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The marquee battle was N 190230 ZRY, DCP's text amendment to stop residential towers from gaming height limits with cavernous 'mechanical voids.' Critics like Andrew Berman warned new towers could still be 'over 30 percent empty voids'; preservationists begged the council to 'just kill this start over,' while the Building Congress wanted it withdrawn from the other direction. DCP had found only seven offending buildings, and the fight narrowed to whether the clustering threshold should be 75 or 90 feet and whether the cap should be 25 or 30 feet. Wrapped around it: two Brooklyn rezonings (1050
“I have a letter that I've prepared to to read off. Um in in s in response to ten ten Pacific Street LLC and ten fifty Pacific LLC's applications”
— Carter Clark
“the revised text allows for the relocation of the open space to Madison Avenue, a waiver of the Madison Avenue street wall and retail continuity requirements”
— David Karnowsky
“a best-in-class workforce of more than twenty thousand workers in the city, five million consumer customers, and five hundred thousand business customers”
— David Clooney
“the developers seeking this rezoning and affiliate of EM Equity Holdings has not made a credible commitment to pay building service workers prevailing wages”
— Jessica Ortiz
Approved as LU 369: the McDonald Avenue rezoning in Brooklyn cleared the committee on a vote to approve.
with 2 related matters · LU 0374-2019 · LU 0375-2019
Approved across LUs 373, 374, and 375 , the Blondell Commons rezoning in the Bronx passed on a vote to approve.
with 1 related matter · LU 0380-2019
Approved with modifications: the preconsidered 1640 Flatbush Avenue rezoning moved through under LUs 379 and 380, with changes attached rather than a straight yes.
with 2 related matters · LU 0383-2019 · LU 0385-2019
The Bruckner Boulevard rezoning in the Bronx advanced on a vote covering LUs 382 and 385.
with 3 related matters · LU 0387-2019 · LU 0388-2019 · LU 0389-2019
Took up the 270 Park Avenue text amendment, sited in Councilmember Powers' Manhattan district.
Raises three policy points: (1) site was not included as a development site in the Midtown East rezoning so it escaped the full environmental review — how will the city treat such sites in future, case by case?; (2) POPS are in terrible shape, owners do not live up to promises, no regulatory framework to enforce POPS rules; (3) campaign finance concerns
Site was not included as a development site in the Midtown East rezoning, so it did not get the full environmental review process and escaped it — raises the question of how future such sites will be treated (case by case?)
Personally visited every POPS below 14th Street and a large sample in Midtown for a POPS review project; they are in terrible shape, property owners do not live up to promises; beautiful renderings do not reflect reality; no regulatory framework citywide to manage/enforce POPS rules — how would this be different?
Notes the proposal demolishes the Union Carbide Building (270 Park), one of the greatest buildings of its era, tallest stainless-steel-clad building in the world, Park Avenue's tallest skyscraper, and the tallest building ever intentionally torn down; replacement should significantly improve the public realm; opposes the Madison Avenue POPS location (congested, narrow, 5 bus routes, shrouded in shadow) and argues Park Avenue is a significantly more conducive, sunnier location
One key steering committee recommendation: buildings larger than 30,000 sq ft must include a POPS, so up to sixteen new POPS could be built in the neighborhood; MAS has great concern about the proposed Madison Avenue location — congested, narrow, five major bus routes, shrouded in shadow — and finds Park Avenue significantly more conducive for an enjoyable public space
with 1 related matter · LU 0392-2019
Took up a zoning map amendment to rezone the existing M1-1 manufacturing district at 1050 Pacific Street to an M1-4/R7A special mixed-use district, opening the site to a blend of residential and light-industrial use.
+1 more conditions
with 1 related matter · LU 0394-2019
Considered rezoning the existing M1-1 district at 1010 Pacific Street to an R7D/C2-4 district, paired with a related zoning text amendment to enable the residential-commercial conversion.
Heard a Department of City Planning zoning text amendment aimed at discouraging excessively tall mechanical floors that lift upper-story residential units out of context, targeting non-contextual R9/R10 districts and their commercial equivalents across council districts 1-9, 16, 26, and 27.
+5 more conditions
+1 more conditions
Q: prominence of project
Q: why DCP focused only on mechanical voids; next set of voids = 60-foot transparent slides/amenity spaces
S7 (council member): explain mixed-use building exemption; fear developers add just enough commercial to avoid constraints; residential in commercial areas (FiDi) trend
Q: BP Brewer, CB8, Safe Central Park asked to amend further than 25 feet; any legal/testimony support to be more aggressive (12-15 feet)?
Public testimony: 21 in favor
Devon Lomax · Roshell Patrikov · Cassie Carrio · Max Shearan · Lizette Chaparro · Joseph Kalella · Lynn Ellsworth · Tara Kelly · Bosco · Josette Amato · +6 more
Every parcel, owner, and applicant in this meeting, cross-referenced against Zonable’s NYC ownership, enforcement & legislative graph — the record behind the record.
Owner portfolios, open OATH/ECB violations, 311 & DOB permits across every parcel discussed, developer track records, and an “ask this meeting” chat. For this meeting: 1,744 oath/ecb hearings across the 5 sites discussed.
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