NEW YORK | New York by Gehry | 870 FT / 265 M | 76 FLOORS | T/O

[STERNyc]

I just had a vision of a soaring undulating tower reflecting the sun at sunset and sunrise, this building will be amazing!

[urbanlife]

It is okay, I think the material will really make or break this tower. As for the Woolworth tower, I think it will forever hold its own as an icon, no matter how many tall buildings are built around it.

[NYguy]

(Tribeca Trib)

New 76-Story Tower Raising Concerns

http://tribecatrib.com/photos/news/sept06/Beekman-couple.gif

By Etta Sanders
SEPT. 1, 2006

Next month Forest City Ratner will begin excavation for an 876-foot-tall apartment tower, designed by architect Frank Gehry, that will be Downtown’s largest construction project after the Freedom Tower—nearly 100 feet taller than the Woolworth Building.

The 76-story building, which is to include a new kindergarten-through-8th-grade school and a 25,000-square-foot outpatient facility for New York Downtown Hospital, will be built on what is now a parking lot bordered by Spruce and Beekman Streets. Construction may take as long as five years and require months of pounding pile-driving, according to several people who have attended meetings with the developer.

That has neighboring residents, businesses, and Pace University worried.

“There is a high level of concern about what six months of pile driving and five years of construction work will mean,” said David Cooper, a resident at 150 Nassau Street, whose second-floor apartment overlooks the hospital parking lot.

Forest City Ratner laid out the most detailed plans to date at a meeting on Aug. 17 with so-called “stakeholders” in the project, including Pace University, New York Downtown Hospital, residents of 140 and 150 Nassau Street and Southbridge Towers, Charles Maikish, head of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, and representatives of Community Board 1.

Three months of pile driving is scheduled to start by next February. The developer promised to reduce the noise by using an acoustical shroud over the pile drivers, according to people who attended the meeting. Work hours will be weekdays from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m.

The developer will describe the project and answer questions at a public meeting sponsored by CB1 on Sept. 14 at Pace University. A spokeswoman for the developer declined to respond to questions about the project.

Pace University classrooms and dormitories border the site along Spruce Street. “We’re very concerned, as we have been since we heard about this project, about the safety and security of the Pace community throughout construction,” said Meghan French, director of community relations for the university.

After the meeting, French said she was pleased that the developer seemed open to working with the university to minimize disruption to school events.

Dr. Bruce Logan, president of New York Downtown Hospital, which sold the property to Forest City Ratner, said the impacts on the hospital from construction should be minimal because patient and operating rooms face Gold Street. The hospital’s new emergency room, which opens this month, will also be on Gold Street. Previously the emergency room faced the parking lot.

“I think they’re going to do everything they can to make sure it doesn’t disrupt our activities,” Logan said.

At 140 Nassau Street, residents are concerned that pile driving will damage the 1880s building, which shares a lot line with the development.

“A large amount of vibration will affect a building made of bricks and mortar more than a building with a steel frame,” said Will Cosby, the co-op president. “Mortar chips and breaks.”

The residents have hired a consultant to monitor effects from the construction and are currently measuring background vibration. And there are other concerns.

“It’s the noise, the dust, the vibration,” Cosby said. “They’re digging a really big hole.”

Cooper, at 150 Nassau Street, said he had mixed feelings about how the huge new building will affect the neighborhood when it is completed. “A project that size seems out of character with the historic architecture of the neighborhood,” he said. “But I’m hopeful that over the long term the infusion of young families will bring residential amenities.”

French, of Pace University, agreed. “It’s definitely going to change the neighborhood,” she said.

__________________________________________________________________

New Schools Delayed, New Residents Not

By Etta Sanders
SEPT. 1, 2006

In the race between more apartments and more classrooms in Lower Manhattan, the classrooms are losing.

Opening of both the new kindergarten-through-8th-grade school on Beekman Street and the P.S. 234 annex will be delayed at least a year, according to the Department of Education (DOE). The annex, which will have six to eight classrooms and will be located in a building on the west side of the school, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2008. The 600-seat Beekman Street school is now due to open September 2009.

“The schedule is different from originally anticipated because of funding delays,” DOE spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said in an e-mail.

The delays are the result of a budget maneuver in the spring by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who withheld promised appropriations for these and other city schools in order to get state legislators to release state funds owed to the city for school construction.

While the school openings have been delayed, occupancy of thousands of new residences throughout Tribeca and the Financial District is forging ahead.
Families will be moving into three of the largest Tribeca developments, at 200 Chambers St., 101 Warren St., and 88 Leonard St.—almost 1,000 apartments— before any new classrooms are ready.

With P.S. 234 already over capacity, that means the school’s population will likely swell in 2007. “I expect class size to go up dramatically,” said Kevin Doherty, P.S. 234’s PTA president.

The P.S. 234 annex will be in a new residential tower at 200 Chambers St., now nearly complete. Eighty percent of the 258 condos have already been sold, according to Cory Walter, the building’s sales director. The first residents will move into the lower floors in December. And the location is definitely attracting families, Walter said.

“Tribeca is very well known for being a family-oriented area. There’s a reason we put in a four-foot-deep swimming pool and a children’s playroom,” Walter said. “Certainly a large attraction is the strong reputation of P.S. 234.”

Residents are expected to begin moving into a nearly 400-unit complex at 101 Warren Street (formerly Site 5B), across the street from P.S. 234, by late next year.

An agreement between Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff and Councilman Alan Gerson stated that the city would use “reasonable efforts to complete the building of the [Beekman Street] school by the date the residential units on site 5B are occupied.”

