[NYguy]

https://www.westsiderag.com/2019/03/...ilding-heights


[b]West Siders Face Off at Meeting Over Development Tactic that Lifts Building Heights[b]

March 11, 2019

...During the community board meeting, many Upper West Siders declared that the amendment is not strong enough, noting that the proposed language may disincentivize developers from using excessive mechanical voids, but it does not outlaw them.

City Council Member Ben Kallos encouraged residents to support groups like Landmark West – a nonprofit that advocates to achieve landmark status for individual buildings and historic districts on the Upper West Side – as well as elected officials who have been vocal in their opposition to mechanical voids. On February 14, Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal introduced legislation to amend the New York State Multiple Dwelling Law and “close the mechanical void loophole.”

In reference to 432 Park Avenue, a luxury condominium that bills itself as “the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere,” Kallos said, “This didn’t happen until you had to offer billionaires multi-million dollar views in order to be incentivized to move into our city. If we can’t get a full height cap [on buildings], which DCP has rejected, the least we can do is close as many of the loopholes as possible.”

In response to the notion of instituting a height cap for buildings, the DCP asserts that a height limit imposed on new buildings is not the solution to the particular problem of excessive mechanical voids. The agency noted that much of New York City’s architectural character is defined by an eclectic mix of buildings, including landmarks – shorter brownstones and lofty high-rises, nineteenth century row houses and gleaming modern structures, all standing side by side.

“Buildings that should be 300 feet tall are 500 feet tall because the empty space isn’t counted,” Kallos argued. “There’s something wrong when [developers] would rather build empty space rather than affordable housing.”

These people...