NEW YORK | 980 Madison Av. | HEIGHT | 30 FLOORS | 2006 | NEVER BUILT

[Thskyscraper]

Originally Posted by Lecom

Amazing project, I'm all for it. While I'm in favor of keeping West Side's pre-war vibe, UES area can definitely use something bold like this. If anything, Ariel East and West should have been built on this side of Central Park too.

Yeah, but then I would't have any high-rises to follow in my neighborhood . Actually 808 Columbus (29 stories) is in the excavation process so soon there's going to be another one.

[Raraavis]

"What makes Paris beautiful?” asked Don Gringer, a Park Avenue resident. “Low-rise buildings, limestone, ornaments — all similar and somewhat matching but working together."

What makes Paris beautiful is the contrast between the "Low-rise buildings, limestone, ornaments" and the giant steel sculpture that towers over the city. The exception makes the rule. They should be happy this is better than 85% of the new towers proposed.

[NYguy]

NY Sun

Between Hong Kong and Paris

New York Sun Editorial
October 18, 2006

Two events this week — the sale of Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town and a series of community board hearings about Aby Rosen's proposal to build a new tower on the Upper East Side — cast into sharp relief the way New Yorkers are faced with decisions about what their metropolis will look like in the future. By our lights the question boils down to how to chart a course between Hong Kong and Paris. The French capital has preserved its history to the detriment of its future, while Hong Kong has looked so far forward that it has suffered in the cultural sense. We have the sense that neither extreme is right for New York.

The announced sale of Peter Cooper and Stuyvesant Town to Tishman Speyer for a record-setting $5.4 billion caps nearly two months of intense bidding and politicking. Even as the private-sector auction was underway, Senator Schumer and other politicians were, demagogically, taking up the cause of allegedly aggrieved tenants who represented they were worried the sale would mark an end of an era of middle class affordability in Manhattan. Such was never a credible fear. The large number of apartment units in the developments that are still rent stabilized — about 70% by most counts — will be stabilized even after the ink on the sale is dry, though there may well be litigation over all this for years.

The main fear being voiced is that a new owner would expand on efforts by the seller, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, to ensure that only tenants who are legally entitled to stabilization benefit from the artificially reduced rents. For example, Met Life had installed a new electronic card-key access system in an effort to crack down on illegal subletting. As we remarked in an editorial while the process was unfolding, the precise extent to which the development is a middle-class haven has been overstated. Peter Cooper and Stuyvesant Town are not the middle class areas they were four decades ago, because many people who were members of the middle class 40 years ago have moved up in the world.

Yet some New Yorkers were happy to wave the flag of an antiquated vision of the development in an effort to stop a private sale from going forward. Mr. Schumer even proposed forcing New Yorkers to pay tax money into a quixotic tenant-buyout proposal. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn also opposed the sale by Met Life. Ultimately those efforts went nowhere. So in this sense at least, the newly announced sale is more than just a sign that the New York real estate dynamo is booming. It's a sign that the future has a place in the city. True, rent stabilization will continue there for the foreseeable future, but, absent surprises in the courts, nostalgia and fear of the future aren't being allowed to combine to thwart the deal.

A proposed real estate development on the Upper East Side will bring the issue even more clearly into focus. Mr. Rosen proposes building an apartment tower designed by Lord Foster atop the Parke-Bernet gallery building on Madison Avenue. He is already running into opposition from neighbors and historic preservationists who decry his plans for a site in the Upper East Side historic district that stretches from 59th Street to 78th Street. Opponents argue that preserving neighborhoods, as opposed to just individual buildings, protects historical context, though if the preservationists really believed that, they would have bought the rights to build.

In any event, to what extent is landmarking to hold sway? Surely part of New York's overall historical context is its willingness to welcome innovative new growth, its capacity for transformation.

While no one wants New York to become like Hong Kong, a city so rabidly modern that it has too often sublimated its history, the solution isn't to transform Manhattan into Paris instead, a city so self-satisfied with the glories of its past that it has relegated itself to a miserable future and all growth to the suburbs. We carry no particular brief for Mr. Rosen or his tower. But by the same token, Mr. Rosen's opponents might want to reserve judgment. Change itself is as much a part of New York's identity as any particular neighborhood.

