Trump's at it again! Get ready to demonstrate on Sunday
Trump Caught Yet Again!: GVSHP has found the developers of the planned Trump SoHo Condo-Hotel yet again advertising their development as a ‘residence’ with ‘living spaces,’ in spite of explicit zoning restrictions prohibiting such a use, and repeated assurances from the City that this development would not violate the zoning for the area. GVSHP and a slew of community groups have contended from the beginning that this development violates the zoning and therefore should not be given building permits; city officials have thus far disagreed, saying condo-hotels such as this are legal in this area. Trump and partners have been caught more than a half dozen times advertising their project as a residence (see www.gvshp.org/trump.htm#dec22), and each time city officials have offered assurances that the problem has been solved and the offending ads have been removed. See GVSHP’s letter to
Mayor Bloomberg on the matter at www.gvshp.org/documents/TrumpBloomberg2.22.07.pdf, as well as our letter to local elected officials at www.gvshp.org/documents/Trumpelecteds2.22.07.pdf. To see the advertisement referring to the development’s “residences,” go to www.gvshp.org/documents/NYMag022607.pdf, and to see the description of the development’s “living spaces” on the developer’s website, go to www.gvshp.org/documents/bayrockad.pdf.
Were the City to agree with our contention that the Trump Condo-Hotel violates the zoning for this area, Trump and partners would be forced to seek a zoning change in order to move ahead with their project as planned. Through this public approval process, the development could be blocked, or could be changed to fit the neighborhood context and address the community’s concerns about its size and scale. However, if the City allows this project to move ahead, not only would this totally inappropriate tower go up as planned, but similar high-rise luxury residential development would be allowed for the first time ever in every light manufacturing zone in New York City, including parts of the West Village, SoHo, the Meatpacking District, SoHo, NoHo, West Chelsea, the Flatiron, western Hell’s Kitchen, the Garment Center, and Brooklyn and Queens (see map at www.gvshp.org/TrumpCB2zoning.htm#map).
Demonstrate Against the Trump Condo-Hotel this Sunday, March 4, at 1 pm: In light of the terrible threat this development poses, GVSHP and several other community organizations will be holding a demonstration this Sunday, March 4, at 1 pm, in front of the development site at Varick and Spring Streets. Go to www.gvshp.org/documents/Trumpdemoflyer.pdf for a flyer for the demonstration.
HOW TO HELP:
WRITE TO THE CITY TELLING THEM TO ENFORCE OUR ZONING PROTECTIONS AND NOT TO ALLOW THE TRUMP DEVELOPMENT TO MOVE AHEAD — go to www.gvshp.org/trumplet.htm for sample letters.
COME TO THE DEMONSTRATION ON SUNDAY at 1 pm, and SPREAD THE WORD! Forward this e-mail, and print out and share the flyer at www.gvshp.org/documents/Trumpdemoflyer.pdf with friends, family, and neighbors . Bring signs!