117-44 Mandatory Subway Improvements

For the purposes of mandatory subway improvements, any tract of land consisting of two or more contiguous lots of record under single ownership or control as of March 1, 1986, shall be considered a single zoning lot.

Subway improvements are required for qualifying developments or enlargements, as follows:

(a)        Zoning lots with at least 5,000 square feet of lot area

Developments or enlargements on zoning lots with 5,000 square feet or more of lot area located on Block 1 and fronting on a sidewalk containing a sidewalk entrance to the Queens Boulevard Line, Court Sq-23 St Station, shall relocate the stairway or entrance(s) to such subway onto the zoning lot, in accordance with the provisions of Section 37-40 (OFF-STREET RELOCATION OR RENOVATION OF A SUBWAY STAIR), with the exception that, in addition to the waivers provided by Section 37-44, the additional standards for location, design and hours of public accessibility contained in Section 37-41 may be waived upon a finding by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that such standards are undesirable or unnecessary to ensure a good overall design.

(b)        Zoning lots with at least 10,000 square feet of lot area

For the purposes of this paragraph (b), the floor area of the development or enlargement shall be the total amount of floor area constructed after August 14, 1986.

Developments or enlargements on Blocks 1, 2 or 3, identified in Appendix B (Court Square Subdistrict Plan Map and Description of Improvements) of this Chapter, containing at least 70,000 square feet of floor area on zoning lots of at least 10,000 square feet of lot area shall provide mandatory subway improvements as described, in Appendix B, in paragraph (a) for Block 1, paragraph (b) for Block 2 and paragraph (c)(1) for Block 3.

In addition, on Block 3, any development or enlargement containing at least 300,000 square feet of floor area or any development or enlargement on a zoning lot of at least 30,000 square feet of lot area shall provide all the mandatory subway improvements for the Block, as described in paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) for Block 3.

(a)        Compliance with Transit Authority design standards

The subway station improvements shall comply with all applicable design standards of the current station planning guidelines of the Transit Authority.

(b)        Procedure

(1)        Pre-application

The applicant shall submit schematic or concept plans for the proposed improvements to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transit Authority and the Chairperson of the City Planning Commission.

(2)        Application pre-certification

After review and agreement on the concept by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transit Authority and Chairperson of the City Planning Commission, the applicant shall submit documentation deemed necessary by the reviewing agencies.

(3)        Prior to the granting of certification by the Chairperson of the City Planning Commission pursuant to Section 117-45 (Developer's Notice), the Transit Authority shall have submitted a letter to the Chairperson stating the drawings and other documents submitted by the applicant have been determined by the Transit Authority to be of sufficient scope and detail to fix and describe the size and character of the subway improvement as to architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical systems; materials; relationship to existing site conditions; and other such elements as may be appropriate.

(4)        The owner shall sign a legally enforceable instrument running with the land containing complete drawings of the improvement and setting forth the obligations of owner and developer, their successors and assigns, to construct and maintain all parts of the improvement, whether on-site or off, and to establish a construction schedule.

Any such instrument shall be recorded against the zoning lot in the Office of the Register of the City of New York for Queens County and a certified copy of the instrument shall be submitted to the Chairperson of the City Planning Commission and the Transit Authority.

The owner shall not apply for or accept a temporary certificate of occupancy for the development or enlargement, and the Department of Buildings shall not issue a temporary certificate of occupancy, until the Transit Authority has determined that the subway improvement is substantially complete, which shall, for this purpose, mean usable by the public.

The owner shall not apply for or accept a permanent certificate of occupancy for the development or enlargement, nor shall the Department of Buildings issue a permanent certificate of occupancy until the subway improvement has been completed in accordance with the approved plans and completion has been certified by the Transit Authority.

(5)        Where the mandatory subway improvement includes the preparation of drawings for off-site subway improvements, such drawings including, but not limited to, plans, sections, elevations, three-dimensional projections and other drawings deemed necessary or relevant by the Transit Authority or the Chairperson of the City Planning Commission, shall be in conformance with the current guidelines for submission of outside projects of the Transit Authority. Prior to approval by the Chairperson, the Transit Authority shall provide a letter to the Chairperson containing conceptual approval of the improvements as indicated in the drawings.