Residents are expected to begin moving into those buildings by late next year. The school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009.

[malec]

Trying to get rid of a project because of fears over construction noise? Sounds like typical nimbyism

[TechTalkGuy]

As for the Woolworth tower, I think it will forever hold its own as an icon, no matter how many tall buildings are built around it.
I agree.

The architectural marvel of the Woolworth is second to none in Lower Manhattan.

The view from City Hall Park has stood the test of time.

[JACKinBeantown]

Trying to get rid of a project because of fears over construction noise? Sounds like typical nimbyism

That's easy to say. Those pile drivers are freakin loud. Isn't there a way they can dig the necessary holes instead of pounding them down?

[Swede]

^there's been concern expressed by the locals not just about noice, but about if the old buildings they live in won't suffer real damage from vibrations from the pile-driving.
/iirc from posts on wirednewyork

[NYguy]

^there's been concern expressed by the locals not just about noice, but about if the old buildings they live in won't suffer real damage from vibrations from the pile-driving.
/iirc from posts on wirednewyork

Ratner is having a meeting with the community on Sept. 14th to address such concerns.

Dr. Bruce Logan, president of New York Downtown Hospital, which sold the property to Forest City Ratner, said the impacts on the hospital from construction should be minimal because patient and operating rooms face Gold Street. The hospital’s new emergency room, which opens this month, will also be on Gold Street. Previously the emergency room faced the parking lot.

“I think they’re going to do everything they can to make sure it doesn’t disrupt our activities,” Logan said.

At 140 Nassau Street, residents are concerned that pile driving will damage the 1880s building, which shares a lot line with the development. “A large amount of vibration will affect a building made of bricks and mortar more than a building with a steel frame,” said Will Cosby, the co-op president. “Mortar chips and breaks.”

The residents have hired a consultant to monitor effects from the construction and are currently measuring background vibration.

And there are other concerns. “It’s the noise, the dust, the vibration,” Cosby said. “They’re digging a really big hole.”

[STR]

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/5463/226hq6.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=226hq6.jpg) http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8232/225rc3.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=225rc3.jpg) http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/461/224rx4.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=224rx4.jpg)

[hoosier]

STR, you are a GOD!:cheers:

[CGII]

http://tribecatrib.com/photos/news/sept06/Beekman-couple.gif
Grrr! We're angry because we're about to lose our view of the parking lot next door!

I couldn't help but laugh just seeing the picture and title of the article.

[malec]

I love your U/C render of Foster's tower :)

[CHAPINM1]

All I gotta say is it's a city, cities are constantly growing, full of activity, and are sometimes very dirty and fully of very loud noise. If you want guaranteed piece and quiet, you better off moving to Montana where your at least 100 miles in any direction from any development.

The lovebirds picture just breaks my heart, hahahaha..... :haha:

[Lecom]

http://tribecatrib.com/photos/news/sept06/Beekman-couple.gif
Grrr! We're angry because we're about to lose our view of the parking lot next door!

I couldn't help but laugh just seeing the picture and title of the article.
Aww, how sad, these folks won't be able to view all those beautifully parked cars out of their window anymore...

[NYguy]

All I gotta say is it's a city, cities are constantly growing, full of activity, and are sometimes very dirty and fully of very loud noise. If you want guaranteed piece and quiet, you better off moving to Montana where your at least 100 miles in any direction from any development.


Amen. You would think Manhattan was the last place these people would want to be.

[NYguy]

Downtown Express

Seaport’s early reviews are bad for Gehry’s tower

By Ronda Kaysen


The tower on Beekman St. will climb 850 feet into the sky, a twisting, titanium sculpture that will rival the Woolworth Building in scale. At a public forum last week, the residents of the South Street Seaport and the Financial District got a first peek at the skyscraper by Frank Gehry that will transform their neighborhood and a preview of how the construction will impact their lives.

“This will be a signature project,” said MaryAnne Gilmartin, an executive vice president of the developer, Forest City Ratner, at the forum. Gehry, best known for his Gugenheim in Bilbao, Spain, is also designing the Performing Arts Center in the World Trade Center.

His 75-story, Beekman tower will leave an indelible mark on the New York City skyline, with its rippled skin and undulating walls. With construction set to begin next month, it will open two years before the new World Trade Center towers, except for 7 W.T.C., which opened last May.

Set three blocks east of the W.T.C., the four new Trade Center buildings will become a mighty backdrop to Gehry’s tower, which will be less than half the size of the 1,776-ft tall Freedom Tower. “It’s really going to change the neighborhood,” said Meghan French, a spokesperson of Pace University, which hosted the forum and is situated across the street from the new building.

For many of the residents who spoke at the forum, the new tower is not such a welcome neighbor. “I am absolutely appalled that a community board that was against a 12-story building in Tribeca has allowed a 75-story building on a narrow street,” said Phylis Salom, a resident of nearby Southbridge Towers, referring to a recent fight by Community Board 1 to reduce the height on a waterfront development in North Tribeca. “Tribeca is a community of millionaires and we’re middle class people.

We have been walked over and stepped on… it is immoral that this real estate company is destroying our neighborhood.”

Unlike the Tribeca development, which required public approval, the Beekman tower fits within the neighborhood’s zoning laws and involved no public review process. “They can build as tall as they want to build,” C.B. 1 chairperson Julie Menin said at the forum.

And so residents heard the details of how constructing an 850-ft. building will affect their lives. For the next three and a half years, residents will navigate closed sidewalks, periodic bouts of excessive noise and a dearth of public parking.

