Councilmember Dan Garodnick led the questioning on the One Vanderbilt proposal. Image credit: William Alatriste / New York City Council
Representatives of the project and the Department of City Planning spoke during a four-hour hearing. On April 13, 2015 the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on One Vanderbilt, a proposed 1,450-foot commercial tower in East Midtown, as well as an accompanying proposal to rezone five blocks of Vanderbilt Avenue to create the Vanderbilt Corridor. The building will be located adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, bounded by East 42nd Street to the south, East 43rd Street to the north, Madison Avenue to the west, and Vanderbilt Avenue to the east. The rezoning intends to facilitate commercial development on the west side of Vanderbilt Avenue between East 42nd and East 47th Streets, and designate Vanderbilt Avenue between East 42nd and East 43rd Streets as a public pedestrian space. As a part of the overall proposal, project applicant SL Green will invest $210 million in transit and infrastructure improvements to Grand Central.
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Architect’s rendering of One Vanderbilt Place and Grand Central Terminal. Image credit: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
The application seeks to rezone five blocks along Vanderbilt Avenue to permit construction of a new commercial tower. On March 30, 2015 the City Planning Commission approved SL Green’s proposal to build One Vanderbilt, a 1,450-foot commercial tower, and establish the five-block Vanderbilt Corridor. The building will be located on the block adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, bounded by East 42nd Street to the south, East 43rd Street to the north, Madison Avenue to the west, and Vanderbilt Avenue to the east. The rezoning will affect the west side of Vanderbilt Avenue between East 42nd and East 47th Streets to facilitate commercial development and designate Vanderbilt Avenue between East 42nd and East 43rd Streets as a public place for pedestrian use. As a part of the rezoning and construction proposal, SL Green will invest $210 million in transit and infrastructure improvements to Grand Central.
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Architect’s rendering of One Vanderbilt Place and Grand Central Terminal. Image credit: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Representatives from the project developers, Grand Central Terminal, and private citizens argued the proposal. On February 4, 2015 the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposed One Vanderbilt skyscraper project. The proposed building would be 1,450 feet high and take up a block bounded by Madison Avenue to the west, Vanderbilt Avenue to the east, 42nd Street to the south, and 43rd Street to the north. The project would also include transit improvements to the overcrowded Lexington Avenue subway station in Grand Central, as well as accommodate the projected influx of riders once the MTA East Side Access program is completed. On December 11, 2014 Manhattan Community Boards 5 and 6, through the Multi-Board Task Force on East Midtown Rezoning, recommended denial of the project. On January 29, 2015 Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer gave a conditional approval of One Vanderbilt after negotiating additional community benefits with project developer SL Green.
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Proposed Rendering of Tammany Hall Addition. Image Credit: LPC
Applicants argued that addition would echo the domes of classical architecture, pay homage to the Lenape who once occupied Manhattan. On November 25, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered an application to construct an addition to a building that housed the Tammany political machine at 44 Union Square East, an individual City landmark. The building was the third Tammany Hall constructed, and the only one extant. Designated in 2013, the neo-Georgian 1929 building was later utilized as a union hall, theater, and film school. The building is substantially intact, though storefronts have been created at the ground level facing Union Square Park. (more…)
Labor Day commemorates the history of the labor movement and the social and economic gains of workers in the United States. New York City has been a location for many significant milestones of labor history. We here at CityLand document the changes in New York City land use, but we would be remiss to ignore that behind every land use change is the hard labor of American workers, from demolition to construction and all points in between. These men and women in the labor community have helped shaped New York’s majestic skyline. In celebration of the holiday, we have created a list of historic places that have a connection to the labor community. Some of these site have even been designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. From all of us here at the Center for New York City Law, have a happy Labor Day!
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