Dear Readers: I am posting Andrew Berman's email and adding my photo of the Trump site (Spring and Varrick) the tragedy where the City of New York lost another construction worker in this tsunami of over the top development and I am not surprised at the news Andrew Berman gives you, read on...www.gvshp.org
Dear friend,
I have some very important news to report regarding two critical projects:
St. Vincent's/Rudin Luxury Condo and Hospital Development Plan: This morning the Landmarks Preservation Commission issued a stunning rebuke of this proposal to demolish nine buildings in the Greenwich Village Historic District and replace them with 1.3 million sq. ft. of luxury condos and a new hospital, including two of the largest buildings ever proposed for a historic district. The Commission urged preservation of the Smith, Raskob, Nurse's Residence, Spellman, and O'Toole buildings, and urged a complete re-working of plans for development on the remaining sites to match the scale and character of the surrounding neighborhood. The Commission did open the door to the possibility of the hospital building a tower on top of the O'Toole building, but even there urged a more sensitive scale and design than currently proposed.
This left St. Vincent's and their development partners the Rudins three options: file a hardship case to seek approval for demolition and new construction not allowed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission; file new plans (presumably radically different than the current ones) and go through the public hearing process again; or drop the plan entirely. St. Vincent's has since stated they will file a hardship case to seek permission to demolish the O'Toole building and construct the new hospital on the site; this will require a new set of public hearings and St. Vincent's proving through an open and public process that retaining the O'Toole building is not feasible for them to do and fulfill their charitable mission.
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation thanks the literally thousands of people and dozens of preservation and neighborhood groups from across the city whom we reached out to and who joined us in urging that this unprecedented plan be changed. It is deeply gratifying to know that our voices have been heard and made a difference -- THANK YOU! We will keep you informed as the process continues.
Trump SoHo 'Condo-Hotel': Today the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) voted to UPHOLD the City's ruling that the Trump SoHo Condo-Hotel is permissible under New York City zoning. While this is deeply disappointing, it is not unexpected, given that the BSA is composed entirely of Mayoral appointees, and they very rarely rule against fellow Mayoral agencies (such as the Department of Buildings in this case).
The good news is this means the case can finally be appealed to an independent court now that the BSA has ruled, and our allies at the SoHo Alliance are planning to file such an appeal in NY State Supreme Court shortly. While the structure is already partly built, a successful legal challenge can both have an impact on the final form of this building as well as prevent similar buildings from being constructed in the future.
Thank you to the hundreds of people who have supported the appeal thus far and to all the groups and elected officials who urged the BSA to overturn the Trump approval: City Council Zoning Subcommittee Chair Tony Avella, the Municipal Art Society, the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, the New York Industrial Retention Network, the Garment Center Industrial Development Corporation, the East Williamsburg Industrial Development Corporation, the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation, the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, the Council of Chelsea Block Associations, the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association, the Tribeca Community Association, the Greenwich Village Community Task Force, and Community Boards 1 & 5, Manhattan.
Andrew Berman, Executive Director
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
212/475-9585 x38
232 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, go to www.gvshp.org/membership.htm
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