Forest City representatives displayed renderings of the building, which is bound by Spruce, William and Beekman Sts., at the public forum, including a video of how the building will be constructed from the ground up. However, a spokesperson for the company declined to make the images available for print. Bruce Ratner, Forest City president and C.E.O., did not attend the meeting.

An 11,000 sq. ft. public plaza, designed by Gehry, separates the building’s Nassau St. facade from two residential buildings at 140 and 150 Nassau St. Gehry will also design a second, smaller plaza on William St., used mainly for school children headed to a new 630-seat public school in the lower levels of the tower.

The plazas “are intended to be places that encourage people to pass through them,” said Gilmartin. The Nassau St. plaza will include ample seating, while the William St. plaza “was designed with kids in mind.”

The new K-8 school will sit in the bottom five floors of the tower and have a rooftop play area on the fifth-floor podium of the building. When the school opens in 2009, children will enter the building at William St., and gather at the plaza there. New York Downtown Hospital, which sold the parcel — currently an acre-wide parking lot — to Ratner, will have a 25,000 sq. ft. outpatient facility in the new building. There will also be about 2,500 sq. ft. of retail.

Mainly, residents wanted to know what to expect during construction.

“Many of my windows will overlook this site,” said Alan Mitchell. “Should I expect that, practically speaking, I will not be able to work out of my home office?”

Beginning in February, the construction project will involve a three-month period of pile driving—an extremely noisy and disruptive foundation building process. Forest City representatives offered little solace to neighbors.

“Pile driving is noisy, there’s not getting around it,” said Forest City senior vice president Joe Rechichi. “You’ll hear a boom, boom, boom and feel a vibration… it’s the course of doing business with piles.”

If residents agree to allow pile driving on Saturdays, the three-month process could be expedited, Rechichi noted.

Excavation will begin as early as next week, followed by three months of drilling caissons, a foundation building process that is less noisy than driving piles. Rechichi told Downtown Express that Forest City opted to drive caissons along the perimeter of the site to protect nearby buildings, but will drive piles on the rest of the site because it takes far less time than drilling caissons— allowing the school to open in 2009 — and will be less expensive for the developer. Forest City is also developing the controversial Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. The city announced earlier this year that the school opening would be delayed to 2009 because of a funding dispute with Albany.

Residents also worried about a loss of parking, both during construction and in the long term. New York Downtown Hospital will operate the parking lot planned for the new tower. However, the spaces will not be available to the 800 new units of luxury residential apartments. Residents expressed concern that parking, already a scarce commodity, would become even scarcer.

But Forest City is not planning parking for residents since it’s not required. “There’s got to be a reason why there’s no code requirements for it [a parking lot],” Rechichi told Downtown Express.

Construction will begin as soon as next month and continue for three and a half years. Crews will work Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

[Busy Bee]

However, a spokesperson for the company declined to make the images available for print.

Why? This is weird.

[Swede]

Downtown Express
By Ronda Kaysen
At a public forum last week, the residents of the South Street Seaport and the Financial District got a first peek at the skyscraper by Frank Gehry that will transform their neighborhood and a preview of how the construction will impact their lives.
Either there's been a real change in the design or that bit is way off. STR is gonna have to re-do the model ;)

[CGII]

I can't fucking stand these NIMBYs. I mean, it's one thing for those people who were against the Atlantic Yards, but Jesus Christ, these people are living in the financial district of New York City. It might as well be the urban capital of the world, and these people, who live square in the middle of it, are worried their neighbourhood will be ruined? Guess what:The buildings these NIMBYs live in 'ruined' the neighbourhood that was before their building, and that historical neighbourhood ruined another one, all the way back to New Amsterdam. It's one thing if the developers want to raze a block of historic flats or something for a parking lot, but come on, they're ridding the city of an eyesore parking lot for striking, 800' skyscraper.

I can't believe the attitude of these people. Don't build another skyscraper! We love the way our neighbourhood is and you'll ruin all the other, taller skyscrapers with your skyscraper!

[malec]

And they don't get that a new tower such as this could actually raise the price of their property rather than reduce it.

Also noise is not an acceptable excuse at all IMO. Whether it's a 10 or 100 storey building that gets built it doesn't matter, there will still be noise.

[Scruffy]

wait, i thought the curvy one was out and the model that was greenlighted was the one with straight walls and the normal looking setbacks. are we back to curvy? i hope not

[Antares41]

Oct 07: The parking lot is no more. Mounds of asphalt wait to be carted to New Jersey!:tup:
http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/5835/beekmanlotsc2.th.jpg (http://img102.imageshack.us/my.php?image=beekmanlotsc2.jpg)

[STERNyc]

Is it fair to say that this building is officially under-construction?

[NYguy]

Is it fair to say that this building is officially under-construction?

I would say so. We knew this was coming, and here it is. Now if they could just give us the final, final design - the one that's certain to be built (exact form).


Excavation will begin as early as next week, followed by three months of drilling caissons, a foundation building process that is less noisy than driving piles.

Forest City representatives displayed renderings of the building, which is bound by Spruce, William and Beekman Sts., at the public forum, including a video of how the building will be constructed from the ground up. However, a spokesperson for the company declined to make the images available for print.

[MONACO]

:banana:
At first I really didn't like this building, and I didn't think it had a shot in hell of being built. Now, I think it will make a great addition to the skyline. I do wish it could have been a bit taller though. I will be waiting for more accurate renderings!

[Scruffy]

this is the weirdest amount of secrecy for this tower. where are the final renders? are we going to have to wait until the building tops off and the facade is up before we figure out what its going to look like?

[TREPYE]

I've said the same thing. Its getting to be pretty stupid already.

