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Originally Posted by NYguy
It has some street level retail, but the real issue is that they should really be building more on the railyards. Both phases, and even Manhattan West are underbuilt using even the basic Midtown FAR. That's the reason there's so much open space, and why it feels so different from the rest of Manhattan. But the NIMBYs had to be appeased. Which means they should be told to fuck off now.
One other thing, though Related classifies the earlier plan as having 6 towers (as opposed to the 3 now), it was really 8 because two of the sites featured 2 towers with a shared base.
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I don't think they need any more retail at the base. If you want retail, just walk a few blocks away. The open space is a respite to streets and cityscape that can get supercrowded and overwhelming at times. Since the streetscape is not developed organically but as a full complex, it would be hard to expect it to be like the rest of Manhattan's blocks. And at least they are not destroying neighborhoods or making stark superblocks with superbland buildings and useless plazas like they did in the 60s/70s 'urban renewal' phase.