FRIENDS Weighs in on City and State Proposals to Close Zoning Loopholes

The public discussion around the urgent need to close zoning loopholes that are contributing to overdevelopment continues to play out in the press, most recently in a Letter to the Editor that appeared today in Crain’s New York Business by FRIENDS’ Executive Director Rachel Levy.

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“Fix Our Zoning Rules,” Say Manhattan Borough President and City Council Speaker

Last week, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Council Speaker Corey Johnson wrote a letter, supported by the entire Manhattan delegation of the City Council, to Department of City Planning Chair Marisa Lago to encourage the agency to address and prevent the suite of loopholes being exploited by developers.

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FRIENDS Challenges “Periscope” Tower at Second Avenue and 62nd Street

From 1939-1941, every building in New York City’s Five Boroughs was documented in a series of Tax Photos through a joint effort by the Works Progress Administration and the New York City Department of Taxation.

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