Under a new amendment proposed by the City Planning Commission, hotel builders in New York City would be required to obtain special permits to build in most light manufacturing zoning districts. The measure, which affects 490 million square feet of as-of-right land available for hotel construction, comes amid union lobbying to reduce the growing number of non-union hotels.

Existing gaps in the 32.5-mile Manhattan Waterfront Greenway will disappear under Mayor Bill de Blasio's $250 million plan. The completion of the Greenway, which will result in 1,000 acres of open space, "will strengthen neighborhoods and ensure that all New Yorkers have access to our iconic waterfront," he says.

Rezoning has proved to be a boon for owners and tenants in Manhattan's Midtown East. The area now is acknowledged as the area's center of business, a perception enhanced by JPMorgan Chase's plans to demolish its current Park Avenue headquarters and build more impressively on the same site.

Four building sites in the Two Bridges community were the focus of intense scrutiny as officials prepared for a public hearing. The Lower East Side Organized Neighbors have questioned the legality of the planned towers and say they would overshadow the Jacob Riis public housing campus, obstruct air flow into homes and drive out senior residents.

As part of a partnership between IBM and Fluor, IBM's supercomputer Watson will provide doctorlike risk analyses and help automate delegation of materials and labor for multibillion-dollar construction projects. "Think of it as a living and breathing system," says Sai Yadati, a partner at IBM Global Business Services.

Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act 3.0, which would remove obstacles to capital formation and would cut costs for small companies, is likely to be enacted regardless of how midterm elections turn out, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service. The measure has solid bipartisan support, the report says.

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