NYU’s development plans for remaining portion of the site unaddressed. On November 18, 2008, Landmarks voted to collectively designate University Village, also known as the Silver Towers, as an individual City landmark. Designed by James Freed and I.M. Pei, of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP, the landmark consists of a central plaza and three 30-story towers with concrete facades and recessed windows in a “brutalist” style influenced by le Corbusier. Built between 1964 and 1967 as part of a Robert Moses-sponsored urban renewal plan, the towers are arranged in a pinwheel configuration around the plaza which features a sculptural interpretation of Picasso’s “Portrait of Sylvette.” Two of the towers are used by NYU for student and faculty housing, while the third houses a cooperative.

At the June 24, 2008 hearing, representatives of NYU presented a plan to add a fourth tower. While supporting designation, NYU’s agents claimed a fourth tower would complement the existing buildings and “complete the pinwheel.” In response, preservationists called for Landmarks to designate the entire superblock, not just the towers and plaza. 5 CityLand 94 (July 15, 2008). (more…)

Council approves Commission modification demapping two street portions but not a third. On September 24, 2008, the City Council approved GTJ Co., Inc.’s plan, as modified by the City Planning Commission, to rezone its property from C4-2 and R3-2 to C4-1, and demap portions of abutting mapped streets.

GTJ owns Lot 34 of Block 1082 and the entirety of Block 1083, where it operates a Budget Rent-a- Car business. The property is roughly bounded by 23rd and 24th Avenues between 87th and 89th Streets in Elmhurst, Queens, just south of Grand Central Parkway and LaGuardia Airport. (more…)

Neighbors claim congregation’s program needs could be accommodated by an as-of-right building. The Congregation Shearith Israel Synagogue, a City landmark located at 8 West 70th Street within the Central Park West Historic District, sought a variance from lot coverage, yard, height and setback zoning regulations in order to replace an adjacent community use facility with a nine-story, mixed-use building.

The new building would feature four stories of community facility space—religious classrooms and a 450-person catering hall— and five stories of full-floor residential units. The synagogue would sell the residential units at market-rate to finance the construction of the overall project. In March 2006, Landmarks granted a Certificate of Appropriateness to the synagogue for the proposed development.

Page Cowley, land use committee co-chair for Manhattan Community Board 7, testified against the proposal due to Board 7’s concerns that the new building would block the sightlines from the adjacent residential building, disrupt the historic brownstone character of the block between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West, and further reduce access to light and air for residents on the east side of West 70th Street. Board 7 also argued that the synagogue could build fewer residential units and still raise sufficient funds to construct its community facility. (more…)

Commission signs off on Columbia’s eminent domain option despite vocal opposition. On November 26, 2007, the Planning Commission modified and approved both Columbia University’s campus expansion plan and Community Board 9’s 197-a plan. The two plans must now go before the City Council for their review.

Columbia’s plan called for rezoning 35 acres of Manhattanville, a section of West Harlem primarily zoned for manufacturing, to facilitate construction of a 17-acre academic mixed-use development roughly bounded by West 125th and West 135th Streets, from Broadway to 12th Avenue. The development would include research buildings, classrooms, university housing, as well as space for recreation facilities and ground-floor retail. A contiguous below-grade facility, or “bathtub,” would serve the new campus buildings with parking facilities, truck loading facilities, and two central energy plants. If Columbia is unable to purchase the property necessary for the bathtub, then, under the plan, the Empire State Development Corporation would acquire the property by eminent domain on Columbia’s behalf. 4 CityLand 89 (July 15, 2007). (more…)

Columbia University proposes northward expansion; CB 9 seeks industrial jobs and affordable housing. On October 3, 2007, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on Columbia University’s and Manhattan Community Board 9’s competing plans for the future of West Harlem.

Under Columbia’s plan, the City would rezone 35 acres of Manhattanville, a section of West Harlem currently zoned primarily for manufacturing, and create a Special Manhattanville Mixed-Use District stretching from West 125th to West 135th Streets, between Broadway and the Hudson River. Within this new district, Columbia would construct a 17-acre academic mixed-use development that would include academic building space, university housing, recreation space, and retail space. 4 CityLand 89 (July 15, 2007). (more…)