Awful Design for New Building at 14th & 8th (Which Could Have Been Worse!) The design was recently revealed for the new building going up at 76 8th Avenue at 14th Street, and it could not be more disappointing.  Because this site is located outside of the Greenwich Village Historic District, and the non-descript 2-story building on the site was not a viable candidate for landmarking, there is no public approval needed for the design. The one ray of sunshine? Last year the developer sought a zoning variance to allow him to build about 20% taller than the zoning for the site allows.  GVSHPdefeated that variance, refuting the developer’s claim that a “hardship” entitled him to build larger than the zoning height limits for the site allowed. So while we may have to look at this ugly monstrosity, at least we will have to look at 20% less of it than we otherwise would have. Mayor de Blasio also sought to gut the zoning height limits that govern these and many other sites in our neighborhood in 2015.  But in 2016 GVSHP was able to beat back much of that plan and retain the height limits for sites like this in the West Village.