[Thskyscraper]

I like that article. But really, how much history must we perserve? I mean sometimes NIMBYs are hopping mad over a gutted brownhouse. It's not like their demolishing whats currently there anyway.

[NYguy]

^ They just feel that change will bring an end to their lives as they know it....

NY Times

Manhattan: Board Rejects East Side Skyscraper


By ROBIN POGREBIN
October 19, 2006

The Upper East Side community board voted last night against a proposed 30-story skyscraper at 980 Madison Avenue. The tower, designed by Norman Foster, would be an addition to the Parke-Bernet Gallery building between 76th and 77th Streets.

The vote of 20-13 (with two abstaining) was closer than expected, in part because members of the art world came out in force to support the developer, Aby Rosen, a major collector of contemporary art. “I think we have an important chance here to add to our legacy as New Yorkers with this very, very special building,” said Jeff Koons, the artist, who lives on the Upper East Side.

Although the board’s role is only advisory, its vote will be considered by city agencies in the decision-making process.

[skylife]

“What makes Paris beautiful?” asked Don Gringer, a Park Avenue resident. “Low-rise buildings, limestone, ornaments — all similar and somewhat matching but working together. Help us keep our Madison Avenue as beautiful and in character.”

Um, and what makes Manhattan beautiful?

Why on earth would anybody live in Manhattan if they are aesthetically opposed to skyscrapers? It's good that there are some neighborhoods that aren't dominated by skyscrapers, but it's not like there aren't tall buildings on the UES.

[Jularc]

Board 8 votes against Foster tower on Madison Avenue





19-OCT-06

Community Board 8 last night voted 20 to 13 with 2 abstentions to recommend that the Landmarks Preservation Commission not grant a certificate of appropriateness for a proposed residential addition to 980 Madison Avenue opposite the Art Deco-style Carlyle Hotel, the most prominent skyline landmark above 61st Street on the Upper East Side west of Third Avenue.

The board’s vote is advisory and the commission’s hearing on the project is scheduled for October 24.

The proposed addition has been designed by Lord Norman Foster for Aby J. Rosen, the owner of the Seagram Building and Lever House, who presented his plans to the board last night.

The existing building at 980 Madison Avenue is a five-story, limestone-clad structure that extends from 76th to 77th Streets and is known now as the Carlyle Galleries Building and its tenants include the Gagosian Gallery and the East Side office of Prudential Douglas Elliman, the real estate firm.

It was built in 1950 and designed by Walker & Poor and is notable for a large, protruding sculpture over the entrance by Wheeler Williams. The building, which is in the Upper East Side Historic District, was expanded with the addition of one floor in 1987.

In an October 28, 2001 article in The New York Times, Christopher Gray noted that the 40-story Carlyle Hotel on 76th Street and adjoining 14-story apartment building on 77th Street comprised “the signature project of Moses Ginsberg.” Mr. Ginsberg subsequently lost the Madison Avenue blockfront in the early days of the Depression and it was acquired by Robert Dowling who, Mr. Gray wrote, “put up the old Parke-Bernet building across the street...to protect the Carlyle’s west light.”

980 Madison Avenue was acquired in 2004 for about $120 million from the Peter Sharp Foundation by RFR Holdings Inc., of which Mr. Rosen is a principal.

The proposed plan for 980 Madison Avenue would remove the top floor, which was added in 1987, and erect a reflective glass tower at the northern end. The tower would have 22 floors and 18 condominium apartments and its plan is two interlocked ellipses for most of its height.

Mr. Rosen’s plans call for the creation of a 10,000-square-foot, publicly accessible, rooftop sculpture garden and about 25,000-square feet of gallery space on the third and fourth floors for art exhibitions.

Several leading figures in the art world spoke in favor of the proposal.

Jeff Koons, the artist, said it was “a very special building.” A statement by Larry Salander of the Salander-O’Reilly Gallery termed it a “godsend” and statements were read expressing enthusiasm for it from Larry Gagosian, the art dealer, and William Ruprecht, the president of Sotheby’s. 3 Marc Glimcher of Pace Wildenstein also spoke in favor of it.

