Major League Baseball project in Harlem is among the beneficiaries. On March 6, 2008, the New York City Industrial Development Agency held a public hearing on proposed public subsidies to private entities, including a joint venture between Vornado Realty Trust and California Urban Investment Partners. The joint venture was established to build a 21-story office tower on 125th Street and Park Avenue, directly southwest of the Metro-North train station. The tower will contain 526,555 sq.ft. of office space, 50,492 sq.ft. of retail, and a 52-space underground garage. The tower’s anchor tenant will be MLB Network, Major League Baseball’s new cable broadcasting system. The work site lies within the proposed 125th Street rezoning plan, which the Planning Commission approved on March 10, 2008 to encourage renewed investment and development in the area.

At the hearing, Bettina Damiani, Director of Good Jobs New York, questioned the need for subsidies to attract MLB to Harlem given the area’s easy access to Yankee Stadium and Citi Field via public transportation. Charles Callaway, representing WE ACT for Environmental Justice, expressed similar skepticism and feared that the newly created jobs would not go to community residents. (more…)

Comprised of Battery Park City, the Financial District, South Street Seaport, and Tribeca, the neighborhoods of Manhattan Community Board 1 are in the midst of a period of tremendous growth and development. New apartment buildings are bringing thousands of new residents to the district. At the same time, large redevelopment projects, such as the World Trade Center, promise to return millions of square feet of office space along with expanded retail and cultural spaces. Under the leadership of Julie Menin, Community Board 1 is working hard to “bring a holistic approach” to development, one that takes into account the community’s needs. CityLand talked to Menin about the important issues facing Lower Manhattan and how the Board is preparing for the future.

A Rising Voice. Menin grew up in Washington D.C. and first moved to the City to attend Columbia University. After obtaining a political science degree, she studied law at Northwestern University, and then moved back to D.C. to begin her career. In 2000, after eight years as a regulatory lawyer, Menin left her practice and opened Vine, a restaurant located on Broad Street across from the New York Stock Exchange. After 9/11, her business, like so many others in the downtown area, suffered economically. Menin said Vine and eight other businesses on Broad Street ultimately closed, in part due to new security measures that closed the street. (more…)

Bridge spanning Harlem River to be built adjacent to outdated bridge. DOT sought a City Map amendment to delineate a new bridge easement and bridge corridor facilitating construction of the Willis Avenue Bridge replacement, connecting First Avenue and East 125th Street in Manhattan with Willis Avenue and East 132nd Street in the Bronx. The replacement bridge will be located directly adjacent to and south of the existing bridge and will also require landfill removal along the Bronx waterfront.

The existing swing-span bridge, over one hundred years old, fails to meet current structural and seismic requirements or geometric design standards and has sharp, curving, substandard entrance ramps that slow traffic flow. Major changes to the existing bridge’s alignment would be needed to meet current standards. (more…)