By Eliot Brown 7/30/10 9:47pm

Better Faster Stronger

City Wants Consultant to Streamline City Planning

The real estate development world, which is full of complaints about government, rarely throws around the term “efficient” when speaking of the Department of City Planning. One of the biggest complaints is that most every developer embarking on a big project must go through what can be a months-long “pre-certification” process (though it can even Read More

By Eliot Brown 10/14/09 11:41am

Proprietress of the Skyline

As the summer was winding down, Hines Interests, the Texas-based firm planning a 1,250-foot slender tower set to soar next to the Museum of Modern Art, visited the Department of City Planning’s Lower Manhattan offices, designs in hand, to seek the approval of Amanda Burden, the agency’s director. The tower, designed by acclaimed French architect Read More