Jane Parshall, a board member, described the project as “overbearing” and not “contextual,” and another board member, Elizabeth Ashley, said that its height of 355 feet is far above the 210 feet limit of the Madison Avenue Special Preservation District.

One board member called the proprosal “a tour de force” and another described the tower as “feathers in a cap.”

Lord Foster is also designing a mixed-use tower for Mr. Rosen at 610 Lexington Avenue immediately behind the Seagram Building, which Mr. Rosen owns. Lord Foster designed the recently completed Hearst Building on the southwest corner of 57th Street and Eighth Avenue and is known for his high-tech designs.

Lord Foster’s design for Tower 2 at Ground Zero for Silverstein Properties was recently unveiled.

The planned new tower would not only obstruct many views to the northwest from the Carlyle Hotel from Central Park, but also many views to the south from the Mark Hotel, directly across 77th Street from 980 Madison Avenue. The Alexico Group, a residential developer, recently acquired the Mark Hotel.


Copyright © 1994-2006 CITY REALTY.COM INC.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by skylife

Why on earth would anybody live in Manhattan if they are aesthetically opposed to skyscrapers?

That's the million dollar question....

[LostInTheZone]

^the area in question, UES between 5th and Park, does not have a lot of skyscrapers. That's why the Hotel Carlyle, which would get lost in midtown, stands out so much. Particularly between Madison and 5th, it's all townhouse mansions with smaller apartment buildings, mostly on 5th and Park. Madison Avenue here is made up of small buildings with small stores and boutiques. East of Park is another story. And anyone that doesn't get the difference, between those two areas, doesn't understand New York. "Manhattan" isn't some monolithic entity.

Still, I would like this tower a lot, if it wasn't so close to the Hotel Carlyle.

[LostInTheZone]

Lord Foster is also designing a mixed-use tower for Mr. Rosen at 610 Lexington Avenue immediately behind the Seagram Building,

Does that mean the tacky PoMo one behind the lowrise part will be replaced? That would be great, especially if Foster did it.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by LostInTheZone

^the area in question, UES between 5th and Park, does not have a lot of skyscrapers. That's why the Hotel Carlyle, which would get lost in midtown, stands out so much. Particularly between Madison and 5th, it's all townhouse mansions with smaller apartment buildings, mostly on 5th and Park. Madison Avenue here is made up of small buildings with small stores and boutiques. East of Park is another story. And anyone that doesn't get the difference, between those two areas, doesn't understand New York. "Manhattan" isn't some monolithic entity.

Still, I would like this tower a lot, if it wasn't so close to the Hotel Carlyle.

No offense, but you really don't know this area. This description is completely inaccurate. I think you are referring to Madison in the east 60's. Even in this stretch, there are lots of prewar and postwar mid-rises. You make the area sound as if it's Park Slope.

The east 70's and east 80's have tons of modern towers along Madison and are much higher density than blocks to the south.

There is a 70's-era 45-floor building directly on Madison a few blocks away. There are no fewer than thee 80's-era towers directly on Madison. There are also tons of postwar buildings, many of them extremely large and bulky.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by LostInTheZone

Does that mean the tacky PoMo one behind the lowrise part will be replaced? That would be great, especially if Foster did it.

No, it's the adjacent site.

[NYguy]

NY Times

Manhattan: Hearing on Skyscraper Addition

By ROBIN POGREBIN
October 25, 2006


The Landmarks Preservation Commission heard praise and criticism at a public hearing yesterday as the British architect Norman Foster presented his design for a 30-story addition to the Parke-Bernet Gallery building, on Madison Avenue between 76th and 77th Streets.

At yesterday’s hearing, held in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court to accommodate an overflow crowd, several people from the world of art and architecture said they would welcome that change, while many who live in the neighborhood vehemently opposed it. A letter by Lawrence Salander of Salander-O’Reilly Galleries read aloud at the hearing said the building would be “a godsend for the neighborhood.” But Teri Slater, the co-chairwoman of the Defenders of the Historic Upper East Side, said it would block views and be visible for miles.

