MAS needs your help in stopping the State Legislature from suspending, and effectively eliminating, tax credit programs that encourage the rehabilitation of historic properties in lower income neighborhoods throughout New York State.  The Rehabilitation Tax Credit programs encourage the restoration of properties both listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places and located in distressed census tracts. Read below for how you can help.

MAS estimates that approximately 16,200 properties in New York City qualify for these credits. MAS maps outlining where these credits are applicable are included in the slideshow above.  The maps indicate in grey the lower income census tracts and in red those properties that are listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places, and show that large parts of New York City are currently eligible for the historic rehabilitation tax credits.  For a closer look, download pdfs of the city-wide map and the individual borough maps. Continue Reading>>

MyCITI.org now links you directly to the City’s newest mapping resource: NYCityMap. Brought to you by the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunication (DOITT), the new map features a much expanded selection of data, aerial photos, and much more. You can search by address, block and lot, or intersection.

To help learn to navigate this new tool, click here for a step-by-step training guide, or contact Sideya Sherman at the MAS Planning Center or ssherman@mas.org for assistance and upcoming trainings.

Far Rockaway, Queens consists of two square miles of barrier island just across the bay from JFK Airport and just west of the Nassau County line. Its population is diverse, including a large Orthodox Jewish community, and immigrants from Russia, Jamaica, Guyana, and Guatemala. While there are some upscale areas, particularly near the Long Island border, a large percentage of residents live in public or rent-regulated housing. The area has been hit hard recently by a double-whammy: a wave of foreclosures due to the ongoing mortgage crisis, and a nearly simultaneous wave of new, often luxury, development.

Jeanne DuPont was inspired to start the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance (RWA) when she saw that much of that new development was proceeding with little regard for current residents. Continue Reading>>

A new map produced by MAS in collaboration with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) provides a citywide look at LPC-designated districts, scenic landmarks, interior landmarks, and individual landmarks. The map is subdivided by city council districts.

A total of 11 new historic districts were designated between January 2006 and June 2008, thanks in part to the increased funding the City Council (at MAS’ urging) has provided the LPC in recent years for research, survey, and designation work. Drawing on previous data from the LPC and the Department of City Planning, the new map summarizes their location in addition to previously-designated resources.

A quick look at the map (download the PDF here) confirms that there are more landmark designations in Manhattan that in any other borough, yet of the 11 new districts, six are located in boroughs other than Manhattan (four in Brooklyn, and one each in Queens and the Bronx). An analysis of total acreage of recently-added districts also showed that nearly 90 percent was added in boroughs other than Manhattan (37 percent in Brooklyn, 35 percent in the Bronx, and 17 percent in Queens). If the LPC is to continue its work to expand designations across the city, it will need the continued support of people who care about the city’s diverse urban forms.

As the recent economic slowdown gives us the opportunity to take a step back and reevaluate New York City’s planning processes, community-based plans can provide a framework for a future that works for all New Yorkers. The plans featured in this monthly column will provide examples of how inclusive planning processes work on the ground, and ideally will help inspire future community planning efforts.

Sunset Park 197-a Plan
Sunset Park encompasses a large stretch of Brooklyn’s East River waterfront, bordered by the Prospect Expressway to the north, Bay Ridge to the south, and the Gowanus Expressway to the east. The area has served as a maritime hub for over 100 years. The Bush Terminal was established there in 1895, and eventually grew to over 200 acres. Continue Reading>>

As always, the MYCITI website allows you to easily create and view maps about your community’s land use and zoning, property ownership, subway routes, schools, elected officials, and more. For a short while, as we finalize improvements, you can visit us at www.myciti.mas.org.

The Municipal Art Society is pleased to welcome Manhattan Community Board 1 (MN CB1) and high school students Alina Lee and Karen Wang to the CITI Youth program. MN CB1, which covers Lower Manhattan and Tribeca is an ideal place for students to engage with real-life planning issues. And this new team of interns has been working very hard to understand the nature of New York City’s local government, develop new mapping skills, and exchange information with other students in the program as they learn about community planning. Continue Reading>>

New York is a city of neighborhoods—most of them residential neighborhoods. New York is also a city of renters—two-thirds of us secure housing through renting. While news about the foreclosure crisis and its fallout goes global, the housing impacts are irrefutably local and imply different burdens for different cities. For example, foreclosure filings in New York City doubled between 2004 and 2007—more than twice the rate for New York State.

A report by the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy points out that while 40 percent of the 2007 foreclosure filings affected condos and single-family buildings, 60 percent of the filings were levied on 2-4 family buildings. That translates into a loss of housing for more than 76, 000 New Yorkers—at least 38,000 of whom are renters. Continue Reading>>

Now is your chance to tell the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) that you support the designation of the Prospect Heights Historic District. The LPC will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, October 28, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building. This hearing is the second step in protecting one of Brooklyn’s finest – and most endangered – historic neighborhoods.

Prospect Heights is threatened by the Atlantic Yards project, a proposal by the developer Forest City Ratner to build 16 towers and a sports arena on a 22-acre site that abuts the boundaries of the proposed historic district.

Encompassing roughly 870 properties, the proposed Prospect Heights Historic District is rich in historic architecture, with blocks of beautiful Italianate and neo-Grec rowhouses, interspersed with churches, small commercial and apartment buildings. Located just north of Prospect Park, the neighborhood has seen few changes since it was first developed in the late-19th Century. Click here to read more about the history.

MAS has worked in partnership with the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Corporation (PHNDC) in advocating for the designation of this neighborhood since 2006 Continue Reading>>

Knowledge is power, but local knowledge paired with the latest web-based mapping technology is empowerment. The Bridge Builders Community Partnership Initiative (BBCPI) and the MAS Planning Center partnered this summer to create a spatial inventory of neighborhood resources in South-West Bronx, with direct participation of the people who would ultimately use the maps.

BBCPI’s initiative set out to demonstrate that family well-being and child welfare will improve through collaborative networking among neighbors, parents, and neighborhood-based service providers. That collaboration, in turn, effectively connects people to the social services they need. Up-to-date maps showing detailed information on where to access and how to reach community resources, ranging from educational institutions, community-based organizations, and religious centers, to food resources and outdoor amenities for outdoor and athletic recreation, among other amenities, are now available to those who depend on these resources. Continue Reading>>