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From
LIC Post:
Assemblymember Catherine Nolan is demanding that the city put a stop on new building construction in Long Island City following recent news of a developer securing a half-billion-dollar loan to build what will stand as Queens’ largest tower to date.
The proposed 67-story condo-project at 23-14 44th Dr., in the works since 2016 and with construction beginning last year, came into the spotlight yet again just last week, when the Wall Street Journal reported that the developer had secured a $502 million construction loan for the massive $700 million project.
With the loan, Chris Jiashu Xu, the developer, will be able to build out the 780 foot, 802-unit “Court Square City View Tower” by 2022, the WSJ reported, with LIC’s Modern Spaces in charge of marketing.
But Nolan, who released a statement on the project this afternoon, said the tower is “another illustration of the inadequacy of the current zoning in Long Island City.”
“I have written numerous letters opposing such large towers and asked for changes in zoning,” Nolan said.
She claims that City Planning’s LIC Core Study, a neighborhood study that could lead to a rezoning, has been “put on hold,” while as of right towers continue to spring up in the community.
The Department of City Planning, however, said the city is working on the core study.
From
QNS:
Two elected officials representing Queens have joined Community Board 5 and concerned local residents in the fight against a controversial new housing development in Ridgewood.
Assembly Members Catherine Nolan and Mike Miller took their complaints straight to the top on July 13 when they sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio to draw his attention to 1664 Woodbine St., where construction is about to begin. Listed among the nearly 3,000 Ridgewood structures on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, the building is set for a vertical expansion that could “speed up the potential for additional high-rise developments” in the neighborhood, the letter stated.
More importantly to the lawmakers’ constituents, however, is the feeling that such developments are “destroying the integrity and character of the block,” according to the letter.
From
Sheepshead Bites:
Mute swans have a new look on life now that a bill was passed by Governor Andrew Cuomo ending the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) prohibition of the species, according to State Assemblymember Steven Cymbrowitz, who wrote the bill.
Cymbrowitz has doggedly tried to place a moratorium on the state’s plan to cull New York’s mute swan population — which the DEC targeted for extermination in 2013. Governor Andrew Cuomo has twice vetoed legislation that would halt the DEC’s effort to eliminate the swans, which the agency says are an invasive species that threaten local ecosystems.
“The people have spoken and I’m pleased that the Governor has listened,” Cymbrowitz said. “Tens of thousands of New Yorkers signed petitions, sent letters and emails to the Governor’s office, and, in my community, called my office to tell me how much they enjoy watching the swans in Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan Beach. People were very vocal about their support of this bill, and I have to believe it made all the difference.”
The bill establishes a two-year moratorium on the DEC’s plan to manage the mute swan population, which were introduced to North America from Europe in the 1800s. It also requires the agency favor non-lethal management techniques and provides stronger evidence that the swans endanger ecosystems.
From
Capital New York:
The City Council approved six bills on Thursday, five of which passed unanimously.
The only measure to face any opposition was a bill to place a two-year moratorium on developers who want to convert hotels into residential condominiums.
Eight members voted against the proposal, which has the backing of Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Hotel Trades Council.
In addition to placing a moratorium on developers who want to convert hotels into residential condominiums, the measure would also order a study on the effect those conversions have on the city's economy. The bill is opposed by the powerful Real Estate Board of New York and the Hotel Association of New York City.
Councilwoman Inez Dickens, who voted against the bill, said her colleagues’ attempt to protect hotel jobs was “misleading.”
“Although this new revised bill tried to address some of the issues property owners had, their property rights are still being denied without an explanation or a clear purpose,” Dickens said.
Councilman David Greenfield, a Democrat from Brooklyn, said the bill “was going a little bit too far.” He said some communities may, at some point, no longer have the need for hotels.