[NYguy]

NY Sun

Norman Lauds East Side's ‘Tradition of Radicalism'

By DAVID LOMBINO
October 25, 2006


Upper East Side residents who have been arguing over a proposed 22-story apartment building on Madison Avenue in a historic district brought their fight downtown yesterday for a four hour public hearing before the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

A renowned British architect, Sir Norman Foster, presented his designs yesterday in front of more than 200 people at the Surrogate's Courthouse near City Hall.

Several chauffeured cars and SUVs idled out front as about 65 people testified for and against developer Aby Rosen's proposal to build a 22-story elliptical, glass apartment building as a rooftop addition to the existing five-story limestone Parke-Bernet Gallery building on Madison Avenue between 76th and 77th streets.

Mr. Foster said the project meshed with the Upper East Side's "tradition of radicalism," citing the designs of the Guggenheim and Whitney museums. "The tradition of change is the essence of the Upper East Side," Mr. Foster testified.

A longtime resident of the Carlyle Apartment Houses, William Kahn, compared Mr. Foster's design to an invasion, similar to when the British invaded New York during the Revolutionary War. "We all remember the outcome of that," Mr. Kahn said. "This is not evolution. This is revolution."

Mr. Foster's designs include Hong Kong's airport, the new German Parliament in Berlin's Reichstag, an addition to the British Museum, the "Gherkin" building in London and the new Hearst Tower on Eighth Avenue in Midtown.

The project received strong support yesterday from several prominent members of the neighborhood's cultural set. Arts patron and billionaire financier Ronald Perelman, art dealer Larry Gagosian, architect Richard Meier, and the former curator of the Whitney Museum, Richard Marshall, were among those that submitted testimony in favor of the project.

"It is thoughtful, considered and beautiful," Mr. Marshall said. "It would greatly enrich the cultural aura of the community."

Artist Jeff Koons, an area resident, supported the design and complained of neighborhood "segregation" based on style.

"If you like modernism, don't live on the Upper East Side," Mr. Koons said.

Several local gallery owners said the project would restore the neighborhood's cultural reputation and increase foot traffic from art lovers who now frequent Chelsea, SoHo, and DUMBO. The developer has said he would create a two-story gallery in the area's base, and create a public sculpture garden on the roof of the existing Parke-Bernet Gallery.

Mr. Rosen, the president of RFR Holding LLC, bought the Parke-Bernet Gallery more than two years ago, for roughly $120 million, with the intention of adding a rooftop apartment tower. The tower would contain about 18 full-floor units and duplexes spread spaciously on 22 floors.

Messrs. Rosen and Foster sat in the front row for the length of yesterday's hearing, as dozens of neighbors and preservationists blasted their design as a mockery of the area's character. One woman in the audience studied the details of the architect's renderings with a pair of binoculars.

The Community Board that represents the neighborhood rejected the proposal in an advisory vote last week by a margin of 20 to 13.

Preservation groups from across the city were united yesterday in opposing the proposal. Several focused on the issue of precedent. If the commission approved the project, they said it would invite inappropriate development on top of similar sites in landmarked districts across the city. Several preservationists said that approval would weaken the definition of a historic district and weaken the Landmarks Commission.

A co-chairwoman of the Defenders of the Historic Upper East Side, Elizabeth Ashby, opposed the plan and the architect's contention that the glass addition is in harmony with the existing limestone base.

"Vertical, glass, and circular. Masonry, rectangular, and horizontal. There is no relationship whatsoever," Ms. Ashby said.

The local City Council member, Daniel Garodnick, who would have an important role in approving the project if the design passes through the Landmarks Commission, submitted testimony opposing the plan. "A 350-foot glass tower cannot work here," Mr. Gardonick said in a letter read by a staff member.

A lawyer representing the Carlyle Hotel, which sits across the street from the proposed site, Ross Moskowitz, said the hotel opposes the plan and called it "a brand new building disguised as a rooftop addition."

