Community District
Find the planning projects in your community district.
Manhattan CD06 Projects
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Manhattan Community District 06
866 UN Plaza, Suite 308
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212.319.3750
Fax: 212.319.3772
Email: mancb6@verizonesg.net
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2nd Avenue Subway
Plans for a subway line along Second Avenue date back to 1929. In fact, a plan developed in the 1960s resulted in the construction of several tunnel segments before work was suspended due to the city's financial crisis. In 1995, MTA began the Manhattan East Side Alternatives (MESA) Study. The project's goal was to recommend a course of action to reduce overcrowding and delays on the Lexington Avenue line, and to improve transit accessibility for residents on the Far East Side of Manhattan.
On April 12, 2007, ground was broken on the new subway line's first phase, which will run down Second Avenue from 96th Street to 63rd Street. The plan for ultimate build out of the line calls for the subway to run north to 125th Street and south to Hanover Square in the Financial District. The first phase of construction is estimated to cost $3.8 billion while construction of the entire project is estimated to cost around $13 billion. The first phase of what is now also known as the “T” line is scheduled to be completed in 2013 but there is no timetable for the rest of the project.
In November 2005, New York State voters approved the Transportation Bond Act, which contained $450 million for the project. This is in addition to the $1.05 billion the State has committed to the project and the anticipated federal commitment of at least $1.3 billion.
There are several sources of concern about the project. Some local residents are concerned about the relocation of residents in 60 residential buildings along the planned route. Partnership for New York City, a group of business executives, has published a study that, while not opposing the new subway, found that other projects, including a $6 billion rail link from lower Manhattan to Kennedy Airport, or the $2.1 billion No. 7 subway extension, would bring greater economic development. In addition, questions remain regarding financing of much of the rest of the line after the first phase is complete with full build out estimated to cost another $10 billion.
Recent headlines
U.S. Senate Provides $250 Million for Second Avenue Subway
July 11, 2008
NY1
Major Projects on Hold As Cement Truck Drivers Strike
July 2, 2008
New York Times
2nd Ave Businesses Seek Economic Relief
June 21, 2008
New York Daily News
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CPC's Report on CB6's 197a Plan
CPC's Report on ERRC's Applicaiton - Main
CPC's Report on ERRC's Applicaiton - Other
CPC's Report on ERRC's Applicaiton - Other
CPC's Report on ERRC's Applicaiton - Other
CPC's Report on ERRC's Applicaiton - Other
CPC's Report on ERRC's Applicaiton - Other
CPC's Report on ERRC's Applicaiton - Other
Con Ed Site Redevelopment
Developer Sheldon H. Solow and the East River Realty Company (ERRC) had proposed a 6.1 million square feet commercial and residential development on the East Side of Manhattan. The approximately 9.2 acre site stretching between 34th and 41st Streets along the East River is owned by Con Edison and is now largely vacant. The original proposal called for a 1.5 million sf office tower and six residential that would include totaling 4,166 housing units. The towers would range between 528 and 864 feet tall, all taller than the current 505 feet of the UN secretariat building. The towers were designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill and Richard Meir. The plan also called for over 1,500 parking spaces.
As the plan moved through the ULURP process, there were several modifications. ERRC has agreed to set aside approximately 600 units for affordable and workforce housing and has agreed to build a school for approximately 600 students. The number of parking spaces has also been scaled back to approximately 400. Despite these changes, the Community Board and local elected officials, such as Councilmember Daniel Garodnick, still have concerns about the proposal. Those concerns include the belief that the development is too dense for the area and that the inclusion of significant commercial uses is out of character with the neighborhood. In addition, many are concerned that the proposed 50 to 60 story towers, which will be far taller than the nearby UN secretariat, will be out of place in a neighborhood of mostly 40 story towers.
Both Manhattan Community Board 6 (CB6) and Borough President Scott Stringer recommended that ERRC’s plan be disapproved by the City Planning Commission (CPC) and City Council. CPC, however, voted to approve the plan in January 2007, paving the way for the City Council to review the plan and make a final determination. The City Council will hold its public hearing on the plan on Monday, February 25, 2007.
In addition to ERRC’s application to rezone the area from manufacturing to a more mixed-use zone, CB6 also prepared a rezoning plan for the site – a 197c plan – as well as a more general 197a plan for a larger portion of the community district. CPC approved CB6’s 197a plan, with some modifications, at the same time they approved ERRC’s rezoning plan. However, CPC has not yet given CB6’s 197c plan approval to begin the ULURP process.
