Posted Jul 27, 2018, 4:35 AM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 52,973
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NIMBY tears are so sweet...
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...t-say-one-word
A tower of 775 feet, and we can't say one word
How does a building twice the size of its neighbors avoid community review?
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pb...-180729950.jpg
By Chris Giordano
July 27, 2018
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I’m sitting in a conference room above West 87th Street listening with disbelief to a debate about the difference between a “too tall” building and a “super tall” building in the context of our community. I’m also wondering whether the expression “out-of-context” can even apply to these buildings, given that the word “context” has its own meaning when applied to zoning.
Manhattan Community Board 7 has already passed resolutions and written countless letters stating its opposition to these new megastructures, which tower over everything in our residential neighborhood and threaten its character and quality of life. Yet the backhoes and cranes continued to operate, despite our requests that the Department of City Planning quickly expand disclosure rules so communities can review new local developments.
These meetings have become central to my life over the past few years, beginning when we learned of the behemoth that was to rise to twice the height of any other building in the area. I love my neighborhood, a collection of pre-and post-war buildings that now must endure the filth and the racket of a midblock construction site that spans two residential streets—West 65th and 66th. There, the developer Extell is in the initial stages of erecting an out-of-scale 775-foot, 127-unit luxury apartment building, rising as high as a typical 80-story structure.
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Quote:
As founder and president of the local block association, it has become my mission to try to understand the process whereby a building like this can be built as-of-right, meaning without community review or City Council approval. The local community board is against it, as is our City Council member, Helen Rosenthal, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. Even the mayor directed the City Planning Commission to address the issue of massive voids—empty spaces in the middle of buildings that serve no purpose other than to provide apartments above the void with spectacular views.
Then I hit on a plan: why not invite City Planning Commissioner Marisa Lago to speak to our community about the commission’s vision for development throughout New York and what that means for our neighborhood. It seemed like a reasonable request; after all, we are taxpayers, stakeholders and voters. Shouldn’t we be entitled to hear the thinking behind the policies that are allowing the city to change before our eyes?
Initially, I was told that the commission had identified no development issues in our neighborhood—a stance it amended when reminded of the community board letters and resolutions. Then I was told that the commission staff was too small and too busy to speak with one community group. To that objection I offered to assemble a large group of many community associations. I persisted with many weeks of follow-up phone calls and e-mails, but never received an answer.
In the meantime, the gaping hole in the ground outside my window is growing deeper and the shaking and vibrating is less frequent—which likely means that the excavation process is nearing completion. And that can only mean that construction will begin soon, without the neighborhood having had a chance to learn about this project, let alone to weigh in on its appropriateness.
In my most cynical moments, I wonder if this is the way the city government wants it. In this city, with its grand history of civic engagement, we now are meant to be mute and powerless as we watch a building tower over the neighborhood, cast deep shadows on Central Park and change life in this area forever.
We are suffering the unintended consequences of outdated zoning laws combined with a city government that pretends these buildings will help solve our affordable housing and homelessness problems. What’s really happening is that aggressive developers are being given permission to radically alter the skyline and livability of our city, while citizens are denied the opportunity to participate in the process.
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