[STERNyc]

I admit that now that the building is approved and underconstruction, Ratner should publicly release renderings. I wonder if this is the tallest building ever to be underconstruction where renderings were not made available to the general public? That said I'd rather have a built Gehry building where we might not know the design until its finished, than a design released before its construction perhaps risking its realization.

[NYguy]

I admit that now that the building is approved and underconstruction, Ratner should publicly release renderings. I wonder if this is the tallest building ever to be underconstruction where renderings were not made available to the general public? That said I'd rather have a built Gehry building where we might not know the design until its finished, than a design released before its construction perhaps risking its realization.

Gehry's probably still tinkering with it. But then why show it at the public meeting? Maybe there are more options with the tower. I believe for the most part it will be very similar to what we've already seen. But with foundation work starting, we may see something soon anyway, even if its just a rendering put up at the site.

[Thefigman]

I just don't understand what all of the secrecy is all about.

Could it be that the developers think the rendering might give the NIMBYs more to complain about?

[STERNyc]

Just wanted to give this thread a little nudge before we all forget about it. Construction is picking up and a nearly 900 foot Frank Gehry building is inching closer to reality...

[STERNyc]

Just to recap. From WNY...

On Oct.1 Ratner considered the site under construction:

http://www.startsandfits.com/images/beekman3.jpg

Not much to see then but Ratner spared no time and put up construction fences and tore up the parking lot. On Oct. 7, posted here:

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/5835/beekmanlotsc2.jpg

Pile Drivings began Oct. 20.

LMDC:
October 19, 2006

Pile driving begins on Beekman Street

As work on the new Beekman Tower (8 Spruce Street) ramps up, developer Forest City Ratner is driving its first piles around the site's perimeter for four days beginning Friday, October 20th (excluding the weekend). Called "soldier piles," the piles provide a barrier around the site's sub- grade perimeter that allows crews to excavate the soil within.

Overall excavation and foundation work for the 75-story tower will continue through summer 2007. Other construction and tower information was shared at FCR's open house meeting on September 14th. The tower is scheduled for completion in 2009.
http://www.lowermanhattan.info/images/news/101606_beekman_twr_lg.jpg

Work is continuing at a fast pace...

[CoolCzech]

I think we would all be more excited if we could see a final rendering...

[NYguy]

Downtown Express

Gehry Perfection

Construction may have just started on Bruce Ratner’s Frank Gehry-designed tower on Beekman St., but the famed architect is still tinkering with his T-square and does not yet have the final design.

“Maybe by the time we’re at the eighth floor, we’ll have a rendering,” Ratner’s spokesperson joked.

In addition to residential units, the 75-story tower will house an occupational health center run by the New York Downtown Hospital and a K-8 public school. But while the building is going up, renderings of what it will look like are still not going out to the public. According to the spokesperson, that’s because the building design continues to change and the meticulous Gehry doesn’t want to publish plans until all the interior and exterior designs are finalized.

The placing of perimeter sheeting and I-beams (noisy) began this week, to be followed by test piles (noisier) at the end of November and full-out pile driving (noisiest) near the end of January.

[Fabb]

the meticulous Gehry doesn’t want to publish plans until all the interior and exterior designs are finalized

Meticulous or hesitant ?

[NYonward]

Exciting time for this tower. I can't wait to see the final design.

[JACKinBeantown]

I don't think Gehry knows what a T-square is.

[antinimby]

What is it?

[NYguy]

Meticulous or hesitant ?

A little of both probably. He wants this to be his masterpiece. Meanwhile, I don't think we've seen the final Miss Brooklyn either....

[gripja]

LOL, I love the name of this thread -- was the U/C added later? I wonder if the Freedom Tower will beat this one up? I bet in the year 2020 when this building is finally opened to the public we're gonna just love its retro feel.

[NYguy]

LOL, I love the name of this thread -- was the U/C added later? I wonder if the Freedom Tower will beat this one up? I bet in the year 2020 when this building is finally opened to the public we're gonna just love its retro feel.

This one's under construction already, we just won't know what it looks like until it's topped out....;)

[Lecom]

Meticulous or hesitant ?
Perhaps senile. The old guy probably keeps on forgetting what he is designing. And I'm not just dissing him out of the blue - the dude backed out of a commission to build a landmark museum in the Middle East because he said he's too old to create a new groundbreaking idea.

[CoolCzech]

^Well, he could always try something a little - oh, I don't know - curvilinear, perhaps?:)

[STERNyc]

Perhaps senile. The old guy probably keeps on forgetting what he is designing. And I'm not just dissing him out of the blue - the dude backed out of a commission to build a landmark museum in the Middle East because he said he's too old to create a new groundbreaking idea.

Thats not fair. Frank Gehry is still as sharp as a whip, anyone who watches any of his lectures can clearly see that. He's semi-retired, as many architects over the age of 70 are, Gehry's 71, I.M. Pei and Philip Johnson did the same. He's a multi-millionaire and has the right to relax in his old age. He takes projects that interest him and doesn't take projects that he feels will take too much time or too much energy, ie. him resigning from the NYTIMES competition even though he was informed that he would've won.

[NYguy]

Thats not fair. Frank Gehry is still as sharp as a whip, anyone who watches any of his lectures can clearly see that. He's semi-retired, as many architects over the age of 70 are, Gehry's 71, I.M. Pei and Philip Johnson did the same. He's a multi-millionaire and has the right to relax in his old age. He takes projects that interest him and doesn't take projects that he feels will take too much time or too much energy, ie. him resigning from the NYTIMES competition even though he was informed that he would've won.

