Last Wednesday, more than 300 community board members, land use professionals, and others concerned with development in New York City gathered at Pace University’s Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts for Land Use and Local Voices: Is the City’s Land Use Process in Need of Reform?, a conference co-sponsored by MAS and Manhattan Community Board 1.

MAS President Vin Cipolla opened the day by posing a series of questions that the three panels and keynote interview addressed, “How does New York City build?  How do the city’s neighbors shape their communities?  What, exactly, is distinct about the way New York City plans its neighborhoods and development?…What changes do we want to see?  What are the consequences of those changes?  What mechanisms are already in place to address shortcomings in the land use process, and are they working?” He continued, “As you can probably tell, today’s program is likely to provide more questions than answers, and that’s ok.  MAS, and others, are going to continue to work on these issues until we are that much closer to solving them.”

The conference’s triad of panels brought together some of New York City’s, and the country’s, leading voices on land use issues, and provoked interesting discussions among the panelists and the audience. Continue Reading>>

On Tuesday, November 18, at 6:30 p.m., Urban Center Books and the MAS Planning Center will co-host a book talk by author, planner, academic, and activist Tom Angotti on his latest book, New York for Sale, chronicling the rise of grassroots planning in New York, and drawing heavily on the Atlas of Community-Based Plans.

“Too many books focus merely on the problems of center cities or propose planning solutions only applicable in greenfield sites. Angotti chronicles a significant alternative – the 100 or more community-based plans developed in New York City since the 1960s. This is an important and compelling story of ‘urban policy from the bottom up.” – Ann Fosyth, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University reviewing New York For Sale.

Angotti, who serves as Director of the Hunter College Center for Community Planning and Development, and is a founding member of the Community-Based Planning Task Force, will present his compelling new book on how community-based planning confronts the market forces that drive New York City real estate. Reception to follow.

New York for Sale: Community Planning Confronts Global Real Estate
Tuesday, November 18, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
At the The Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue,at East 51st Street.
Free, but reservations are strongly recommended due to limited capacity. RSVP to 212-935-2075.

Yesterday, MAS testified at the City Planning Commission hearing regarding the Willets Point rezoning plan. First and foremost, MAS stressed that the plan, which includes an urban renewal action that will allow for the use of eminent domain, must reflect the results of an inclusive planning and monitoring process. In regards to the rezoning – from manufacturing into a mixed-used residential and commercial district – MAS suggested the City conduct a thorough examination of the plan’s implication for long-term, industrial and manufacturing job growth, including a justified strategy deployment of public resources tied to agreed upon community benefits. Finally, MAS raised concerns over the purported high standards of sustainable neighborhood planning Willets Point aims to achieve. The full testimony is after the jump. Continue Reading>>

The buildings in Harlem are brick and stone, And the streets are long and wide, But Harlem’s much more than these alone, Harlem is what’s inside.
– from The Heart of Harlem, By Langston Hughes

On April 1st 2008, the Municipal Art Society testified at the Land-use and Franchise subcommittee hearing regarding the 125th Street rezoning plan. City Planning has been working for Continue Reading>>

Today, MAS urged the City Council through testimony and individual letters to take the full extent of the time for review of the Columbia University expansion allowed under ULURP in order to fully examine the complexities of the plan.

MAS’ effort comes as the City Council scheduled a vote that appeared to cut short a full public approval process. The announcement of the vote was made without ample notice to the public and with time still available for review of the project under ULURP. To read the full press release, click here.

On October 3, the City Planning Commission held a hearing on two plans for the expansion of Columbia University into Manhattanville. One was the university’s plan, the other was Manhattan Community District 9’s 197-a plan — a community-based plan for the same area. The challenge is that the plans contain, in some part, contradictory visions.

In the 19th century, the village of Manhattanville, situated around 125th Street and the Hudson River, grew to be a center of manufacturing and industry with a concentration of milk pasteurization and bottling companies, and later, auto showrooms and meat-packing. Continue Reading>>