After the hearing, Mr. Rosen was scheduled to head uptown to address the Municipal Art Society at its annual benefit. He and his wife, Samantha Rosen, are chairing of the event. Mr. Rosen has received accolades for his restoration of two landmarked Park Avenue office buildings, the Lever House and the Seagrams Building.

A representative of the Municipal Art Society submitted testimony that opposed the developer's addition.

"There is no plan B," Mr. Rosen said after the hearing. "Our goal is to build this building."

The Landmarks Commission agreed last night to keep the public record open for another two weeks. The applicants will have a chance to respond at a later date, and then the commission could make a decision as early as next month.

[Thskyscraper]

Originally Posted by NYguy

A longtime resident of the Carlyle Apartment Houses, William Kahn, compared Mr. Foster's design to an invasion, similar to when the British invaded New York during the Revolutionary War. "We all remember the outcome of that," Mr. Kahn said. "This is not evolution. This is revolution."

THAT'S CLASSIC!!! THE HIGH-RISE ARE COMING! THE HIGH-RISE ARE COMING! Wow, NIMBYS say the weirdest things...

[NYguy]

^
They are truly our opposite number, our arch-enemies. Just look at the different reactions to new skyscrapers.

There's us:

And them:

[NYguy]

And now, even Central Park must be saved from this "monster"....


Daily News (editorial)

Stop the tower, save the park


There are places where Central Park is so enveloping that the sights and sounds of the city disappear and New Yorkers experience greenery and sky. These pastoral views are priceless treasures, invaluable to millions. And many of them will be lost unless City Hall steps in. As it must.

The very sky over Central Park, the dome you see as you look east from almost anywhere in the 60s and the 70s, is threatened with being despoiled by construction of a stratospheric, futuristic condominium tower. This skyscraper would house just 18 multimillionaires. Their views would be magnificent, while everyone below would lose out. It is hard to conceive of a worse bargain for the public.

The elliptical tower is the brainchild of Aby Rosen, a developer who prides himself on owning architecturally significant buildings. He plans to erect it over the five-story Parke-Bernet building, which runs the full block on Madison Ave. from 76th to 77th St., with half of it soaring to 355 feet and the other side to 288. The concept has generated opposition on the upper East Side, where many persuasively feel that the glass tower is too imposing and jarring for the surrounding, lower-rise upper East Side Historic District.

The local community board voted thumbs down on Rosen's scheme, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission has taken up the matter. The panel should walk in the park to get a full grasp of how detrimental the project would be for the city at large. Everyone who goes to the park for solitude in nature would suffer.

Sit on the broad greensward of the Sheep Meadow and look east. You see only trees, the sky and the distinctive green and gold spire of the 76-year-old Carlyle Hotel. Now imagine gleaming glass close over the tree line. Or visit Bethesda Terrace, the Bow Bridge, Conservatory Water, the Great Lawn, Turtle Pond, Strawberry Fields or the Ramble, and imagine looking up at George Jetson's apartment.

Rosen, who would sell his 18 condos for tens of millions each, seems to genuinely and passionately believe in the architectural merit of his plan. Indeed, the New York Times critic gave it a glowing review. But until now, no one has focused on the damage that would be inflicted on Central Park. The leading advocacy group New Yorkers for Parks is outraged that the tower's impact on the city's premier park has been ignored. Executive Director Christian DiPalermo made it clear the group will oppose the plan.

He's right. Stop the tower. Save the park.

[Busy Bee]

People have lost their minds. This is not rational thought. This is community activism gone awry.

[Jularc]

color=blue]until now, no one has focused on the damage that would be inflicted on Central Park. The leading advocacy group New Yorkers for Parks is outraged that the tower's impact on the city's premier park has been ignored. Executive Director Christian DiPalermo made it clear the group will oppose the plan. [/color][/b][/u]

He's right. Stop the tower. Save the park.

This is just ridiculous! These NIMBY's now have justifications for just about anything these days.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Jularc

This is just ridiculous! These NIMBY's now have justifications for just about anything these days.

I can see future headlines now: The tower that ate Central Park....

Central Park is framed by highrises. If you're in Central Park, and are shocked to see a highrise, then you're an idiot.