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Community Board Hearings on Hotel/Office Tower/Historic Demolition Plan Nov. 13+20

The City is hoping its new hotel special permit requirement will help generate more office tower development in Greenwich Village and the East Village south of Union Square, like these buildings (l.) at 799 Broadway at 11th Street (under construction) and (r.) 809 Broadway (completed), accelerating the spread of ‘Midtown South’ and ‘Silicon Alley’ to the area following the 14th Street Tech Hub approvals.

We recently highlighted how unhelpful the city’s proposal to require ‘special permits’ for new hotels in the area south of Union Square is. While we are not keen on large new hotel developments in the area, the plan seems intended to allow tech-related office towers to take their place, greenlights the demolition of historic buildings and residences, and seems more geared toward rewarding the Mayor’s campaign donors and continuing the spread of ‘Midtown South’ into the area following the Mayor and Councilmember Carlina Rivera’s approval of the 14th Street Tech Hub over community objections.

This proposed change, which will do nothing to help protect this part of Greenwich Village and the East Village from the inappropriate development being accelerated by the approval of the Tech Hub, must now go through a public hearing and review process which starts at the two affected local community boards. We strongly encourage you to attend and send a message to Mayor de Blasio and Councilmember Carlina Rivera that this does not help our neighborhoods, and what we want is real landmark and/or zoning protections – not a greenlight for demolishing historic buildings and residences to make way for high-rise office towers. Please attend:

Land Use Committee Meeting of Community Board #2
(covers the area WEST of Fourth Avenue)
Wednesday, November 13 at 6:30 pm
NYU Silver Building, 32 Waverly Place (Wash. Sq. E.) rm. 408

Land Use Committee Meeting of Community Board #3
(covers the area EAST of Fourth Avenue)
Wednesday, November 20th at 6:30 pm
Sirovich Senior Center & Volunteers of America
331 East 12th Street (1st/2nd Avenues)

While both meetings are open to the public, we strongly recommend that you attend the meeting of your community board (depending upon which side of Fourth Avenue you live).

Send a letter to City officials saying this scheme offers zero protections for Greenwich Village and the East Village, and we demand more be done!

Previous: 10/28/19