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Opponents Seek Draft of Reports On Trump Plan
September 22, 1987
Battle lines were being drawn yesterday over Donald J. Trump's proposed Television City project as community organizations on the West Side of Manhattan demanded immediate access to draft environmental reports on the project.
''There is significant opposition,'' , said Councilwoman Ruth W. Messinger, Democrat of Manhattan, during a news conference at City Hall to protest the refusal of the Department of City Planning to turn over preliminary environmental documents.
In an interview, Mr. Trump said the environmental impact statement on Television City, one of the largest real-estate developments ever planned in New York City, is ''just about complete.'' He added that it was ''up to the city'' whether the report would be distributed to neighborhood groups.
Plan Intact
The developer said he had not scaled down his plans for the property. If the project is approved, Mr. Trump said it would have the world's tallest building - 150 floors - and other structures that would include 7,600 apartments, a large shopping area, a hotel and hundreds of offices on 76 acres of the Hudson River waterfront, from 59th Street to 72d Street.
Central to Mr. Trump's plan is his effort to lure NBC to new offices and studios in Television City. The network, which has its headquarters in Rockefeller Center, has said it is considering several sites in New Jersey as well as the Trump project.
Mr. Trump said yesterday that he had not received any commitments from NBC, but that negotiations were ''going well.'' And
even without NBC as a tenant, he added that he expected to proceed with ''100 percent'' of the Television City plan.
At City Hall, Ms. Messinger said policies of the planning department should be changed to allow community boards and other neighborhood organizations easier access to environmental impact documents. The public is usually allowed to review environmental impact reports in final form and is given 60 days to comment. But Ms. Messinger said that was insufficient time in which to analyze and prepare suggestions on projects of the magnitude of Television City.
Planners Defend Actions
Planning officials said preliminary environmental impact reports are not disclosed to allow a period of confidential review by engineers and other experts.
''The process anticipates a period of isolation when scientists and engineers can do their thing outside the public eye,'' said William Valletta, counsel for the Department of City Planning.
Nonetheless, he added that he expected Community Board 7, which represents the West Side from 59th Street to 110th Street, to have access to the draft environmental impact studies before the end of this week. The panel has filed a formal request for the documents under the Federal Freedom of Information Act.
Board 7, one of the city's best organized neighborhood organizations, has taken no formal position on Television City. Doris Rosenblum, district manager of the board, said it would wait to review the environmental documents before making its position known.
However, she added that there was widespread opposition to the project among West Side residents.
Other West Side groups said they were mounting campaigns to oppose approval of Mr. Trump's plan.
''It's the equivalent of creating a medieval walled city,'' said Bruce Simon, an attorney and member of West Pride, a group involved in West Side development issues. He said that the traffic generated by Television City, the huge number of new apartment dwellers and the magnitude of the buildings would severely overburden city services.
Others maintained that the city should restrict development of the West Side and encourage more commercial building in the boroughs outside Manhattan.
''Our position is that the city should keep nice neighborhoods nice and channel development to neighborhoods that need it,'' said Olive Freud, vice president of the Coalition for a Liveable West Side, a group of cooperative apartment boards and block associations.
Mr. Trump said the opponents are ''apparently opposed to progress.''