Its good to see this section of waterfront become greener. Always was a gloomy section, especially within the underpasses of the highway.
1 Like
This is just a proposal, unfortunately. Bloomberg balked at it, and I think Diblasio hasn’t either said anything about it or hasn’t made it a priority.
But he should, and hopefully someone can talk sense into the city eventually.
2 Likes
REW: No idea too bold in architectʼs vision for Staten Island
CetraRuddy principal, Eugene Flotteron, has laid out an ambitious vision for the future of Staten Island that includes everything from aerial gondolas to a sprawling tech hub.
As land costs soar, vacancy tightens and the population continues to grow, New York City is increasingly looking at how to create more housing and office space for its residents. And Eugene Flotteron knows just the thing to help solve the problem — his hometown.
[…]
A few years ago, Crain’s New York challenged the design and development world to lay out a vision for how to accommodate the population of NYC, which is expected to eclipse 9.5 million by 2040.
Last summer, at a real estate conference again hosted by Crain’s, five development and infrastructure experts presented those visions for each of the five boroughs.
Along the borough’s southern coast, which is lined with beaches, Flotteron’s plan includes a resort development and marina. The Fresh Kills area of the island would be developed into NYC’s largest park, while near the College of Staten Island and Wagner College, there would be a tech campus.
One of the biggest highlights of the project is Staten Island City, a proposed neighborhood on the northwest shore of the island near that Goethals Bridge.
[…]
Flotteron and his team presented the vision to the NYEDC last year and the agency brought them back this year to continue discussing it, and the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce is “very excited” about it, said Flotteron.
7 Likes
Steam pipe blew up on 5th avenue and 21st
Looks scary
thank god only minor injuries, Asbestos clean up is gonna be a drag.
Infrastructure definitely needs refurbishment
1 Like
The particles from the asbestos could pose respiratory hazards.
2 Likes
they’re sparing no effort. All the buildings in the vicinity were evacuated for inspection and they’ve advised bystanders in the are to bag their clothes and wash themselves.
1 Like
This is good news folks!
================
City Council passes Inwood rezoning: The plan seeks to bring 5,000 units of housing to the neighborhood
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Inwood rezoning has passed.
The City Council on Wednesday voted through the controversial plan that would allow more development and increase housing in the upper Manhattan neighborhood, Curbed reported.
The council’s subcommittee on zoning and franchises last week approved a modified version of the plan, which excluded the “commercial U” of Broadway, 207th Street and Dyckman Street. It aims to bring 5,000 units of housing to the neighborhood.
Parts of the community have decried the plan, fearing it would cause home values and rents to soar. But local Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez and the administration have argued that the current housing supply faces too much market pressure, which causes the displacement that opponents want to stop. Rodriguez was targeted by marches and a sit-in.
The councilman has said that $500 million would be invested in Inwood, though not all of it would come from projects related to the rezoning, Crain’s reported. The city agreed to invest $200 million in establishing and expanding youth and adult educational facilities, create an immigration-related performance art center and convert two publicly owned properties to affordable housing, the publication reported.
4 Likes
Why New York has no megatalls
New York is no doubt home to its fair share of towering skyscrapers — but what about those that reach nearly 2,000 feet into the sky, and sometimes more?
At 1,792 feet tall, One World Trade Center comes close. But the city has yet to make room for the elusive “megatall” building, like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the under-construction Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia.
There are many reasons for New York’s vertical problem, which The Real Deal explores in the video above.
2 Likes
De Blasio talks up commercial rent control in Manhattan
Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city’s giving small businesses a break—in Upper Manhattan at least.
The mayor extolled the benefits of an overlooked aspect of the controversial rezoning of Inwood that cleared the City Council Wednesday: a kind of commercial rent control.
Under the accord forged between the administration and local Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, all new mixed-use developments in the upzoned area receiving $2 million or more from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development must grant commercial tenants a lease of at least 10 years “with limited rental increases,” according to official documents. This will apply to as much as 5,000 square feet of the total nonresidential floor area.
“This was a really interesting new element to say, we’re going to create affordable small-business space in the new developments,” de Blasio said in his weekly “Ask the Mayor” segment on WNYC. “If for some reason they need a space, or they need to move, they have a space that is at an affordable level.”
The administration also promised in its deal with Rodriguez to “work with knowledgeable community stakeholders” in deciding which businesses will get leases.
De Blasio echoed Rodriguez in hailing the program as a first in the city, although Brooklyn Councilman Robert Cornegy had previously negotiated small, low-cost store spaces at a development in his Bedford-Stuyvesant district, and the state Legislature imposed limits on retail rent increases in the period between 1945 and 1963.
A 10-year term is considered long for a small business, and when radio host Brian Lehrer suggested that 10 years was ultimately a short span and could leave small-business owners exposed to market forces in the future, the mayor politely corrected him, while suggesting that his successors might extend the program.
1 Like
In our " What Are You Most Looking Forward to in 2018?" thread, one of the things I hoped for was less retail blight. But it looks like things have only gotten worse this year so far. Why are our politicians dragging their feet with this?
“A survey conducted by Douglas Elliman found that about 20 percent of all retail space in Manhattan is currently vacant, she said, compared with roughly 7 percent in 2016.”
2 Likes
a major hurricane will possibly hit the east coast. Keep an eye on the forecasts. Depending on its lifespan and path, it may affect the NYC metro area. Looks like it will hit far enough south and track inland so it won’t affect us badly. This is preliminary and will be updated more accurately in the coming days. Hopefully it will change course out to the Atlantic rather than hug the coastline.
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?cone
4 Likes
happy first snowfall 
9 Likes
^I started dancing to christmas music as soon as it started.
2 Likes
This is just the beginning. Whole tri-state is traffic insanity. Snow storm for the area.
And this was a small storm.
5 Likes
a shot of the WTC. Note the bumper-to-bumper West Side Highway traffic.
5 Likes
I witnessed an accident right before my eyes. Sideswipe.
Various events in the city as per Chris.
20181116_105049 by Christopher Estevez, on Flickr
6 Likes
