I don't have too much to say since both Crawford and NYGuy gave well-thought and well-argued comments pro- the redevelopment of this block and the rezoning of this area of Midtown. Yes, New York is still predominantly an older city, and that is all the more reason zoning changes like this should be urged forward. I read somewhere not too long ago that every year an increasing amount of Manhattan's building stock is approaching the 50-years-of-age-or-more mark. To try to preserve all of that is just going to permit New York, a global center of most major industries, to fall behind. In an era when the developing world is striding ahead, this is unacceptable.
I wouldn't want this city to become Rome anyway, because that city is nearly as frozen in time as Venice. A historic world center, yes, but not so much a modern one...not to mention the fragile state of the Italian economy and its effects on the Eurozone. Athens is another museum city, and look at Greece. Not to say that under-developed major cities are a main cause of their countries' imminent declines, but New York's contributions to economic prosperity has not yet stopped driving America and the world forward (save a few hiccups), nor should it.
Furthermore, as far as preservation losses, I'm pretty sure we hit our nadir with Penn Station in 1963. If we can learn from that and spend the nearly 50 years since preserving our asses off...and still find more reasons
for this upzoning than
against it, it can't be that poorly thought out. And, not for nothing, but if the LPC is that concerned, just let them calendar all those buildings for designation. I guarantee that, when push comes to shove, some buildings might not even be deemed worthy of saving by
them.
Finally, I walk past this building often and it's particularly oppressive at street level, considering the amount of foot traffic in that area. That part of 42nd Street is dominated by 20- and 30-something-story pre-war towers that create a severe and darkened streetscape. I might prefer a retake.
And I like the Hyatt
those tchotchke, postmodern constructions from the 70s-90s are the New York I knew as a child. I'd lie down in front of the bulldozer that'd try to rip that shit down.
Hm, guess I did have a lot to say.