New York

Our Lady of Loreto

Affordable Residential Building to Replace Our Lady of Loreto Church, 124 Sackman Street, Ocean Hill

Our Lady of Loreto, an abandoned church owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and located at 124 Sackman Street in Ocean Hill, is expected to be demolished to make way for an affordable residential building. Catholic Charities Progress of Peoples Development Corporation, which leases the property, is behind the project, the New York Times reported. New building applications haven’t yet been filed, but demolition permits were back in June and crews are expected to begin work later this year. When the church originally closed back in 2008, the structure came close to being razed for 88 affordable residential units. An agreement was made to build 64 residential units behind it while converting the church structure into a different use. Since the 2010 agreement, Catholic Charities hasn’t been able to recruit a redevelopment team to convert the property. The site, located at the corner of Pacific and Sackman streets, is five blocks from Broadway Junction stop on the the A, C, J, L, and Z trains.




138-28 Queens Boulevard, image via Google Maps

Permits Filed: 138-28 Queens Boulevard, Briarwood

Briarwood, a low-slung and middle-class neighborhood in central Queens, was largely downzoned to prevent development in 2008. But the developer-friendly zoning along Queens Boulevard was left in place. There, not too far from the Briarwood stop on the E and F trains, one builder plans to replace a small roadside diner with a seven-story, mixed-use apartment building.

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SS United States on her sea trials, June 10, 1952. Photo courtesy of Charles Anderson and the SS United States Conservancy

SS United States Won’t Be Converted Into A 400-Suite Luxury Cruse Ship

Earlier this year, Crystal Cruises proposed to transform the re-commission 12-deck passenger liner SS United States as a 400-suite luxury cruise ship. Sadly, the ship’s conversion is now being abandoned followed a feasibility study that indicated the project would be too challenging, the New York Times reported. After an inspection of the ship, it was found that roughly 25 percent of the hull would have to be replaced, in addition to new mechanical equipment and engine infrastructure. Also, since Crystal Cruises is owned by a foreign entity, the Jones Act would have made it challenging for the liner to operate as a United States-flagged ship. That means much tougher travel regulations, which is a significant disadvantage in the industry.

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