By Matt Chaban 1/07 1:24pm

Road Rage

Park this way. (Matt Chaban)

Parking in 140 Characters or Less: New Signs Simplify Parking Rules

Twitter has changed the way we communicate, and now it may change the way we drive, at least around Midtown.

This morning, the Department of Transportation unveiled new parking signs that greatly simplify and clarify on-street parking regulations. As Tranportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan joked, “We used to have signs with 250 character on four different signs in three different colors. Now we can say it in about 140 characters on a much clearer sign.” Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/27/12 1:54pm

Checking in

Holding out for hotels. (Getty)

No Vacancies: Union, Pols Push for Hotel Restrictions in Midtown East Rezoning

Everyone has been praying for the inclusion of churches and synagogues in the Midtown East rezoning, but no one has checked in on the situation of hotels yet.

The religious institutions fear they will not be able to profit from the rezoning the same way their private neighbors will. Now, the hotel union and its political backers are worrying that hoteliers might be in the opposite position, of profiting too much from the rezoning. They are requesting that the Department of City Planning require special permits for new hotel development within the rezoning area. So far, the Department of City Planning has reservations about the proposal. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/23/12 5:12pm

Best Laid Plans

They want more to look at. (Getty)

City Planning Says It Is Not Rushing Midtown Rezoning, Though It Has Good Reason to Act Fast

Earlier this week, Councilman Dan Garodnick called on the Department of City Planning to slow down the planning for the new Midtown East rezoning that would add possible a dozen new skyscrapers to the Manhattan skyline. The argument was that with such an important rezoning—the city’s fate as a competitive marketplace hangs in the balance!—more time was needed to consult all the parties and get the plan right.

For essentially the same reasons, the department is now arguing that it cannot wait. Time is of the essence to get these new projects underway. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/21/12 10:45am

Best Laid Plans

Too big, too fast? (DCP)

Midtown Slowdown: Councilman Garodnick Asks City to Take Its Time on Rezoning Midtown for Superscrapers

Easy does it. That is the message from Councilman Dan Garodnick, echoing concerns of two Midtown community boards, that the Bloomberg administration is moving too fast in its plans to rezone Midtown East to allow for taller skyscrapers.

The Councilman, who represents the eastern flank of Manhattan, applauded the plan in a letter [PDF] to Planning Commish Amanda Burden last week shared with The Observer, but he worries to plan is so complex, it needs more time to be considered. The Department of City Planning argues there is enough time to get the job done before the Bloomberg administration is out in a year and a half. Read More

By Matt Chaban 10/11/11 11:00pm

Greensward

A land swap to make Robert Moses proud.

Park Life: The East Side’s Landless Gentry Fight for Every Scrap of Open Space

Think of the perfect Saturday on the East Side. Brunch with your friends and the kids at, say, Fig & Olive, Artisinal or—the mayor’s favorite—Viand. Maybe a stroll along Madison for a little shopping and errands, and then off to Central Park to let the little ones wear themselves out before a nap. Or maybe it’s the other way around, soccer and softball in the park, a little tennis with friends or just some sunning on one of the lawns, then a late lunch.

Living East of Eden sure can be nice, but just like Adam and Eve, it always seems like there is more outside the garden gates.

Not satisfied with their proximity to one of the loveliest parks in the world, East Siders have been lobbying for decades for more leisure land, particularly along the river. They look jealously on at their West Side brethren, with Riveside Park and Hudson River Park—and even the green shoots along the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront. Thanks to rampant development, from Robert Moses’ FDR Drive up through the Bloomberg Building on 59th and Lexington, the East Side has grown more crowded every day, and yet access to the water, a mere mile away, has been all but impossible. Read More

By Azi Paybarah 4/05/11 11:44pm

The Budget

New York's New Governor Leaves Bloomberg Begging

At the Somos el Futuro legislative conference in Albany this weekend, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli could be seen hugging Senator Charles Schumer-not because he was feeling particularly affectionate, but because Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, chairman of the conference, which gathers top Democratic officials to discuss issues of concern to Hispanic New Yorkers, had urged attendees to Read More

By Michael Gonda 7/29/10 5:50pm

Endorsements

Schneiderman Locks Down Manhattan

Eric Schneiderman completed his sweep of Manhattan’s City Council delegation Thursday, securing the straggling endorsement of New York City Councilman Dan Garodnick in his quest to become Attorney General.

Gardonick, who represents the East Side of Manhattan and parts of midtown, credited Schneiderman for being a go-getter, do-gooder–the kind of progressive that, well, you just Read More

By Eliot Brown 1/08/10 8:45pm

Stuy Town Owners Triggering Default, Officially

When Tishman Speyer and BlackRock assembled $6.29 billion from a long roster of investors and lenders to bid on Stuveysant Town in late 2006, their prize was the biggest sale ever by price of an individual property. (The complex was sold for $5.4 billion, and another $900 million was rounded up for reserves and capital Read More

By Reid Pillifant 11/03/09 4:40pm

A Stuy-Town Simile

It looks like the elected officials who represent Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village are bracing for the complex to default, and they’re already reminding the complex’s lenders–Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–about how the lenders themselves needed a bit of help last year.

In a letter to Fannie and Freddie, the electeds–U.S. Representative Carolyn Read More

By Reid Pillifant 10/29/09 6:49pm

MoMA Tower Sails Through Council, On to the Courts

To the courts!

The City Council approved the controversial MoMA tower yesterday afternoon by a vote of 44-3, which is supposed to be the last step in the approval process, but is really just the last step before the inevitable lawsuit challenging the approval process.

So it’s just barely even news that an opposition group Read More