Democrat John Brooks was officially declared the winner of the 8th State Senate District race yesterday, confirming that Republicans only hold the “majority” in the State Senate with the support of Brooklyn Democrat Simcha Felder and/or the seven member Independent Democratic Conference.
The City Council, yesterday, approved a $100 million air rights deal to allow five mixed use towers on the St. John’s Terminal site and restore Pier 40 as a park. In a pre-condition for the deal, the Landmarks Commission, Tuesday, approved the Sullivan-Thompson Historic District sought by the local councilman, Corey Johnson, to stop other development in the neighborhood.
The City Planning Commission, meanwhile, is trying to expand development with a new study of the Southern Boulevard corridor in the Bronx…the next target of Mayor de Blasio’s plan to raise development densities.
The City Economic Development Corporations this week posted a Request for Proposals for mixed use development of a 42,500 sq. ft. site in Far Rockaway and a Request for Expressions of Interest in an 80 acre former hospital site on Staten Island.
Whatever land uses are approved, it will be easier to map them and overlay demographic and housing subsidy data with Coredata, a new online research tool from NYU’s Furman Center.