents at last month's meeting, no concerns about pathogens in the waters of the canal, nor warnings that the land is in a flood zone were able to sway a majority of our board members from voting yes for Toll's spot rezoning.

Yesterday the City Council gave the go-ahead for a $700 million redevelopment plan between 125th and 127th Streets and between Third and Second Avenues in East Harlem. According to the NY Times, the "1.7-million-square-foot project includes office and retail space, a small hotel, a cultural center, open space and 800 apartments, 600 of which will be set aside for families with low and moderate incomes." There are seven developers involved with the project, including General Growth Properties (operator of the South Street Seaport and also rumored to be "troubled") and local developer El Barrio's Operation Fightback. The city expects 4,000 construction jobs to be created, plus 1,500 permanent jobs, from the project. more ›

The Department of Buildings has allowed architects and engineers to "self-certify" their plans and alterations, to help with getting the tens of thousands of buildings pending permits fast-tracked. But after recent outcry, the DOB has re-reviewed many plans, finding over 80% are "plagued with zoning violations." more ›

In response to complaints about out-of-scale development, the Department of City Planning is proposing a zoning amendment to six streets in Carroll Gardens. This would classify certain streets in Carroll Gardens as narrow streets for zoning purposes and “limit the size and configuration of new buildings and enlargements to more closely match the area's prevailing character.” more ›

Tomorrow marks the start of Construction Safety Week in New York City, less than a week after Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster resigned her position at the Dept. of Buildings. Lancaster admitted to the City Council that the plans for a 43 story tower in Turtle Bay, Manhattan did not meet zoning regulations but were approved anyway. more ›

Complaining about the proliferation of bank branches in New York City has almost become cliche, but City Planning officials are taking steps to enact zoning restrictions along 125th St. in Manhattan that would limit the number of bank branches on the main drag of Harlem. The idea is that bank branches can have a deadening effect on pedestrian use of a an area because they take up space that could be used for arts, entertainment, or retail purposes. more ›