Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
How Do You Solve a Problem Like SPURA?
By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 16, 2010
Modified Dec 16, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Google Maps
By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 16, 2010
Modified Dec 16, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
After 40 years, is the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA) finally going to, well, be renewed? Maybe! After much back-and-forth it appears that Community Board 3 is nearly in agreement over what should happen to the largest patch of undeveloped city-owned land south of 96th Street. That is, unless the ever-present State Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver decides he doesn't like what ever they come up with.
If you've ever gone down Delancey Street towards the Williamsburg bridge and looked South, you've seen the mess of parking lots that is the SPURA site. The troubles began in 1967 when the city razed 14 blocks of tenements and kicked 2,000 residents to the curb in order to make way for new stores and buildings. But community opposition quickly took hold and decades later five large parcels still remain undeveloped.
Different parts of the neighborhood want different things: parks, stores and low-income housing. The current proposal would include all three with commercial and residential buildings interspersed with parks and with about half of the proposed 1,000 rental units going to middle, moderate and low income residents (with priority possibly going to those still around who were ousted in the 60s).
Lots of details have to be worked out still, but the CB3 members seem to think they are close. “This is the furthest it’s ever come,” said Dominic Pisciotta, chairman of Community Board 3 told the Times. They hope to have a final plan by mid-January.
Of course that is when the real test will come. Like every other big building project downtown the SPURA plan will need approval from Shelly Silver, and, well, that might be problem as his bread-and-butter voters are in the nearby co-ops which have been a major factor in the stalling of the development for all these years. So until the board finishes he is keeping his thoughts on the project under wraps...
Tagged
community board 3
Seward Park Urban Renewal Area
sheldon silver
spura
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Ex-Adams aide accused of pocketing kickbacks from community program funds
Federal prosecutors say Anthony Herbert took more than $100,000 in undisclosed payments from a nonprofit that received funding for community programs, including at NYCHA complexes.
By
Samantha Max
Published Oct 22, 2026 at 1:32 p.m. ET
MTA to begin 6-year project to upgrade signal tech on A and C lines in Brooklyn and Queens
The $1.9 billion project isn't expected to wrap up until 2032.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
News
MTA to begin 6-year project to upgrade signal tech on A and C lines in Brooklyn and Queens
The $1.9 billion project isn't expected to wrap up until 2032.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Former NYPD detective held on $1M bail after police say he shot driver on GWB
By
Brittany Kriegstein
MTA suspending bus fare enforcement teams after altercations emerge
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
NYC's horse carriage industry facing potential extinction with Thursday Council vote
By
Catalina Gonella
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .