I've met with an inspector with the Buildings department and he affirmed that the lot could be divided. 

The advantage to your strategy is that one could argue that in five years the majority of the reconstruction will be behind us and theoretically there could be more trade labor available at that time. 

I am currently a college student that has completed 2 years of general studies, and will be entering a major next semester my current plan is to double major in business management and Real Esate.

Having enough cash to Avoid high interest lenders is a MAJOR advantage.

So longer term, NYC will be valuable unless there is a major technological revolution and NYC goes the way of a Detroit which was the worlds automobile capital at one time. 

If you are interested in doing a search, search "property address search in NYC" and you can find Department of Finance Web App to find out Market Value. 

Does the building need major capex in the next 5 years, if so you should increase your capex.

For some reason a majority of people looking at buying one of my houses ask for a "rent to own" here in Vermont.

Having a pension is a major plus that you will want to hold on to.

Hi BP folks,A bit of a long lead-in here, so please hang in with me - I lost my job at the end of 2017 as my company downsized my entire department.