A State Supreme Court judge has issued a “preliminary injunction” prohibiting the city from turning the 78-year-old Pavilion in Union Square park into a restaurant. Last week the court ruled that the $21 million overhaul to the north end of the park could proceed while a lawsuit brought by community groups moves forward, but temporary stalled work on the Pavilion. Opponents object to what they see as the privatization of park space and insist the......

Photo via Gowanus Lounge Curbed is reporting on the latest victim of luxury condos: Myrtle the Turtle. Who's behind the act of animal cruelty? All fingers are pointing to the construction workers, who have the same shade of red paint on site at 5 Roebling Street. A neighbor, and friend of Myrtle the Turtle, wrote in:It is obviously intentional because she got such a sustained spray that it has drip marks. The face and......

In response to complaints about out-of-scale development, the Department of City Planning is proposing a zoning amendment to six streets in Carroll Gardens. This would classify certain streets in Carroll Gardens as narrow streets for zoning purposes and “limit the size and configuration of new buildings and enlargements to more closely match the area's prevailing character.” Many of the 19th century homes have coveted deep front yards, thanks to the Brooklyn Law of 1846 that......

Two years ago Studio B promised/threatened to bring Miami to Greenpoint, and for better or worse, the venue/club/bar has delivered ever since. Currently they're raising the bar by creating a palm tree adorned rooftop oasis -- and the neighbors are just thrilled. Last week we asked how long it would take before the local complaints shut down the roof. Today Miss Heather points to the stop work orders the club has received, still during the......

UPDATE: NY1's first report yesterday on the Union Square Pavilion lawsuit has been corrected. It turns out that, contrary to the initial news, the injunction stopping work on the park’s 78-year-old Pavilion is still in effect. While parts of the planned renovation to the north end of the park can now proceed, including construction of the expanded playground, the judge has also temporarily stopped the city from cutting down any trees while a lawsuit brought......

Tomorrow marks the start of Construction Safety Week in New York City, less than a week after Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster resigned her position at the Dept. of Buildings. Lancaster admitted to the City Council that the plans for a 43 story tower in Turtle Bay, Manhattan did not meet zoning regulations but were approved anyway. When a tower crane collapsed at that building, dozens of people were hurt and 7 people were killed. Lancaster's......

A state judge has issued a temporary restraining order to stop the city’s $21 million overhaul of the north end of Union Square Park, which would install a new restaurant in the historic Pavilion, redesign two playgrounds and repave asphalt where the Greenmarket had been operating. A coalition of community groups and parks advocates who brought the lawsuit say the city needs to get approval from the state legislature before privatizing part of the park,......

Photograph of damaged building from the 303 East 51st Street construction site's crane by John Zwinck on Flickr During a press conference yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg said, "I don’t think anybody should be fully satisfied with the Department of Buildings’ performance. Whether somebody could have done a better job — I’m trying to — whether they could have done a better job I just don’t know." The Mayor's criticism lies squarely with his hire, architect turned......

During a conference call with investors yesterday, Forest City Enterprises CEO Charles Ratner acknowledged that a window of opportunity had all but closed for the ambitious, 22-acre housing, retail and stadium project proposed for Brooklyn. But he also insisted that the delay – brought on by recession and dogged opposition from community groups – was just temporary: The economy sometimes alters the timeline, but we have demonstrated our ability to see these projects through to......

Brownstoner has done the math and concluded that there are a ridiculous number of hotels going up near Brooklyn’s lovely Gowanus Canal. The latest new development will be a nine story Fairfield Inn on Third Avenue between Douglass and Butler streets; construction will begin once existing buildings are torn down. So that makes a future grand total of 7 hotels in the Gowanus neighborhood; three already built and four more on the way. With a......

Photo of a crane on the Upper East Side by Stacyinthecity on flickr In an attempt to prevent another deadly crane accident, the city's Department of Buildings announced changes yesterday to keep construction "sites safe." The agency laid out several new regulations requiring oversight by city inspectors or a project engineer. Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster said that the new rules are "something that should have been happening" before. The engineer that applied for the......

In the wake of the Turtle Bay crane collapse that left 7 dead and a number of buildings devastated and damaged, The Daily News has a map showing serious crane accidents from the past three years and an investigation about crane accidents have risen. In 2006, there were 19 crane accidents, and there were 29 in 2007, like a foreman "dismantling a crane...[suffering] five broken ribs and internal injuries" in Midtown and a worker being......

Donald Trump's Soho skyscraper was hit with another stop-work order after a "hoisting device broke free and shattered glass on three floors due to high winds Saturday night." The Daily News reports a cable "was swinging from the 26th floor when it hit the north side of the tower at 246 Spring St. around 10 p.m." Windows were shattered; contractor Bovis "refused" to say whether glass fell onto the street (Bovis did say their personnel......

Since New York developers love to put on a happy face while spinning their architecture plans to the public, Lost City has made a translation guide so it's a bit easier to follow along. Here are a few key phrases:Statement: "Our design is meant to respect the historical and architectural context of the neighborhood." Translation: "This building is not as big and ugly as we'd like it to be." Statement: "We support the approval process."......

The construction worker who killed Adrienne Shelly in her West Village office pleaded guilty to manslaughter - and gave new details about why he killed the actress-director. Diego Pillco will receive 25 years in prison; as an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, the Post says his sentence will be "almost certainly followed by deportation." Originally, Pillco had told the police he killed Shelly in November of 2006, he was in a "bad mood" and picked a......

