Commission approved Verizon’s consolidation plans. Verizon New York, Inc. sought to rezone two sites that it occupies in Clinton, Manhattan. The first proposal would rezone a 45,200 sq.ft. site at the intersection of Eleventh Avenue and West 43rd Street from M2-3 to C6-4. The second would rezone a 143,300 sq.ft. full-block area, bounded by Eleventh Avenue, West 47th Street, Twelfth Avenue and West 48th Street, from M2-3 to Ml- 5. The Commission unanimously approved both. Verizon intends to sell the up-zoned West 43rd site and consolidate operations into a new building located within the West 47th Street rezoning.

The rezoning on the two West 43rd lots would allow commercial/ residential uses and increase the sites’ permitted building size from 90,400 sq.ft. to 452,000- 542,400 sq.ft. Verizon argued that the one-story warehouse and six-story office on the site were antiquated, out-of-character and required upgrading. (more…)