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Zoning Variance Hearing Tuesday on Proposed 250 ft. tall Tower, 72-80 Sullivan Street/120-140 Sixth Avenue
 The Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) will hear a zoning hardship application to allow a developer to build a 250 ft. tall residential tower and townhouses on this triangular site between Sullivan Street and Sixth Avenue, north of Broome Street, in the South Village, where a car wash and gas station were formerly located. The current zoning for the site prohibits residential development, and the developer is claiming a hardship based upon the unusually narrow site, its slope, and the presence of the subway underground (more info here).
GVSHP does not object to a residential use on this site (an 18-story hotel could be built without a variance), but we do object to the size and height of the proposed development, which is completely out-of-scale for the historic, residential South Village neighborhood. We are urging the BSA to substantially reduce the size of the allowable residential development, to make it consistent with what the surrounding residential zoning allows.
A 250 ft. tall tower has no place in the South Village. While this site is within the proposed South Village Historic District, because it is within the area the Landmarks Preservation Commission has only committed to “survey” before the end of the year, the project unfortunately does not require landmarks approval.
GVSHP has reached out to City Council Speaker Quinn, State Senator Daniel Squadron, and Assemblymember Deborah Glick to urge them to call for a reduction in the size and height of the proposed development, and are awaiting a response.
On a related note, yesterday just a block to the north, residents of 188 Sixth Avenue were forced to evacuate their building after construction at a neighboring site at 180 Sixth Avenue, which GVSHP had also previously expressed concerns about, led to apparent shifting structural instability in their turn of the century building.
HOW TO HELP:
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Testify at the BSA hearing on Tuesday, September 24th at Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street (between B’way and Lafayette – bring photo ID) – use sample testimony here. (Please note: the session begins at 10 am and this is one of the last items scheduled to be heard, so this item may not begin before 11 am)
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Write to the BSA urging them to substantially reduce the size of the allowable development – use sample letter here.
Next: 12/05/13
Previous: 09/12/13
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