Articles by Stephen Smith

190-11 Hillside Avenue, rendering from TCX

Revealed: 190-11 Hillside Avenue

6:00 am on August 14, 2014 By Stephen Smith

Last month, YIMBY reported that permits were filed for what we thought was the first major market-rate residential project in the core of downtown Jamaica, in eastern Queens, since the area was rezoned in in…

7516 Bay Parkway, overhead shot from Bing Maps

Why Is Hasidic Brooklyn So Much Cheaper Than Chinese Brooklyn? Not Enough 7516 Bay Parkways

3:23 pm on August 13, 2014 By Stephen Smith

Bensonhurst, in southern Brooklyn, is in the midst of great change, as Italians move out and demand from Chinese priced out of Sunset Park soars. Unfortunately, the city cowed to the old-timers when it downzoned vast swaths…

301 North 7th Street, rendering by Kutnicki Bernstein Architects

Revealed: New School Coming to Williamsburg’s 301 North 7th Street

7:00 am on August 13, 2014 By Stephen Smith

Normally in an R6 zone — like the one around the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, in Northside Williamsburg — you’re only allowed to build to a floor-area ratio of a bit more than two. But if you…

280 East 161st Street infill, rendering by Issac & Stern

Revealed: 280 East 161st Street, South Bronx Infill

6:00 am on August 13, 2014 By Stephen Smith

While the New York City Housing Authority’s grand “Land Lease” infill plan, proposed in the waning months of the Bloomberg administration, was highly controversial, other affordable housing projects have been wedged in between the voids…

543 Marcy Avenue, overhead shot from Bing Maps

Permits Filed: 543 Marcy Avenue

4:12 pm on August 12, 2014 By Stephen Smith

The area around the Marcy Houses, on the border of Williamsburg and Bed-Stuy, has for decades been a bit of a no-man’s-land. But with the rezoning of the Broadway Triangle for development – mainly targeted…

1288 East 19th Street, rendering via Hidrock

Revealed: 1288 East 19th Street

6:30 am on August 12, 2014 By Stephen Smith

In much of the city, masonry fell out of favor generations ago, with buyers and renters instead preferring the clean lines and large windows of glassy modernism. But among Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jews – whether they be ultra-Orthodox…

137 Jamaica Avenue (empty lot plus low-rise buildings below), overhead shot from Bing Maps

Permits Filed: 137 Jamaica Avenue

6:00 am on August 12, 2014 By Stephen Smith

East New York has emerged as the first neighborhood that’s likely to be considered for rezoning by the de Blasio administration. And while YIMBY contributor John Petro has written about what might be in store, a permit…

Based on data from the United States Census Bureau

Where Have All of New York City’s Small Builders Gone?

3:27 pm on August 11, 2014 By Stephen Smith

For the nation’s hottest housing market, the number of building permits being handed out in New York City is pathetic. While permits issued in other major U.S. cities have rebounded since the recession, the Wall…

568 Broome Street, site composed of the church above the blue dot and the walk-up to the left; overhead shot from Bing Maps

Permits Filed: 568 Broome Street

11:55 am on August 11, 2014 By Stephen Smith

Earlier this year, an entity called SoHo Broome Condos LLC, with an address in the Agime Group’s offices, bought up two adjacent mid-block sites at 568-572 Broome Street – one the site of the old Our Lady of…

123-127 Boerum Street above the blue dot, overhead shot by Bing Maps

Permits Filed: 123-127 Boerum Street

6:30 am on August 11, 2014 By Stephen Smith

East Williamsburg was subject to heavy development pressure during the last market cycle, but the area’s semi-industrial pre-war building stock — as well as losses due to urban decline — means that there are still many buildable…

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Articles by Stephen Smith

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