GVSHP | Detail

The city has reversed its prior position and announced that they intend to revoke the permit for the 8-story building on this site, agreeing with our long-held contention that the “sliver law” applies in this case. An 8-story building at this site would be completely out-of-scale with its neighbors, including the diminutive adjacent MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District. However the “sliver law” limits new construction to no more than 60 ft. in height. GVSHP has long argued that this rule protecting neighborhood character does apply in this case and urged the Department of Buildings (DOB) to enforce it. In October, DOB approved the permits for the new 8-story buidling on this site, finding that the “sliver law” did not apply. GVSHP objected vociferously, staged a demonstration at the site, and called upon DOB to reverse the decision. DOB then put a hold on the permit, conducting an “audit” of the application. Nearly three months later, that audit has now resulted in the decision to seek revocation of the permits on the basis of the applicability of the sliver law in this case, among other issues. This is, however, not a final determination by the city. The developer has 15 days to reply to the city’s decision and its arguments, which could change the final outcome. Nevertheless, this is a positive development. We will continue to push to see that the permit for the 8-story building is permanently revoked, and will keep you posted of our progress. At the same time, we will continue to push to have the city consider this entire area for landmark designation as part of our proposed South Village Historic District. While the city is currently considering part of our proposed South Village Historic District for landmark designation, they have not yet considered this part of it. We had urged the city to prevent the original 1861 building at 178 Bleecker Street building from being demolished in 2009 by moving ahead with landmark designation, but unfortunately they refused. If you would like to send a letter to the city urging that they move ahead with landmark designation of the entire South Village as soon as possible, CLICK HERE. Thank you to everyone who wrote letters to the city over the last several months urging that the permits for 178 Bleecker Street be revoked and the sliver law applied — this would not have been possible without you!