CB4 Asks City to Keep W 54 Building to 85 Feet

Jane C went to the Community Board 4 meeting on July 15 as well and writes:

"Joe L and I went to the Community Board meeting last night and I was disappointed that only about 4 people were from this area....Most were from 49 to 29 St. The discussion was solely on 2 properties upon which the city intends to build low to moderate income ($40,000 to $60,000) housing. The meeting was about how high the buildings should be and how many apts could be gotten from different heights.

Joe, its head, and a gal who chaired the meeting were both fabulous and have been working with C. Quinn on keeping Hell's Kitchen (Clinton)'s buildings low to preserve a neighborhood with parks, light, etc. The 2 properties are West 54 St , 9th Avenue east to the MTA Building, and 10th Avenue, between 48th and 49th.

The discussion was in keeping the buildings on all Avenues at 6 stories and then increasing the height in the middle of the blocks. There were many configurations drawn up by the City* hoping that the Board would agree to 2 of these....the City Council meets this Wednesday and the Community Board will tell them that we would prefer a maximum of 66 ft high for 10th avenue and an 85 ft building maximum for the 54 St site.

They ran out of the proposed building heights' sheets so neither Joe nor I were able to get one...We each shared with others to look at them as they spoke. The City wants more affordable housing on the west side and obviously the lower heights takes away apts....About 70 people showed up. Everyone was allowed their opinions to be heard and a straw vote was taken of the Board which favored 85 ft for 54th and 66 ft for 10th ave."

More On Building at West 54 and Ninth

Steve L attended the July 15 meeting of Community Board 4 regarding the proposed buildings at West 54 and Ninth and 48th and Tenth. He writes:

"I attended the first 1.5 hours of the meeting and have a few notes regarding the conversation on the MTA property at 54th st and 9th ave.

1. The buildings are to be 100% affordable housing. One building on 54th and 9th and one on 48th and 10th.
2. Affordable housing in this case is for moderate to middle income people - 80% to 50% of the median income, which in this case would be $45K-$85K for a single person or $70K-$103K for a family of 4.
3. The rules for this area allow 85' facing 9th ave and 66' on 54th st. Special permit allows 115' on 9th ave and 95' on 54th. (Ailey is 85'). The special permit has only been used twice since it was introduced in 1973.
4. There was a "surprise" request for 30,000 sr ft of MTA office space in this building. CB4 is requesting this be dropped in order to get more affordable housing units.
5. CB4 is requesting that the retail space designated for the ground floor on 9th ave be used for a grocery store.
6. CB4 is working with the neighborhood groups on a compromise that will get the maximum number of affordable housing units with minimal impact to the feel of our neighborhood and the 48th st/10ave neighborhood where the other building ins planned.
7. CB4 asked the city planners to provide some more options (attached) that illustrate the proposed buildings in different configurations at different heights. The illustrations attached also indicate the number of units estimated in the buildings.
8. Several of the attendees commented that the board and community at large should pressure for more of the units to be placed on-site in the rail yards developments (to much applause) and not to pressure the off-site buildings to be so large as to accomodate all the desired units.
9. Everyone is taking very seriously the height restrictions in the comminuty. The goal is to compromise and come up with a solution so that the city won't completely disregard us and just build what they want.
10. MTA is using sales from the rail yards project to fund NYC transit, so CB4 feels they have a "trump card" to argue for not having all the affordable housing units on site (they need to get the most out of their asset).

I'm sure there are some points I'm missing, but perhaps someone else who attended can fill in some gaps."

Extra Tall Building Planned for West 54 and Ninth

Marily K writes:

"On June 16, I attended a Community Board 4 meeting regarding the Westside Rail Yards and Offsite affordable Housing in our neighbourhood. It turns out that there is very little affordable housing planned for the Rail Yards. Instead the city is seeking special permits at two other sites to raise the height limitation beyond what is allowed in the Special Clinton District. The first is the DEP site, bet 48th & 49th on 10th Ave, where they are proposing an 11 storey building with reduced green space in order to allow a larger access to the little used DEP tunnel.

The second site is the MTA site , at 54th and 9th Ave, where they are proposing a building 30 ft higher than the District allowance in order to accommodate more office space and parking for the MTA. For more and updated information contact CB4 at manhattancb4.org or call 212 736 4536."

NYPD community affairs meeting Sept 15

The next NYPD community affairs meeting will be held at Tue 730pm Sept 15 at at 425 West 47th Street.

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This is the blog for the West 55th Street Block Association in New York City.