Luxury towers plan for Two Bridges denied
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A state judge granted a petition
that nullifies the City Planning
Commission’s approval of private
developers’ plans to build four luxury
“mega-towers” in a two-block area on the
Chinatown waterfront.
The area, known as Two Bridges, is
surrounded by public housing, Section 8,
and other subsidized buildings. The plan
approved by the Commission sought to
bring four 60 to 100 story towers to the
streets encompassed by Cherry Street and
South Street.
In 1972, the Two Bridges area was designated
as a Large-Scale Residential Development
(LSRD) area, a district in which the
city allows flexibility to the normal land
use regulations. This was made to facilitate
the most space-efficient and beneficial site
plans for large apartment buildings that
span over multiple property lots. After
learning about the proposed developments,
which were approved in 2016, multiple
community organizations came together
in 2017 to state that if the Commission did
not follow the zoning rules at Two Bridges
LSRD, they would find themselves in court.
However, the developers of the project
stated that the development would only be
making minor modifications to existing
Three new megatower developments — with a total of four actual towers —
are slated for the Two Bridges area. The building at left has already been
erected and interior construction on it is currently being completed.
regulations that do not require ULURP.
The developers in turn were required to
hold community engagement meetings to
discuss the development with the public.
The following year, Tenants United
Fighting for the Lower East Side (TUFFLES),
CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities,
Good Old Lower East Side
(GOLES) and Community Board 3 filed
an application with Department of City
Planning to rezone the neighborhood according
to the Two Bridges Community
RENDERING COURTESY OF TWO BRIDGES
Plan. The plan, which was made based
on recommendations made in 2014 to the
Chinatown Working Group, includes rules
that would ensure new developments must
require affordable housing, impose a height
limit, add specific punishment for landlords
who harass tenants and force them out,
require for open space and public access
and limit some commercial uses.
In 2019, TUFF-LES, CAAAV, GOLES,
as well as Land’s End One Tenants Association
(LEOTA), and the LaGuardia Houses
Tenants’ Association, represented by TakeRoot
Justice, filed a petition to completely
halt the project in 2019.
The judge ultimately concluded in his decision
that the Commission was required to
do so any time new buildings are proposed
for the Two Bridges area because it was
planned as a single Large Scale Residential
Development (LSRD) area with a specific
site plan that is permanently part of its
zoning.
“It strains common sense and credulity
to characterize anything that would add approximately
2.5 million square feet of new
space, four new skyscrapers, and 2,775 new
dwelling units as ‘minor modifications,’”
wrote Justice Arthur Engoron.
Advocates were elated at the news that
the judge decided to put a halt on the
project, however they acknowledge that
the fight is not over.
“The judge’s ruling shows that residents
can, and should be, involved in land use
planning decisions that determine the
future of their neighborhood. Our fight
is not over,” said Elyse Highstreet, Community
Organizer at GOLES. “In coalition,
GOLES continues to fight for a comprehensive
community-driven rezoning plan, The
Two Bridges Community Plan, to prevent
the building of other luxury megatowers
and protect the neighborhood.”
City clears way for Chinatown archive salvation
BY TODD MAISEL
The Chinatown community was ready
to protest the lack of movement by
the city to allow them to retrieve
historical archives that belong to the Museum
of Chinese in America when, at the
final hour, they were given a green light
to prepare to rescue those irreplaceable
documents.
A month earlier, a 5-alarm fire tore
through 70 Mulberry Street, a building controlled
by the city’s Department of Citywide
Services. The building was being used by
a myriad of Chinese organizations when
the fire broke out – but most important to
the community was the 85,000 artifacts of
Chinese-American history stored on the
second floor of the four story building.
While the artifacts were not burned in
the fire that consumed the third and fourth
floors, the paper and photo documents were
soaked by the initial water from fire hoses
and over the past month, from the rain that
has saturated the city – and officials feared
the documents would be hit by mold as the
weather warmed.
About 20% of the archives have been
retrieved by the museum, located at 320
Posters that would’ve been used to protest against the city, are now just
placed on the wall as the city has a plan for retrieval of the archives.
Centre St., but most of the rest sits in boxes,
some of which remain in puddles of water
on the floor. Museum officials have been
pleading with the city to allow them to go
into the building and retrieve the rest to
no avail and were prepared to hold a mass
demonstration outside the Mulberry Street
building. But the city caved in last night,
saying museum rescuers would be allowed
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
in the building in about a week.
Nancy Yao Maasbach, president of the
museum, happily taped posters that they
had planned to hold in front of the building
to protest against the city’s slow efforts in
allowing them to re-enter the building.
“When the 5-alarm fire broke out at 70
Mulberry, MOCA anticipated the loss of
its 85,000-item collections and archives
collected over 40 years and our neighbors’
precious belongings,” Maasbach said.
“With the city’s prioritization, the community’s
perseverance, and the public’s
acknowledgment of our stories, our heritage,
and our history, MOCA will always
be indebted to the efforts made at this time
by all. The road to recovery, repair, and
rebuild is long but we now have visibility on
that road and we are committed to walking
it together.”
She said much of the wet materials will
have to be freeze dried, a process of removing
water safely from paper documents. Her
staff has set up space in her building, loaned
to them by her building owner for the next
six weeks. She was thankful for the 100 or
more volunteers who have stepped up to
help including archivists and specialists in
recovery.
“Today marks the beginning of a rebuilding
process for this cherished part of
the Chinatown community,” said Lisette
Camilo, Commissioner of DCAS in a statement.
“We are pleased that we will now be
able to access the priceless museum artifacts
and tenant belongings that have previously
been inaccessible due to unsafe conditions
inside the building.”
Schneps Media March 5, 2020 3