E-BULLETIN OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL
August 2013, Volume 10, Number 1
City Planning Holds Public Hearing on East Midtown Rezoning
TOMORROW!
Wednesday, August 7, 10:00 AM
Custom House at One Bowling Green
The proposed Midtown East Rezoning has been quickly going through the public review process. The next stop is the Department of City Planning. Join HDC and show your support against the extreme rezoning. There are many architecturally and historically important buildings in the rezoning area that may be adversely affected by the approval of the rezoning. In fact, we have a list of 31 buildings that HDC and the Landmarks Preservation Commission have deemed worthy of designation. Those buildings are not the only concerning aspect of the proposal -the stress on the city as a result of the proposed construction and density increase need to be considered as well. HDC feels the proposal has to be much more refined before it can be implemented.
HDC has prepared an official statement to be presented to the Department of City Planning:
“While we have heard from City Planning presenters numerous times that this plan will only produce a few buildings of the tallest allowable heights, it is effectively an upzoning of the entire area. This should not be downplayed. Any block where enough street frontage is assembled could host a building far taller than what exists. The decrease in street frontage necessary from the original proposal would, of course, increase the ease and likelihood of these massive buildings. The inclusion of special provisions for retaining non-complying floor area and allowing residential use would further spur new construction as these uses are more profitable than the office space that this proposal claims the city needs so badly.
The District Improvement Bonus, Fund, and Committee are central pieces of the proposed rezoning. HDC is concerned about the public’s role in this process. As proposed, the DIF is to be overseen by five mayoral appointees who will decide which projects happen in what order. A more varied composition including a representative of the community board would make more sense. While it is good to know that all meetings of the committee will be open to the public, there is no mention of how or even if the public can contribute to the meeting. Rather than allowing the committee to adopt their own procedures, including one for public comment regarding the District Improvement project list, these issues should be decided now. Given the adverse impact of some of these new buildings and the potentially important role the DIF could play in mitigating them, it would be wrong to leave the affected community out of the planning. Furthermore, we are unclear as to the ability of New York City to implement changes to MTA property. We understand that things such as subways entrances can be created, but this will not substantially alleviate an over-burdened IRT transit line. The City is selling the sky for a promise that the MTA will do something to help the public underground. This is not a good bargain. Finally, Mayor Bloomberg recently announced that improvements will happen before the DIF is funded. We are pleased by this turn of events – as transit improvements at this site in particular are an urban necessity – but this action calls to question the basic purpose of selling development rights all together. What and who are they really benefitting?”
To read HDC’s full official statement clickhere
To view a gallery and learn more about the list of 31 buildings click here
To view a PDF of the full map click here
To learn more about the rezoning click here
—————————————————————————————————————————
What about all those East Midtown Landmarks?
Is Eight Really Enough?
As part of the environmental review for the proposed upzoning of East Midtown, the Landmarks Preservation Commission studied the area and concluded that 31 properties were “NYC Landmark Eligible”. This distinction is slightly obscure because the Landmarks Law has deliberately flexible and wide parameters but long experience has led us to the working definition of “buildings of architectural, cultural or historic merit which the LPC has reviewed and believe have merit in further investigating with an eye towards designation”. When LPC announced their list of 31 properties in late February, a few things happened: the Hoffman Auto Showroom – a Frank Lloyd Wright interior – was quickly destroyed. The American Encaustic Tile Company’s façade was stripped beyond repair. The New York Post ran a couple of articles largely ridiculing the eight buildings it claimed were going to be landmarked.
All three of these are very unfortunate, but the third is interesting. Not because we enjoy reading the Post’s screeds against preservation but because of the number 8. The LPC identified 31 buildings as being “landmark eligible”, not 8. As reported in the Post, LPC claims to have reached out to the owners of 8 properties to discuss the possibility of landmark designation. It has become standard practice for the LPC to contact the owners of potential landmarks before acting and while a case can definitely be made that this is good governance, it can lead to preemptive demolitions (such as the case with the Hoffman Auto Showroom). Regardless, this sidesteps the real issue. What happened to the other 23 buildings on the list?
The City is driving the East Midtown upzoning full speed ahead – despite the objections and concerns of seven community boards, The New York Times. numerous civic organizations and even the local councilmember Dan Garodnick. It is apparent that this upzoning is intended to adopted (in some form) before Mayor Bloomberg leaves office. But what about the proposed landmarks? The New York Times pointed out that “[preservationists] have asked the Landmarks Preservation Commission to consider landmarking these and a number of other buildings, but the Commission, which answers to the mayor, has been moving too slowly.”
HDC understands and appreciates that the Landmarks Commission has a lot on its plate – much of which is in response to community requests including our own – and limited time and resources. However, the City has made this upzoning a top priority and in doing so, has placed dozens of meritorious “landmark-eligible” buildings in harm’s way. The LPC has, in essence, drawn the wrong sort of attention to these buildings without providing them with any protection. The genie is out of the bottle – now it’s time for the LPC to calendar these buildings so they’ll still be here for future consideration. Please contact Commissioner Tierney today and ask him to protect the future landmarks of East Midtown.
For a full list of the buildings and information about them, http://hdc.org/hdc-across-nyc/manhattan/proposed-east-midtown-rezoning-proposed-individual-landmarks.
—————————————————————————————————————————
Follow Us on Facebook and Find Out What’s Up in New York Preservation
HDC uses our Facebook account to circulate news articles about preservation in New York City. Check us https://www.facebook.com/pages/Historic-Districts-Council/91520047765.
————————————————————————
If you’re receiving this, then you know that HDC is working hard throughout the city to protect and preserve the neighborhoods which make New York great. Please consider contributing and becoming part of the movement to preserve our city’s irreplaceable architecture and history. There are a lot of buildings to cover, and we can only do it with a lot of people.
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
tel: 212-614-9107 fax: 212-614-9127 email: [email protected]
To Unsubscribe
Or visit: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/options/hdc/gemelie%40yahoo.com