Council Approves Towering MSK Pavilion Despite Community Pushback

The City Council has approved the land use application for the massive 594-foot-tall Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Pavilion on York Avenue, between 66th and 67th Streets. Despite strong objections from FRIENDS, Carnegie Hill Neighbors, Civitas, and many local residents, MSK refused to budge on the building's towering height.

Continue reading

FRIENDS testifies on MSK Pavilion at the City Council hearing

FRIENDS testified at the July 10 City Planning Commission Public Hearing on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, the New York City Department of City Planning's suite of zoning text amendments meant to encourage and incentivize housing creation and address the affordability crisis in the city. Friends was among some

Continue reading

What you need to know: “Faith Based Affordable Housing Act”

FRIENDS recently submitting testimony at the NYC Department of City Planning about the CITY OF YES FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY proposal to overhaul the 1961 Zoning Resolution. While we believe updating and modernizing the city’s zoning is certainly important and overdue, we think the zoning text amendments are just a series

Continue reading

FRIENDS testifies at City Hall Subcommittee Hearing

FRIENDS recently submitting testimony at the NYC Department of City Planning about the CITY OF YES FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY proposal to overhaul the 1961 Zoning Resolution. While we believe updating and modernizing the city’s zoning is certainly important and overdue, we think the zoning text amendments are just a series

Continue reading

FRIENDS Submits Testimony at Scoping Meeting for Lenox Hill Hospital Expansion Plans

Last month, on March 2, 2023, the Department of City Planning (DCP) held a Scoping Meeting to give the public an opportunity to make their voices heard about what should be included in the Environmental Impact Statement for the proposal. FRIENDS' public testimony at the meeting (watch it here) pointed

Continue reading

New 2023 Expansion Plans for Northwell Health, Lenox Hill Hospital

After shelving expansion plans during the pandemic, Lenox Hill Hospital has once again come forward with a rezoning proposal to radically expand the scale of its full-block campus between 76th and 77th streets and Park and Lexington avenues. Although the residential tower on Park Avenue has been dropped from the

Continue reading

Proposed Assembly Districts: Deja Vu All Over Again?

New district lines for New York State Assembly districts are now being considered for adoption, and as proposed, big changes are coming to representation in local government for the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island.

Continue reading

Proposed Council Districts: Your Interests are About to Take a Backseat

New district lines for New York City’s 51 Council Districts are now being considered for adoption, and as proposed, big changes are coming to representation in local government for the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island.

Continue reading

BREAKING NEWS! Owner of Treadwell Farm’s Neglected Building Withdraws LPC Application

In an unexpected turn of events, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has decided to allow the applicant of 210 East 62nd Street to withdraw its application scheduled for tomorrow's public hearing.

Continue reading

Advocacy Alert: 210 East 62nd Street! Your voice needed at LPC this Tuesday

Next Tuesday, April 26th, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will review the latest plans for 210 East 62nd Street located in the Treadwell Farm Historic District in a public hearing. The rowhouse dates to 1870 with 20th-century alterations, and has been the subject of a contentious renovation project since plans

Continue reading