Not to get off topic, but he's still busy with the mega-Brooklyn development and various projects in other places.

[NYguy]

November 12, 2006

The new Gehry tower is imminent. All of Pace is abuzz with excitement...(perhaps)

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70157619/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70157618/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70157619/large.jpg


Gehry's building will tower over City Hall Park...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70157622/medium.jpg


A photo taken a few months ago of Beekman's neighbors, and the great street
that inspired its name...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70157624/large.jpg


Another look...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70157626/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70157629/medium.jpg

[BANKofMANHATTAN]

^^

I'd much rather see something that looked like BOA Charlotte than another crumpled trash monstrosity. Those artsy-fartsy buildings seem a lot less iconic (although having their place) than something with more structure. I could only hope NYC will get some new buildings w/ decorative/spired crowns to displace all these friggin' blockesque structures and amorphic shit... :sly:

[BINARY SYSTEM]

:gaah: I like the little red buildings.

[STERNyc]

^^

I'd much rather see something that looked like BOA Charlotte than another crumpled trash monstrosity. Those artsy-fartsy buildings seem a lot less iconic (although having their place) than something with more structure. I could only hope NYC will get some new buildings w/ decorative/spired crowns to displace all these friggin' blockesque structures and amorphic shit... :sly:

We don't know what the final design is going to look like yet. See the last article by the Downtown Express.

[WonderlandPark]

Another crumpled monstrosity? This is Gehry's FIRST high rise to get going.

[STERNyc]

Another crumpled monstrosity? This is Gehry's FIRST high rise to get going.

We don't know yet.

Here's two Gehry designs for New York City. Neither are a crumpled monstrosity....


http://www.brianrose.com/journal/gehry01.jpg

http://www.tfana.org/images/cap/exterior-lg.gif

http://www.playbill.com/images/photos/theatrenewaudience.jpg

In an earlier report Gehry said that his building looked like the Bloomberg Building.

http://207.44.228.232/photopost/data//508/8bloombergciti3.jpg

[NYguy]

The Bloomberg Tower was something of a disappointment for me. (Even mayor Bloomberg has said he's never stepped foot in it, not that I buy that).

But I'm confident the Gehry tower won't disappoint. The location, combined with a tower of that scale, and being completely different from anything else Downtown almost guarantees its landmark status.

[TechTalkGuy]

The Bloomberg Tower was something of a disappointment for me. (Even mayor Bloomberg has said he's never stepped foot in it, not that I buy that).
Michael Bloomberg never stepped foot inside his own tower http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/mr-fish/Miscellaneous/q.gifhttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/mr-fish/Miscellaneous/q.gifhttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/mr-fish/Miscellaneous/q.gif :rolleyes:

[NYguy]

Michael Bloomberg never stepped foot inside his own tower http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/mr-fish/Miscellaneous/q.gifhttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/mr-fish/Miscellaneous/q.gifhttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/mr-fish/Miscellaneous/q.gif :rolleyes:

That's what he says, trying to bring home the point that he's severed ties with his old company. I really find it hard to believe. He's the friggin mayor. And he has a tower named after him (and the company he founded). If he wants to peek inside, he can peek inside. I know its a busy city, but come on.

[NYguy]

Downtown Express

Frank who? C.B. 1 favors Corner’s plaza over Gehry’s tower

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_184/park.gif

Photo of a rendering of the larger of two James Corner-designed plazas outside the Beekman St. tower designed by Frank Gehry. Developer Forest City Ratner has not released any project renderings.


By Skye H. McFarlane


For two years now, residents of the South Street Seaport area have been delivering commentary about the upcoming 75-story Beekman St. residential tower: too tall (the building’s size is permitted under current zoning), too ugly (the design is still being worked out by famed architect Frank Gehry), too out of context with the neighborhood (nearby Southbridge Towers is a federal middle-class housing co-op).

But when acclaimed landscape architect and author James Corner appeared before Community Board 1’s Seaport Committee to present plans for the site’s public plazas, he got an entirely different set of responses — too nice, too open, too public.

The committee’s reactions to the plazas, which will cover 11,000 square feet in front of the building and 4,000 square feet on William St., were overwhelmingly positive. The long narrow plazas will double as pedestrian walkways and will contain 4,000 square feet of plantings, including 50 new trees. The larger plaza will have two fountains and both areas will offer ample seating for residents, passersby and parents waiting for their children at the site’s new K-8 school, whose entrance will be on Spruce St.

“It’s a beautiful plaza,” committee chairperson John Fratta told Corner after the meeting. “I’m not too crazy about the building, but the plaza’s beautiful.”

The major concern among committee members, upon seeing the design, was that the plaza would be too beautiful, and too attractive to populations of local college students, skateboarders and homeless individuals. Because the plazas will not be fenced and will be open 24 hours a day, residents urged developer Forest City Ratner to beef up its security plans for the area.

“These benches are lovely,” said C.B. 1 member Marc Donnenfeld, referring to the long, flat benches in Corner’s preliminary renderings. “But people will sleep on these benches.”

Clara Lipson, a Seaport resident, echoed Donnenfeld’s concerns, saying, “We have a big problem with homelessness down here and I am afraid that this design would be inviting more people to, er, take up residence here.”

Other committee members were concerned about the plan to put movable tables and chairs in the space as well as fixed benches. Noting the plazas’ proximity to a Pace University dormitory, Paul Hovitz said that theft could be a problem.

“You’re going to have to stock a warehouse of it,” Hovitz said of the moveable furniture.

When some board members suggested fencing off the plazas so they could be locked at night, the Ratner representatives bristled.

