Under legislation being proposed, millions of square feet of air rights from the Hudson River Park could be transferred into the Village and Meatpacking District, vastly increasing the allowable size of development, as pictured here. Click for more images (credit: Matthew Pietrus).

A huge development is planned for the 3-block St. John’s Terminal site at Houston and West Streets, with hundreds of thousands of square feet of ‘Big Box’ stores and ‘destination retail’ that will draw enormous amounts of traffic from all over the metropolitan area. The plan and attached approvals will also open the door to vastly increased development up and down the Greenwich Village and Meatpacking District waterfront using ‘air rights’ from the nearby Hudson River Park, and leave the nearby South Village vulnerable to intensified development pressure with no protections for its historic, low-rise residential buildings.

Without the landmark protections we are demanding, a 300 ft. tall tower, as pictured here, could be built in the South Village south of Houston Street, here on the south side of Houston between Sullivan and Thompson Streets.

In just six days, the City Planning Commission will hold its sole public hearing on the project – its last stop before the final vote at the New York City Council.

WE MUST HAVE A HUGE TURNOUT TO DEMAND PROTECTIONS FOR THE NEARBY SOUTH AND WEST VILLAGE!

Join us in calling for:

• Landmark protections for nearby not-yet-landmarked section of the South Village south of Houston Street  – an area for which we have been seeking landmark designation for over ten years

• A ban on any future air rights transfers from the Hudson River Park within Community Board #2 (14th Street to Canal Street)

• An elimination of any ‘Big Box’ stores or ‘destination retail’ from the plan, with only moderately sized, locally oriented stores and a supermarket allowed

HOW TO HELP:

• Come to the City Planning Commission public hearing on Wednesday, August 24th at 22 Reade Street (B’way/Lafayette) starting at 10 a.m. (should last for hours). Testify or just show support. Use letter here for sample testimony; click here for more details.  You can check the GVSHP twitter feed at twitter.com/gvshp starting at 10 am on the 24th for status updates about the hearing, when public testimony will begin and end, etc.

• Write the Mayor, City Planning Chair, and city and state officials NOW urging them to demand the changes and protections we are calling for.

For more information, click here.