Op-Ed
Hotel special permit plan offers
no help to neighborhood
Buildings in the area just south of Union Square.
BY ANDREW BERMAN
In October, developers of the Tech Hub on
city-owned land on 14th Street redubbed their
under-construction project ZERO IRVING
(it’s located just below Irving Place’s start).
Appropriately enough, a week later the City
released its plan to require ‘special permits’
for new hotels in Greenwich Village and the
East Village south of the Tech Hub and Union
Square, ostensibly to respond (well over a year
after the fact) to community concerns about
the impact of the City Council’s approval of
the large commercial upzoning for the Tech
Hub on neighboring areas.
Unfortunately, this plan offers zero help to
these neighborhoods, currently beset by oversized
and out-of-character development, and
falls far short of the protections promised by
local City Council Member Carlina Rivera as
a condition of her Tech Hub vote.
This proposal is the sole zoning change offered
by the city and Rivera as mitigation for
the Tech Hub and the increasing wave of demolitions
and out of scale development we are
seeing. In recent months, low-rise buildings
at 112-120 East 11th St., 110 University Place,
799 and 809 Broadway have been demolished,
to make way for high-rise hotels, offi ce towers,
and condos.
But if such permits are refused by the Council
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
and Commission, will our low-rise, often
historic, and usually residential buildings at
least be spared the wrecking ball and replacement
with commercial high rises?
Unfortunately not. In their own analysis of
the special permit proposal’s impact, the City
projects sites in the area which would have
been developed with hotels will simply be developed
with offi ce towers instead, of equal
size and height.
So why are the city and Rivera doing this
if it would have no effect upon protecting
this area? Press reports indicate the mayor
is pushing this forward at the behest of the
Hotel Trades Council in a seeming quid pro
quo for their endorsement of his presidential
campaign (the only union to do so).
Much more needs to be done to protect
these neighborhoods and to fulfi ll Rivera’s
2017 campaign promise that she would only
support the Tech Hub if neighborhood protections
came along with it.
Village Preservation is actively campaigning
for landmark designation for this area,
and encourages the public to attend Community
Board hearings on the special permit plan
Nov. 13 and 20.
Berman is the executive director of Village
Preservation, an organization working to preserve
the architectural heritage and cultural
history of Greenwich Village in Manhattan.
Answering op-ed
on Lenox Hill plan
BY ANDY GASPAR AND
ANDY SOUSSLOFF
The Upper East Side community
refuses to believe
Northwell’s lies on the
expansion of Lenox Hill Hospital
– and it is time for our
elected offi cials to do the same
and oppose this plan now.
In March 2019, Northwell
Health announced a controversial
scheme to expand Lenox
Hill Hospital. The 10-year, $2.5
billion proposal would see the
development of a 516-foot hospital
tower – which would be the
tallest in New York City, and the
second tallest in the world – and
a 200-unit, 490-foot residential
tower that will help fi nance the
renovation and expansion of the
hospital. The proposed hospital
tower, with a Floor Area Ratio
(FAR) of 15 would be the most
massive structure ever built on
the Upper East Side.
The proposal has been met
with skepticism by Upper East
Side residents and the local
community board from the time
it was fi rst disclosed to the public.
Instead of addressing these
concerns, Northwell Health has
decided to ignore them.
That is why we were shocked
to read a recent op-ed in this
paper by Northwell Health
CEO Michael Dowling and Dr.
Jill Kalman which falsely stated
that they are taking a community
centric approach.
In the piece, Northwell
Health CEO Michael Dowling
and Dr. Jill Kalman state that
they “…are committed to open
communication and working
collaboratively with the Upper
East Side and citywide communities.”
Nothing could be further
from the truth.
On the night of Oct. 23, with
hundreds of concerned Upper
East Side residents looking
on, Community Board 8 voted
overwhelmingly – 36 to 3 – to
reject Northwell Heath’s grandiose
development plan. In its
decision, the community board
cited reservations relating to existing
zoning variances, health
hazards, and perceived negative
impacts on local small businesses.
Why? Because the reality is
that Northwell’s 10-year development
would be a disaster for
the Lenox Hill community and
the entire Upper East Side. Unfortunately,
Northwell has not
yet offered a direct response to
Community Board 8’s vote and
has essentially treated that vote
as if it never took place.
The Lenox Hill Hospital
site has been zoned to protect
against the kind of over-development
proposed by Northwell
thanks to sensible zoning regulations
that have helped maintain
the area’s residential fabric.
Because Lenox Hill is in a
contextual zoning district, new
buildings must conform to the
scale of the neighborhood – and
Northwell is refusing to do so.
Furthermore, a decade of active
construction would release
deadly pollutants known as
particulate matter (PM) into a
densely populated residential
neighborhood and create new
traffi c and congestion problems
for years to come.
It will also severely impact
the health and mental state of
the patients they claim to serve
– the same patients that will
be subject to continual noise
and dust pollution if Northwell
attempts to keep the hospital
open throughout construction.
Ongoing construction would
also threaten to cut off foot traffi
c to local businesses.
In light of Northwell’s refusal
to address our community’s
concerns and its new op-ed
meant to silence our voices, the
next steps are clear: our elected
offi cials must announce their
opposition to this scheme.
By signaling their opposition,
Borough President Gale
Brewer and Council Member
Keith Powers have the power to
prevent Northwell from moving
forward and compel it to work
with the community.
Northwell can ignore us now,
but the campaign to halt this
disastrous scheme will only
grow stronger as public awareness
of Northwell’s land grab
increases.
Andy Gaspar and Andy
Soussloff lead the Committee to
Protect Our Lenox Hill Neighborhood
Schneps Media TVG November 14, 2019 13