“There is then the implication that the space is only partly public,” Corner said, pointing out that the now-desolate block will be much busier once 75 floors of residents move in. “Really this is like a passageway. It is like a street.”

However, the Ratner group said that they were happy to consult with City Planning and come up with a comprehensive security plan, which might include brighter lighting and security guards to ward off theft, vandalism and vagrancy.

[STERNyc]

Its too beautiful....

The NIMBY's are showing their true colors, this is a call to the city to put a stop to their ridiculous claims and put sensible people in power of community boards.

[STERNyc]

That said the plaza does look really nice, it looks to be modeled after Bryant Park, with the picturesque plantings and movable furniture. It will be beautiful and otherworldly, when this park is set at the base of a Gehry skyscraper, it has the possibility to look like a scene out of an impressionist painting.

[NYC2ATX]

STERNyc . . that's quite a nice-sounding idea you've got there. I say they should go for it.

[NYguy]

The major concern among committee members, upon seeing the design, was that the plaza would be too beautiful, and too attractive to populations of local college students, skateboarders and homeless individuals.

“These benches are lovely,” said C.B. 1 member Marc Donnenfeld, referring to the long, flat benches in Corner’s preliminary renderings. “But people will sleep on these benches.” Clara Lipson, a Seaport resident, echoed Donnenfeld’s concerns, saying, “We have a big problem with homelessness down here and I am afraid that this design would be inviting more people to, er, take up residence here.”

Other committee members were concerned about the plan to put movable tables and chairs in the space as well as fixed benches. Noting the plazas’ proximity to a Pace University dormitory, Paul Hovitz said that theft could be a problem.

Yeah, because you can't trust those crazy college kids with movable furniture...:rolleyes:

And its nice that they've suddenly discovered the homeless. As if this will be the only open plaza in the city...

[Daquan13]

The design in the 2nd pic is almost reminiscent of the short buildings in the New World Trade Center.

[NYguy]

Tribeca Trib

Beekman Plaza Plans Unveiled

By Andrea Appleton
NOV.16, 2006

http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov06/Beekman-from%20web-w.jpg

The public got its first glimpse at a small portion of the plans for the elusive Forest City Ratner project on Beekman Street, the 76-story tower to be built next to the New York Downtown Hospital. Plans for the public plazas associated with the project were presented to a Community Board 1 committee on Nov. 14. The design of the building itself, by famed architect Frank Gehry, is still under wraps.

The two plazas will flank the eastern and western sides of the new building. The West Plaza will be nearly 12,000 square feet and the Williams Street Plaza about 4,000 square feet.

According to James Corner, director of Field Operations, the firm designing the plazas, about a third of the space will be greenery. These plantings include 15 large canopy trees and 25 flowering understory trees beneath them, “to create a sense of scale.”

“It’s a fairly richly and lushly and generously designed public space,” Corner told CB1’s Seaport/Civic Center Committee.

The plaza designs call for nearly 1,200 linear feet of seating, including benches, slabs, and moveable furniture. The West Plaza will include two large fountains.

Along a portion of Nassau Street, a row of vertical trellis structures covered with flowering plants and vines will provide a buffer between the plaza and adjacent buildings.

The inclusion of public plazas in Forest City Ratner’s plans are at least partially the result of an out-of-court settlement from a lawsuit filed early in the planning stages by the residents of 140 and 150 Nassau Street. The residents objected to the Beekman building directly abutting their own buildings. As a concession, the developer amended the building plans, creating 60-to-70-foot buffers between the tower and the two buildings. As a result of slimming the building and including plazas, Forest City was allowed to extend the tower’s height from 55 stories to 76 stories.

Though early models of a curvaceous building swathed in titanium drapery have circulated, official design plans for the building have yet to be made public, leading to speculation that structural problems underlie the architect’s design. Nevertheless, foundation work is underway.

When completed, portions of the building will include a new kindergarten-through-8th-grade school and a 25,000-square-foot outpatient facility for New York Downtown Hospital. Most of the building will house high-end condominiums.

“It will be a phased project,” said Susi Yu, vice president of commercial and residential development for Forest City Ratner. “Our goal is to try to deliver the school by the summer of 2009. For the residential portion we’re shooting for the fourth quarter of 2009 or the beginning of 2010.”

Following the presentation at the meeting, committee members expressed worries about the security of the plazas. They cited the likelihood of the moveable furniture being stolen, the possibility of homeless people taking up residence on the benches, and the potential for rowdy college kids disrupting the plazas. Several members advocated for security guards, or a fence.

Clara Lipson, a longtime resident of the Seaport, echoed the worries of committee members. “We have an increasing homelessness issue,” she said. “How is that going to be addressed? We don’t want more homeless here.”

Corner seemed noncommittal about the suggestion that a fence be installed to deal with such problems. “We wanted to make it totally public and totally accessible,” he said.

“Leave it up to us, to the neighbors, as to whether we want a gated jewel or a jewel that attracts honeybees 24 hours a day,” responded committee member Marc Donnenfeld, who has lived at 140 Nassau Street for more than 20 years.

Representatives from Forest City Ratner said they would discuss the board’s concerns, including hours of operation, with the Department of City Planning.

But Corner seemed unconvinced that the open areas posed any security risk.

“With the number of people coming in and out of that building,” he said, “the owner has to ensure security is taken care of. Right now the effort is to try to create a generous public space.”

http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov06/Beekmanrenderinghome.jpg

[Antares41]

I find all the chatter about the Plaza to be quite amusing! Gee! you think they were proposing to build a "Soup Kitchen" with all this talk about homeless people. The homless are already there, the plaza may just make them a little more visible to the people that pass by them oblivious to their presence!

