Check out this week’s top news stories for the Upper West Side.
City Council Changes Zoning to Limit Sprawl of Big Banks on Upper West Side
The City Council approved a zoning change on Thursday that is meant to stop the proliferation of impersonal bank branches and other large storefronts along the major commercial avenues of the Upper West Side. The new rules, which were developed by the City Planning Department in response to requests from the local community board and the local councilwoman, Gale A. Brewer, limit street-level storefronts on Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue to a maximum width of 40 feet, with banks, on those avenues and on Broadway, held to 25 feet. Read More
Another Pricey Rental Rises on the Upper West Side
TWO years ago, the opening of the Corner and the Aire proved there was a healthy appetite for spare-few-expenses rentals on the Upper West Side. Units in these buildings, which have finishes like mahogany floors and amenities like washers and dryers, leased quickly, even though rents were higher than the neighborhood average. Now a new project is trying to replicate their successes. Developed by Friedland Properties and Rose Associates, a 20-story rental building is going up at Broadway and 77th Street. The building is now known as the Larstrand, though developers say that is just a working title. Read More
West Side storied: Landmarks panel
One of Manhattan’s historic districts on the Upper West Side will expand if the City Council approves a proposal moved forward by the Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday. The commission voted to add 190 residential and commercial buildings between West 79th and 87th streets to the Riverside-West End Historic District. The current district was designated in 1989 and includes 264 buildings between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue. The commission said the buildings now slated to be included in the district were built between the mid-1880s and 1930s, and “transformed a rural area into a dense urban enclave of grand apartment buildings and single-family row houses.” Read More
Nordstrom Finally Comes to New York
For years there have been rumors that Nordstrom would open a full line store in Manhattan. For many years they have operated stores surrounding Manhattan. In Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey, Nordstrom is a successful anchor to major malls in the greater New York City area but not in New York City. The many rumors placed them on Park Avenue, Fifth Avenue, in Soho, near the West Side’s High Line project, and on the Upper West Side. But the day has now arrived: Nordstrom has announced that a 285,000 square foot will open in 2018 at 225 West 57th Street. The store will span seven floors in a mixed-use, retail, hotel and high-rise residential tower.
DOT Launches Pilot Program to Combat Bad Bike Deliverymen
The city's Department of Transportation plans to hire additional inspectors to go from restaurant to restaurant on the Upper West Side, educating employers and bike deliverymen about safety regulations in the wake of a growing public outcry about out-of-control deliverymen, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer said. The DOT pilot program — which came about after a push by Brewer and the Upper West Side's Community Board 7 — will target rogue restaurant delivery bikers who unleash a flood of 311 calls from residents by riding the wrong way, ignoring safety rules and refusing to wear clothing that identify them as a commercial rider. Read More