Landmark West is LIVID that City Planning won't do their bidding, and try to restrict development on these sites. Even though, as CP strictly stated, there really isn't anything they can do, as the tower is as-of-right, and there would be no time to try to get a rezoning through in time to stop Extell from building anything.
https://www.ilovetheupperwestside.com/fo...ation-extell-plans-1200-foot-mega-tower/
Former ABC Campus Set for Major Transformation: Extell Plans 1,200-Foot Mega-Tower
Bobby Panza
June 5, 2025
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Now that ABC is o-u-t, prepare yourself for what may be one of the most contested property evaluations in NYC history.
In 2023, Landmark West filed a joint application with Community Board 7, asking the Department of City Planning (DCP) for a map and zoning text amendment that would limit the height of any new buildings constructed on the site. Extell Development purchased the ABC campus—roughly 2.4 acres of land—for $931 million in 2022.
The parcel consists of a group of lots bounded by West 66th Street, West 67th Street, Columbus Avenue, and Central Park West. The application asks City Planning to bring the former ABC campus back into the Lincoln Square Special District (LSSD)/ The area had been reconfirmed as being outside of the bounds of the district in 1993 to give the world-renowned broadcasting company more flexibility to adapt to specific conditions that supported its operations.
If the application is denied, Extell is already preparing a high-rise of roughly 1,200 feet—the height of the Empire State Building without its spire. The building is being planned for the entire block of Columbus Avenue between 66th and 67th streets.
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The tallest building on the Upper West Side is currently Extell’s 50 West 66th Street, a 70-story luxury condominium completed in 2024. It stands at 775 feet, surpassing the 52-story 200 Amsterdam Avenue, which rises 668 feet and was completed in 2019.
“You’re literally putting the Empire State Building on the street with no planning in place,” said Sean Khorsandi, executive director of Landmark West, in an interview with ILTUWS. “City Planning has had more than ample warning to do something [about this] of its own.”
Khorsandi contends that City Planning was initially supportive of their rezoning application. “But now it’s sitting there, and now they’re not doing anything.”
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ILTUWS reached out to City Planning to check on the map and zoning text amendment application submitted by Landmark West and Community Board 7. Deputy Press Secretary Joe Marvilli told us, “This application has not yet entered the city’s formal public review process. The community and stakeholders are exploring potential paths forward.” He also suggested watching this video of Community Board 7’s recent Land Use Committee meeting from May 21, which included representatives from DCP and the developer, Extell.
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During the May 21 CB7 Land Use Committee meeting, Extell’s Gary Barnett responded to criticism: “I’ve kind of been hearing rumors and secondhand statements that some people have been spreading about me, and saying that I’m anti-affordable [housing], [that] I don’t like poor people, and it’s extremely upsetting for me to hear that kind of talk.” Barnett added that Extell has built “over 500 units of affordable housing, some of them in the Upper West Side.”
Currently, there is no affordable housing requirement if Extell builds under the existing zoning parameters.
...This isn’t Extell’s first rodeo either. “We fought the last battle. We won the last battle,” Barnett said, likely referencing their 50 West 66th property. “God willing, we’ll win this one too—if we have to do it right.”
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City Planning told ILTUWS that their department “cannot require income-restricted affordable housing through zoning via Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) without a significant increase in allowed density, which the Landmark West/CB7 proposal does not include.”
They added that, “depending on the scale of the building, Universal Affordability Preference (UAP), which was created as part of City of Yes, could potentially create some income-restricted affordable homes.” Universal Affordability Preference is voluntary, meaning that a development must include affordable housing if it builds to the maximum allowed density, but it is not required to do so in a smaller building.
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The ABC logo is now covered, and the news ticker is no longer running. Soon enough, no matter what happens, both will be replaced by dust, noise, and construction equipment. City Planning’s zoning decision will determine just how much.
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