Locals pushing back against the NIMBYS.....
https://patch.com/new-york/upper-eas...y-presentation
UES 94th Street Rezone Gets Mixed Review At Community Presentation
Many welcomed the more than 100 affordable units at a proposed mid-block Yorkville tower. Others said it would destroy the neighborhood.
Peter Senzamici
Oct 26, 2023
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A proposed mid-block rezoning for a residential tower was met with a mixed response at a Community Board 8 meeting this week.
While some balked at the idea of another mid-block rezone, more were welcoming — and even enthusiastic — over the proposal, which would introduce over 100 permanently affordable units to Yorkville.
The 46-story tower proposed by Friedland Properties and the Chapman Group at 231 East 94th St., between Second and Third avenues, looks to rezone the block's current industrial zoning code to one that allows for dense residential and commercial use.
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Developers are proposing 452 total apartments, including 113 affordable units, to be built on a site which currently includes a pair of parking garages, an auto repair shop and a vacant five-story apartment building. Air rights from other buildings in the rezoning area, under different ownership, were purchased to allow for the proposed increase in height.
The affordable housing component, offered through the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, would be one of the first to be developed in the Upper East Side, said the land use attorney representing the developers, Jerry Johnson.
"Yorkville itself has recently had a limited stock of income restricted housing, and a lower rate of households and rent stabilized units than the city overall," Johnson said during his presentation to Community Board 8, noting that rents are rising at an overall higher rate in the neighborhood compared to citywide averages.
"We believe that this this will be a nice addition of a number of units — as well as income restricted units — near transit nodes and good for the neighborhood," Johnson said.
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The project was recently certified by the city's planning commission and has officially started the community review phase of the seven-month-long land use review process, known as ULURP.
A handful of residents who said they live on or near the East 94th Street block were quick to say that all they saw was an opportunistic developer looking to make a buck at the expense of longtime residents.
One neighbor at Wednesday's Community Board 8 meeting recounted a past interaction with Friedland Properties that conjured up bad memories.
"We had Freidland come and talk to us years ago about buying our air rights," said Elizabeth Weiss, who lives near the site on East 95th Street.
She said their offer was "below value" and said that the company is "completely self-serving" and the proposal is "an opportunistic development."
"The way Friedland interacted with us as a board, as human beings in the neighborhood, was pretty disgusting and diminishing," Weiss said, adding that she was against the apartment and said that there were "plenty of apartments" in the neighborhood that "people could afford."
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Andrew Wallace, who also lives right behind the development lot, said that it was "shameful" that the developers were "trying to fit this in under the guise of affordable housing."
William Friedland, of Friedland Properties — and a former member of Community Board 8 — said that the project was expected to deliver "mid single-digit returns" of about six or seven percent.
One neighbor named Elisa said that the current proposal, which shows a floor plan of mostly studios and one bedrooms was "a red flag ," and a signal that developers were marketing the building not for "lasting value" for the community, but for "transient type of person who might live here for one or two years."
Johnson later said in the meeting that the apartment layout is not finalized.
Another neighbor, Sacha Sellam, who said she and her family have lived opposite the site on East 95th Street since the 1970's, claimed that the developer's documents contained errors in its environmental assessment — and took issue with the fact that urban renewal sites, like Ruppert Towers, were being used to justify calling the proposal appropriately contextual for the neighborhood.
While she agreed that the current manufacturing zoning should be changed to allow for residential development, Sellam said that "having one urban renewal section be the dictator of what the Upper East side's neighborhood context is incorrect."
"No one is arguing against more affordable housing," another resident said, "we need it. What we're arguing about is the size."
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Despite the misgivings, even more people appeared to be enthused by the prospect of a development with an affordable housing component coming to the neighborhood — including nearly all of the Community Board 8 members.
"I enthusiastically support the proposal," said Charlie Melman, who lives in Yorkville. "I'm in favor of having more neighbors."
One public school teacher who said she lives just four blocks away agreed, adding that she sees the need for affordable housing to be built every day in her classrooms.
"I've seen that among my students," said teacher Marieke Thomas. "I think in our neighborhood especially, it's incredibly important to build as much affordable housing as we possibly can."
Thomas also took issue with earlier comments that were dismissive of studio-apartment dwellers.
"I think that folks who live in studio apartments can add value to the neighborhood," she said, adding that many teachers live in similar apartments.
Another teacher named Crystal, who taught at the Julia Richman Educational Complex in Lenox Hill and was priced out of Yorkville years ago, said that while nobody likes construction or shadows from new buildings, the city is in a housing crisis.
"Let's let's not lose sight of the big picture here," she said. "This is going to be hundreds of new houses for people."
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Others in support of the new development cited that a low housing supply supply, and a low apartment vacancy rate, is one of the main reasons for skyrocketing rents in the city.
Community Board 8 member Juno Chowla-Song said that she supports the idea, and that the location "is one of the best places to build it" because there isn't much housing on the block compared to nearby ones.
Two board members said that while they supported the proposal, they wanted the developers to try and include as many three-bedroom units as possible, citing high demand in the neighborhood from families.
"It was just a tremendous breath of fresh air to hear actual support of a development project at this committee meeting," said board member Craig Lader.
Despite apprehensions people may have about the proposal, Lader said, " this development here, would be greatly better superior to ... potential developments that we would not want to have in this community."
"In my mind, this isn't even a close call," he said.
Freidland said that once approved, and after a 421a replacement finally happens to help finance the project, construction would take about 36 months.
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