New York Daily News reports that Mayor Bloomberg met with City Councilmembers Friday night to urge them to approve the City’s proposed rezoning of Willets Point, Queens – a decision the Council must make by November 13.  To date, the majority of the Council has been vocally opposed to supporting the rezoning without key amendments.  Read MAS’ testimony on Willets Point here.

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News also reports that the New York City Economic Development Corporation has purchased another parcel of land in Willets Point; the largest parcel yet acquired by the City, this is the 4 acre warehouse, the House of Spices.

In other news, the MTA has delayed signing a contract with the Related Companies for their Hudson Yards bid… Continue Reading>>

On Saturday, October 18, join the winner of this year’s Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism, Alexie Torres-Fleming, on a walking tour highlighting several community-driven projects undertaken by her organization that have improved the health of the Bronx River watershed. HighOn Saturday, October 18, join the winner of this year’s Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism, Alexie Torres-Fleming, on a walking tour highlighting several community-driven projects undertaken by her organization that have improved the health of the Bronx River watershed.lights include the restoration of Concrete Plant Park — a once-contaminated property that was converted to parkland designed by local residents, and several storm water best management practices, including rain gardens, green roofs, and rain barrels.

From Burning to Blooming: Community Driven Projects in the Bronx
Saturday, October 18, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Space is limited. $15, $12 MAS members/students. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075. Leader: Alexie Torres-Fleming, founding director of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. Meet outside the office of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, 1384 Stratford Avenue, Bronx, NY 10472, MAP.

For details of upcoming MAS programs, visit www.mas.org/tours and for a downloadable version of our fall program calendar in PDF form, click here.

On Monday, September 22, MAS policy staff will host an informal discussion about current projects and programs taking place throughout New York City. Jasper Goldman, senior policy analyst, will provide an update on the East Side Waterfront Park, and MAS Planning Center staff members Eve Baron, Juan Camilo Osorio, and Sideya Sherman will review tools for grassroots planning, including the Livable Neighborhoods program, technology aimed at increasing public participation, and CITI Youth training and resources.

Inside View: MAS Work in Progress, Monday, September 22, 6:00 – 7:15 p.m., at the Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue at East 51st Street. FREE, but reservations are strongly recommended.  Call 212 935 2075 to RSVP.

For details of other upcoming MAS programs, visit www.mas.org/programs, and to download the full schedule of MAS fall programs in PDF form, click here.

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>>

MAS Issues in the Press:
- The security zone planned for Ground Zero, once completed, will inhibit active pedestrian streetscapes (New York Times). A new survey has found that 57 percent of small businesses were closed or displaced as a result of the 2004 Downtown Brooklyn Rezoning (New York Daily News).

- Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has approved the Lower East Side rezoning (New York Observer). As the proposed Coney Island rezoning is yet to be certified, amusement park operators wonder whether they will be granted another year extension on their leases (Brooklyn Paper).

photo credit: Ray Devlin Continue Reading>>

MAS in the Press: The MAS boat tour demonstrated the potential of New York City’s waterfront for infrastructure, transit, and public art (Architect’s Newspaper). Roland Lewis, President of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, answered questions last week about the waterfront on the New York Times‘ City Blog.

MAS Issues in the Press:

- Landowners at Atlantic Yards have filed their eminent domain lawsuit in state court (New York Observer). Related Companies has chosen a new landscape architect to design the Hudson Yards development; Related won the bid for the area after Tishman Speyer failed to reach a deal with the MTA (New York Observer). A new development at South Street Seaport will link the waterfront to the historic district (Bloomberg.com). A neighborhood convinces City to close streets adjacent to its only park to increase public open space for recreation (New York Times).

- The New York City Housing Authority is considering selling its 30.5 million square feet worth of development rights (New York Sun). The Whitney Museum is selling its Madison Avenue townhouses, formerly slated for the museum’s expansion (Crain’s New York Business).

Continue Reading>>

Monday, April 21, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
at the Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue, MAP

City plans now underway will give New Yorkers hundreds of new public playgrounds. These timely developments comes as scholars, educators, and designers are reexamining the way children play today. An international panel of play and design experts will analyze the factors that influence Continue Reading>>

For most of the last century, Midtown East has been cut off from its waterfront and starved of open space, but now the stars are aligned to address this. The future of three major projects — the redevelopment of the former Con Ed site, the rebuilding of the FDR Drive and the potential UN campus expansion — is in the balance, and, if planned together, these projects could be designed to create a glorious waterfront park between 38th and 42nd streets that descends to the East River. Continue Reading>>

A group of six leading landscape architects united for a day of brainstorming and collaborative synergy in early June to develop a bold vision for Midtown’s inaccessible East River waterfront, and three days later they presented the resulting concepts and images to a crowd of more than 200 interested New Yorkers. The intensive day-long design workshop, known as a charrette, was organized by the MAS, City Council member Dan Garodnick and Manhattan’s Community Board 6. Continue Reading>>

Sunday, June 10, 2:00 p.m. at the Rotunda, Hunter College, Brookdale Campus, 425 East 25th St., between First Ave. and FDR Drive.

The city has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to open up access to Midtown’s East River waterfront. The midtown section of FDR Drive is being rebuilt, the former Con Ed power plant site is being redeveloped and the city is planning to facilitate the expansion of the U.N. campus and create an adjacent waterfront esplanade. If planned together, these projects could be designed to create a new park, provide access to the waterfront and complete a greenway connecting the Battery to Harlem. Learn more. Continue Reading>>