https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/01/n...ld-square.html
Should Macy’s Build a Giant Tower in One of N.Y.’s Most Congested Neighborhoods?
A development plan would add thousands of workers to Herald Square, where 92 million people a year pass through the three subway stations in the area.
By Matthew Haag
July 1, 2019
Quote:
Macy’s still stands, but the rest of the area has been transformed. What was once a manufacturing hub has given way to an overflowing corridor of tourists and commuters cramming onto sidewalks, roadways and subway stations.
“Have you tried walking from here to Penn Station?” said Mr. Assile, 70, referring to the commuter train station. “It’s horrendous.”
Herald Square’s central location at the intersection of regional rail service and numerous subway lines has long made it one of New York City’s busiest neighborhoods. But today it is more congested than ever with 92 million people a year passing through its three subway stations, nearly double the number in the 1970s.
|
Quote:
Now Macy’s, the epicenter of Herald Square for more than a century, wants to test the area’s limits. It plans to build an 800-foot tall office tower atop the iconic store, part of what could be the beginning of a building spree in the district.
The city is experiencing one of the greatest growth periods in its history, with a booming economy, soaring tourism and a population near a record high.
|
Quote:
In Herald Square, swarms of people fill every available inch of sidewalk and rush-hour traffic on West 34th Street, a main thoroughfare, is often at a standstill.
More than 140,000 employees work in the area, and a Macy’s tower could add another 6,000. The neighborhood is already home to the city’s third busiest subway station, and Pennsylvania Station is the country’s busiest train station with more than 600,000 riders daily.
At least one developer, Vornado Realty Trust, has plans to put up a super-tall tower in Herald Square, further adding to the density of people and cars.
|
Quote:
Before Macy’s revealed its tower plans, company executives met privately with community groups and city leaders to outline their vision and gain their support. Executives also pledged that Macy’s would invest in the area’s infrastructure, such as adding new entrances to the Herald Square subway station, according to three people familiar with the company’s preliminary plans.
A Macy’s spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the company’s plans, saying that there were “a number of hurdles we need to cross before we can share more concrete details.” Macy’s would need city approval to build the tower.
|
Quote:
Some local leaders welcomed the news. “Anything that is good for Macy’s staying healthy and in business is good for New York,” said Dan Biederman, the president of the 34th Street Partnership, a business-improvement district in Herald Square.
Still, the tower proposal, though it could take years to be realized, has already sparked concern among elected officials over the potential strain on the neighborhood.
Gale Brewer, the Manhattan borough president, said that a tower over Macy’s would “require major public improvements to the streets and sidewalks that surround the Herald Square neighborhood.”
|
Quote:
Layla Law-Gisiko, a member of the local community board, had a pointed reaction to the idea of more people flooding into the area: “Disastrous, disastrous, disastrous.”
But Tom Wright, the president of Regional Plan Association, a transportation research and policy group, said that the sky-is-falling predictions for Herald Square were overly gloomy. He noted that several ambitious public transit projects are underway that would ease congestion both underground and aboveground.
...“There is so much investment in the area that you don’t want to walk away from it,” Mr. Wright said. “Taking advantage of that sunken new investment to build new density is good public policy.”
|
Quote:
The city’s development wave has already lapped up against Herald Square.
To the west stands Hudson Yards, a city within a city with acres of gleaming glass and steel office and residential buildings. To the east, skyscrapers are rising in a part of Midtown Manhattan that has been rezoned to allow for taller buildings.
Between them are Herald Square’s collection of mostly stubby buildings, except for the Empire State Building, that developers believe could be part of a giant business district stretching across the width of Manhattan.
|
Quote:
Even without a Macy’s tower, Herald Square is packed. It is one of the busiest pedestrian thoroughfares in New York, with more than 11,000 pedestrians at its peak, on late weekday afternoons, filling 34th Street in front of Macy’s, according to a traffic count by the city.
Each year, more than 20 million shoppers visit Macy’s Herald Square, the company says.
“Growing responsibly means that significant development must be accompanied by investments in mass transit, parks, schools, streetscapes, libraries and all the public goods that make our city livable,” said Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker whose district includes Herald Square. “We have to find a way to grow responsibly if we want communities around the city to accept the need for growth.”
|
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!
“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
|