[NYguy]

I find all the chatter about the Plaza to be quite amusing! Gee! you think they were proposing to build a "Soup Kitchen" with all this talk about homeless people. The homless are already there, the plaza may just make them a little more visible to the people that pass by them oblivious to their presence!

LOL, I find it amusing also. Especially the talk of the "rowdy" college kids who will steal the "removable" furniture. Who knew Downtown was so post-apocolyptic...:haha: Next they'll be complaining about all of the sick people coming to the building.

“Leave it up to us, to the neighbors, as to whether we want a gated jewel or a jewel that attracts honeybees 24 hours a day,” responded committee member Marc Donnenfeld, who has lived at 140 Nassau Street for more than 20 years.

Yeah, and left to them, the residents of the tower itself would probably be banned.

[CoolCzech]

Why should this particular public space be any harder to keep policed than any other in NYC?

[NYguy]

Why should this particular public space be any harder to keep policed than any other in NYC?

Just NIMBY paranoia at its worst...soon there'll be cries of muggings and rapes if the tree-draped plaza was left open....:rolleyes:

[CGII]

The major concern among committee members, upon seeing the design, was that the plaza would be too beautiful, and too attractive to populations of local college students, skateboarders and homeless individuals.
http://acegames.gsmhosting.net/Forum/images/smilies/explode.gif

[BrandonJXN]

Never in my life have I heard anyone dislike something because it's too beautiful.

[Alliance]

"Too beautiful"???

Nimby's have sunk to a new low. :lol:

[NYguy]

Let's just hope this new tower is "too beautiful"...:)

[CGII]

Let's just hope this new tower is "too beautiful"...:)
Well, you see, if the tower is to beautiful it will attract the eye from downtown towards Beekman. We can't have that. :no:

[Alliance]

Yeah, we wouldn't want people to look at beautiful things. That is lust and a sin. New York will burn and then we'll all be lucky to have nice park benches to sleep on.

Beautiful buildings destroy cities. <<< Proven Fact.

The fabric of society will crumble.

[CoolCzech]

Too tall, too beautiful...

Sounds like a High School kid judging his chances with the prettiest girl in class.

[Lecom]

Uhh. So let me get this straight. Those loonies want less originality at the plaza and surround it with a fence? Umm, this is downtown New York, not a suburban gated community. Someone please load em in a crate and ship em off to the exurbs where they rightfully belong, or at least put an end to this unacceptable dumbfuckery. And if they are so worried about the homeless, why don't they move their rich and influential asses to come up with some charity, social programs or any other solution to the problem, besides fencing themselves off in their pretty little private rosy world and living happily ever after, as long as the lock on the front gate stays closed.

[STERNyc]

For what ever reason homeless people congregate in some areas and not in others. I know of numerous public plazas that are always empty late at night, others however are continually occupied by homeless, the plaza at One Penn Plaza comes to mind. I dont think its the beauty of the surroundings that attracts the homeless, they merely have established places.

That said. According the LMDC website we will see steel in the summer of 2007. And the building will top off in the winter of 2008. Since steel becomes visible this summer I'm guessing that topping out would not be February 2008, rather something like December 20-something 2008. Unless they somehow manage to erect an 850 foot structure in 8 months. The tower is planned to open in 2009.

[Lecom]

For what ever reason homeless people congregate in some areas and not in others. I know of numerous public plazas that are always empty late at night, others however are continually occupied by homeless, the plaza at One Penn Plaza comes to mind. I dont think its the beauty of the surroundings that attracts the homeless, they merely have established places.
There are easy measures to prevent the homeless from creating habitats out of parks. For instance, the new plaza in front of One Liberty Plaza has occasional ribs placed across the flat seating marble surfaces, without interrupting seating yet making lying down very uncomfortable. And besides, if they have the millions to construct such a plaza and a tower, I'm sure they can squeeze out a few grand a month to get a rent-a-copper to make sure no one loiters for longer than legally permitted.

[STR]

The Bloomberg Tower was something of a disappointment for me.

The interior is spectacular. It was the subject of an article in Architectural Record, a few months ago.

[antinimby]

That said. According the LMDC website we will see steel in the summer of 2007. And the building will top off in the winter of 2008. Since steel becomes visible this summer I'm guessing that topping out would not be February 2008, rather something like December 20-something 2008. Unless they somehow manage to erect an 850 foot structure in 8 months. The tower is planned to open in 2009.Steel? I was thinking it would be concrete like almost all residentials nowadays.

If concrete, then it is entirely possible to get one up within a year's span.

Witness the pace at which 10 Barclay went up.

[antinimby]

There are easy measures to prevent the homeless from creating habitats out of parks. For instance, the new plaza in front of One Liberty Plaza has occasional ribs placed across the flat seating marble surfaces, without interrupting seating yet making lying down very uncomfortable. And besides, if they have the millions to construct such a plaza and a tower, I'm sure they can squeeze out a few grand a month to get a rent-a-copper to make sure no one loiters for longer than legally permitted.The homeless will not camp out in this plaza.

Those NIMBYs are just up to their old ways of overdramatizing everything.

They would feel like they were not doing their jobs if they did not complain about something.

If you're homeless, you want to be left alone, not in a place with lots of people and noisy kids running around.

[STERNyc]

Steel? I was thinking it would be concrete like almost all residentials nowadays.

If concrete, then it is entirely possible to get one up within a year's span.

Witness the pace at which 10 Barclay went up.

It could be that the school, retail, and hospital space will be built of steel and the residential portion will be built out of concrete.

