ALERT: Post Office Air Rights, Community Board Slams NYU. Far West Village Landmarking Advances
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Post Office Air Rights: With the recent discovery that the Post Office’s deal with a developer for sale of its air rights at the Cooper Station on East 11th Street allows it to block use of its air rights at any time, GVSHP has called upon the Post Office to stop the construction of the 26-story NYU mega-dorm next door in order for the required – but never performed – Section 106 review to take place (see www.gvshp.org/documents/USPS106.pdf ). Section 106 review is a federally-mandated procedure for all federal agencies to examine and attempt to mitigate any negative impacts upon historic resources when properties are sold or developed. When GVSHP first caught the Post Office having sold its air rights from this and other stations without having gone though this required federal review (see www.gvshp.org/documents/USPSreview6-25.pdf ), the Post Office claimed that the deals were done and it was too late for them to perform the reviews. However, much like their original promise not to conduct any further air rights sales without going through the required review (see www.gvshp.org/USPS.htm#August ), this Post Office claim has turned out to be false. GVSHP is also calling upon the state and federal agencies with oversight of Section 106 reviews to help force the Post Office to halt these projects until the required review takes place. So far, however, neither agency has taken any formal action against the Post Office.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, State Senators Tom Duane and Liz Kruger, City Councilmember Rosie Mendez, and City Council Landmarks Subcommittee Chair Jessica Lappin have all also called upon the Post Office to withhold consent for use of its air rights and halt these projects and allow the required Section 106 review to take place (see www.gvshp.org/documents/USPSairletsept.pdf ).
HOW TO HELP:
WRITE TO THE STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES NOW, urging that they push the Post Office to halt these projects and follow appropriate procedures before moving forward on any other projects. Go to www.gvshp.org/USPSletter.htm for sample letters you can use. THESE ARE NEW LETTERS, SO PLEASE WRITE AGAIN EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY.
NYU Slammed by Community Board for Breaking Promises on Dorm Plan: On Tuesday night, Community Board #3 unanimously passed a resolution roundly rebuking NYU for its failure to maintain its commitments to the public and moving ahead with a 262 ft. tall mega-dorm on East 12th Street. The strongly worded resolution said that NYU “failed to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue with this community…[and] completely failed to adopt any of the recommendations made by community groups.” The Board went on to express what it called its “extreme outrage over NYU’s actions” and called upon the University to, among other things, change its plans for the development and to finally offer a public position on community requests to rezone the Third Avenue corridor and blocks to the west in order to prevent further similar inappropriate development (this is the only part of the East Village the City is refusing to rezone, seemingly protecting NYU’s interest in further developing these blocks – see www.thevillager.com/villager_172/thirdavefeeze.html ).
GVSHP and community groups had attended the Community Board hearing and urged adoption of such a resolution (see www.gvshp.org/NYUdorm.htm ). In August, GVSHP, community groups, and State Senator Tom Duane and City Councilmember Rosie Mendez held a protest condemning NYU for many of the same reasons (see www.gvshp.org/NYUdorm.htm#pr ). NYU had issued a press release attacking the integrity of GVSHP and others who criticized the University (see www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/releases/detail/1139 ). But NYU’s attacks were rebuked by Senator Duane (see www.thevillager.com/villager_171/nyulashesoutat.html and www.tomduane.com/NYU_Encroachment_release.htm ) and Community Board #3 in its recent resolution, which called them “completely untrue and unwarranted” and urged NYU to “remove any public material repeating such attacks and further refrain from such actions in the future.”
HOW TO HELP:
WRITE TO THE CITY NOW urging them to stop protecting NYU and start protecting our neighborhood. Go to www.gvshp.org/NYUDormlet.htm for sample letters you can use.
Far West Village Landmarking Progress Continues: Following through on the City’s 2005 promise to extend landmark and zoning protections in the Far West Village, on Tuesday the Landmarks Preservation ‘calendared’ (i.e. began the formal process of considering for landmark designation) three individual buildings in the Far West Village – 150 Barrow Street (the Keller Hotel – see www.gvshp.org/block604a.htm#barrow ), 159 Charles Street (see www.gvshp.org/block637a.htm ), and 354 West 11th Street (see www.gvshp.org/block637b.htm#w354 ).
GVSHP is especially happy to see the City move forward with consideration of landmark designation of the Keller Hotel, one of three remaining intact former maritime hotels along the Greenwich Village waterfront, and the only one not protected by landmark designation (the former American Seamen’s Friend Society Hotel was landmarked in 1999 [see www.gvshp.org/block642.htm ], and the former Holland Hotel [see www.gvshp.org/block636b.htm#w396 ] is part of the Weehawken Street Historic District GVSHP helped secure designation of earlier this year). Additionally, the former Keller Hotel has been in a state of disrepair for many years, with a planned renovation in limbo; we are hopeful that landmark designation will help secure its seemingly tenuous future.
In 2005, in response to the campaign led by GVSHP for landmark protections for the Far West Village, the City announced a plan to extend the Greenwich Village Historic District three blocks west, create a new Weehawken Street Historic District, and designate eight individual landmarks in the Far West Village (see www.gvshp.org/documents/mapApril2006.pdf ). The Greenwich Village Historic District extension and Weehawken Street Historic District were designated in May of this year. These three buildings are the first of the promised eight designations, which also includes the entire Westbeth complex, Charles Lane, 370 and 372 West 11th Street, and 110 Horatio Street.