A rendering for a building that will replace a Cooper Union engineering building has emerged (above). Designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, the 440,000-square-foot mixed-use building will replace the brown tribute to banality that currently hunkers across from the historic 1859 Cooper Union Foundation building. The 51 Astor Place building is to be demolished; the fate of the connected Starbucks (between Third and Fouth Avenues) is uncertain. The Observer says the proposed building “will......

We noticed two YouTube videos, taken from an apartment with a view of Dean Street, documenting some late night construction activity at the Atlantic Yards site in downtown Brooklyn. How late? Well, one video takes place at 11:42PM (video) while the other is in the 4AM hour (above!). For reference, according to 311, construction hours are generally 7AM to 6PM on weekdays (there may be emergency work in the middle of the night, but......

Put any thoughts of the new Giants-Jets Stadium being named Mara Field (after the recently deceased and beloved Giants owner Wellington Mara) far from your heads. Sports marketing experts believe that the value of slapping a corporation's name on the arena, which is expected to be completed in 2010 and cost $1.3 billion, could generate revenues of $25 million to $30 million annually for the two teams. In comparison, the Mets are charging Citigroup $20......

After a year of widely publicized construction site deaths, New York City's Buildings Dept. is working to tighten up some work rules that may have fallen by the wayside or are no longer sufficient. DOB Commissioner Patricia Lancaster wants new rules and a strengthening of the enforcement of work licenses for contractors and concrete operators. Given the pace of construction in NYC over the past few years, three deaths since 2006 related to concrete construction......

Oh, MTA - you and your outlandish idea of putting a glorious glass dome at the renovated Fulton Street Transit Center! The proposed design, unveiled in 2004, seemed an inspiring idea for the agency. But, after years of attempts to start construction, costs have risen to $1.15 billion, from the initially estimated $750 million, causing MTA executive director Eliot Sander to say, "I am sad to say that we cannot build the transit center......

We don't know whether to laugh or cry. Last year, the MTA said that Fulton Street Transit Center would be completed by the end of 2008, leading Gothamist to write "that really means the end of 2009." Now the MTA goes beyond our forecasting and says that the project probably won't be done until 2010. Sucks to continue to be you, downtown commuters. The project, which caused a lot excitement for its linking of......

A memo from FDNY Operations Chief Patrick McNally is instructing firefighters to conduct inspections of buildings under construction or demolition on two different timetables, depending on their height. City rules have long mandated that all buildings going up or coming down had to be inspected by the fire department every 15 days. McNally's memo now instructs firefighters to inspect buildings over 75 feet tall every 15 days, and below 75 feet tall every 30 days.......

After years of protesting renovations to it -- this evening community members will be grieving Washington Square Park, and protesting those with its blood on their hands: the Parks Commissioner, Mayor Bloomberg, and City Council Members. Yesterday we received this letter, sent out by the Open Washington Square Park Coalition.It is with frustration and remorse that I write to inform you of a memorial service for the spirit of Washington Square Park. I join with......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a police officer was struck on Richmond and Wilson Aves. on Staten Island, there was a large fight on Franklin Ave. and Empire Blvd. in Brooklyn, and a double homicide on Furman Ave. and East 237th St. in the Bronx. The US Postal Service is expecting to process one billion individual pieces of mail today, three times the daily average. The busiest day of the year is expected to......

It looks like the World Trade Center Memorial has hit a delay. Originally scheduled to open on September 11, 2009, the Port Authority said today that it won't be ready until 2011, the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The delays only came to light after construction began and the agency could give a more realistic timeline. A Port Authority spokeswoman said, "We see the reality, and want to operate on responsible timelines. We'll work......

Ahead of tomorrow's vote on a proposed fare hike, the MTA finance committee committee has approved an increase in fares for subways, buses and commuter trains as well as bridge and tunnel tolls. The committee voted 5-1 in favor of the MTA's proposed 2008 budget, which includes the increased rates. The increase comes despite the authority's projected $521 million surplus at the end of the year and the possibility of another large surplus next year......

On January 2, after seeing a young man have a seizure and fall into the 1 subway tracks at at the 137th Street station just as a train was entering the station, construction worker Wesley Autrey jumped in and covered the other man's body with his own. The train passed over them and a hero was born. Autrey repeatedly told the media that he didn't want his two young daughters to see the man,......

The architect who was in the construction site trailer crushed by 14,000 pounds of steel that fell 25 stories from a crane may never walk again. Doctors believe Robert Woo was likely paralyzed; his mother said, "He might not walk again...I've been telling him he's lucky to be alive." It is amazing Woo is alive - seeing photographs of the site, it's incredible he survived - but given the amount of construction and development......

Architect Robert Woo is hospitalized but in stable condition today after the construction trailer he was working in was crushed by a load of falling steel that a crane dropped. The crane was elevating the steel at the site of the new Goldman Sachs building at the World Trade Center. The accident occurred yesterday morning when a nylon sling snapped and seven tons of steel fell 25 stories. Woo was the only person injured......

A construction crane crushed construction trailers and trapped a worker this morning. According to 1010WINS, the FDNY says "the crane dropped a load of steel it was carrying and crushed the trailers. At least one person was rescued; his condition was not immediately available." The accident took place at 200 Vesey Street - the very site where Goldman Sachs is building a new world headquarters. The city and state gave Goldman Sachs $650 million......