[antinimby]

That would make it just like Time Warner and Bloomberg.

[NYguy]

The interior is spectacular. It was the subject of an article in Architectural Record, a few months ago.

That may be, but the interior won't help the skyline. I'm sure its nice enough inside. Take a tower like the Hearst for example. Even at its mid-range height, its a jewel added to the cityscape, regardless of what the inside looks like (though I hear that's nice too).

[NYguy]

The homeless will not camp out in this plaza.
Those NIMBYs are just up to their old ways of overdramatizing everything.

They would feel like they were not doing their jobs if they did not complain about something. If you're homeless, you want to be left alone, not in a place with lots of people and noisy kids running around.

Yeah, its just NIMBY posturing. There are plazas all over NY and Downtown. Years ago it may have been considered a potential problem (remember the AT&T - now SONY building?). But really, I don't see the homeless camping out there. They would be too annoyed with the college kids stealing furniture...;) (another NIMBY great)

[NYguy]

Speaking of college kids, they'll have to wait another couple of years to get
their hands on some removable furniture...

NOVEMBER 26, 2006

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70858454/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70858456/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70858459/large.jpg


Area architecture...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70858461/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70858463/large.jpg

[CoolCzech]

For what ever reason homeless people congregate in some areas and not in others. I know of numerous public plazas that are always empty late at night, others however are continually occupied by homeless, the plaza at One Penn Plaza comes to mind. I dont think its the beauty of the surroundings that attracts the homeless, they merely have established places.



I'm sure these NIMBY's would have enuff pull at City Hall to get any loitering homeless herded off if it ever came down to it.

I think they just feel its good form to complain when a new tower comes along.

[Lecom]

Witness the pace at which 10 Barclay went up.
Cookie cutter apartment tower vs Gehry's custom made ass-backwards twists and turns, where every joint is unique.

[Islander]

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/70858461/large.jpg


My new desktop bg. :tup:

[NYguy]

My new desktop bg. :tup:

It's one of the classics, and a former world's tallest. No doubt about it.

[ZZ-II]

yeh, really wonderful pic

[Lee J Buividas]

Cookie cutter apartment tower vs Gehry's custom made ass-backwards twists and turns, where every joint is unique.

Actually Ghery is very good at repeating the same radius throughout his designs.

They are not as complex as they look, just the same curve in many directions.

Lee j

[NYguy]

A neighbor speaks out...(Tribeca Trib)

Trib story on plaza 'partially' misses the mark, says reader

To the Editor:

Thank you for almost getting the facts right (“The inclusion of public plazas in Forest City Ratner’s plans is at least partially the result of an out-of-court settlement from a lawsuit filed early in the planning stages by the resident of 140 and 150 Nassau Sts. . . .”). Partially?! The plazas were nowhere in the original idea Forest City Ratner got from the Mayor and Deputy Mayor Doctoroff, which was part of the reason we sued. And you precede that statement with a sentence that (literarily) wipes out our two buildings: “Along a portion of Nassau Street, a row of vertical trellis structures covered with climbing plants will provide a buffer between the plaza and adjacent buildings.”

The buildings at 140 and 150 Nassau Street have stood between Nassau Street and the former hospital parking lot since long before the hospital acquired that urban renewal land.

Speaking only for myself—although I think my neighbors agree—I am not happy FC Beekman Associates [the developers] will be putting up a building so out of scale with the neighborhood, taller than anything anywhere downtown until (if) something goes up on the WTC site. But I am pleased we will have trees and a buffer between us and our fancier neighbors. I would also appreciate more sensitivity on the part of a local newspaper to the fact that we and our homes do exist and hope to exist for many years to come.

As for the security concerns voiced by some who are now suddenly involved: the new building, with its possibly multi-million-dollar apartments, is likely to have a higher degree of security than anything else within many blocks. All those folks will want their investment protected.

Suzanne Fass

[MONACO]

I am really excited about this building. Do we have an up to date rendering or any construction pics yet?

[Scruffy]

ive always been iffy on this tower. skyscrapers with shiny aluminum skin doesn't sound too nice. but i keep forgetting how freaking tall its going to be. chase manhattan dominates the nothern end of downtown but this will pop over that plateau. Its taller than trump world tower and GE up in midtown. this is no slouch

[NYguy]

I am really excited about this building. Do we have an up to date rendering or any construction pics yet?

NO final rendering as of yet...

[CoolCzech]

Is this building still happening?? Not a shred of news in months...

[STERNyc]

Still happening? The building is in the full thrust of construction, it should start to rise above the street-level shortly.

[Thskyscraper]

Well I'm really excited about this building. I should go down there and take a look at what's going on.

[ZZ-II]

that would be great

[NYguy]

Is this building still happening?? Not a shred of news in months...

It's under construction. The lack of news is a good thing. No neighbors arguing over the plaza, height, etc.

There'll be a rendering eventually.

[kznyc2k]

WiredNY member Vengineer has shed some light on why we have yet to (and perhaps never will) see a rendering:

Had a casual conversation today with someone involved in the project. He gave a nice insight on why there are no renders for this building. Gehry designs are extremely difficult to accurately model and render into an image due to the complexity of the geometry. That's why all his designs pre-construction are shown as photos of actual models. Rarely do you see any computer generated images of his designs. Maybe there were and if so, can anyone provide one here for viewing?

[Scruffy]

i highly doubt that with the millions of talented artists in the world that this man can come up with designs that are just too difficult for anyone to accurately portray. i call bull. they don't want to release renders as a calculated attempt to not provoke anymore nimbys and protests which is all that has been going on here for the past 2 years