Recent headlines
Tudor City Residents File Lawsuit to Stop Con Ed Site Redevelopment
April 24, 2008
AM New York
Rezoning for Con Ed Site Redevelopment Passes City Council
March 27, 2008
The Real Deal
Solow’s Plan Gets Approval from Key Council Subcommittee
March 12, 2008
New York Observer
East Side Access
The East Side Access (ESA) project will connect the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) Main and Port Washington lines in Queens to a new LIRR terminal beneath Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The new connection will increase the LIRR's capacity to provide service into Manhattan, dramatically shorten travel time for Long Island commuters, and provide a new commuter rail station in Sunnyside, Queens.
Construction was scheduled to begin years ago but has been delayed due to funding issues. The MTA is pushing forward with the plan, selecting a contractor for tunneling in July 2006 and estimating the project will be completed by 2013. Cost estimates remain unclear and continue to rise. Federal government projections estimate the project to be over $7 billion.
Recent headlines
East Side Access Project Progresses Underground
July 18, 2008
New York Daily News
Progress Made on East Side Access Project
July 3, 2008
NY1
Jacobs Engineering Group Awarded Contract for East Side Access Project
April 29, 2008
Other
Hunter College Health-Professions Tower
Hunter College President, Jennifer Raab, announced plans to sell off the school’s 3.5-acre Kips Bay nursing campus near 25th Street and F.D.R. Drive, and build a 16-story building for science and health professions programs at 67th Street and Second Avenue, closer to its overcrowded main campus on the Upper East Side. Hunter wants to replace it with up to 14 stories of classrooms and labs (and two stories for mechanical equipment) that would consolidate the science labs, now located elsewhere on the main campus, as well as the nursing, nutrition, and physical therapy classrooms and labs that are in Kips Bay. The Governor and the state legislature have already approved a $78 million allocation for Hunter’s new science building.
Opponents decry the planned displacement of the 80-year-old Julia Richman Education Complex, a set of six elementary, middle and high schools. Many of the complex’s residents and neighbors object that even if the new school building were state-of-the-art, the swap would put them in a worse location, obviate millions of dollars of renovations, and ruin an increasingly productive relationship with the community. The private developer that bids on the one million square feet of development rights on East 25th Street would have to build a new campus for Julia Richman on the property, according to the NYC Department of Education’s instructions, and also accommodate the 600 dorm rooms that are currently there, either keeping them on the site or moving them elsewhere.
Hunter put out a request for proposals in December 2007 for the Kips Bay site. The deadline was recently extended from March to May 22nd. Among the bidders for the site is NYU, which is also looking to expand for a student body that is growing in size and lacks sufficient classroom and research space. This location is close to the existing NYU Medical Campus and could be an ideal place for the university’s expansions. Details are yet to be released on any of the proposals since the extension was put into place, however Community Board 6 is said to favor any medical-related additions contributing to the existing health corridor for which the area is known.
Recent headlines
NYU bids on Kips Bay CUNY Site
March 18, 2008
New York Observer
Students Protest Hunter College Expansion
November 15, 2006
New York Sun
One Madison Ave Clocktower
Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding LLC have entered into joint venture arrangement with SL Green Realty Corporation to convert the 700-foot-high Metropolitan Life office tower at One Madison Avenue to either residential condominiums or a high-end hotel. Schrager recently described the project as “very high-end hotel, more like a private club.” While the interior is to be gutted, the exterior of the north tower, familiar to many because of its huge clock and its cupola of Italian gold leaf, cannot be altered because of its designation as a national landmark.
One Madison Avenue occupies the southeast corner at 24th Street and is part of a full-block property that SL Green acquired last year from MetLife for $918 million. The remainder of the block is a 14-story office building. SL Green will retain ownership of the 1.2 million square foot south annex which is leased through 2020 to Credit Suisse First Boston. CSFB will have a 50% ownership stake in whatever SL Green eventually decides to develop. The right to participate with SL Green in the building's development opportunities was awarded to CSFB at no charge, but the bank will have to vacate its offices within the clock tower to allow that portion of the building to be converted into residential condos. Although SL Green has no intention of converting the south Annex into apartments, the deal includes air rights over the south building that should enable it to build another tower, next to the 96-year-old north tower, that would house an additional 470,000 square feet of apartments. The landmarking of the adjacent tower would not prevent the use of these air rights.
Recent headlines
Famous Designer Hired as Part of Clock Tower’s Redevelopment Team
July 22, 2008
Reuters UK Edition
SL Green Sells Historic Tower
May 15, 2007
Forbes
Schrager Discusses Development Plans
April 16, 2007
New York Observer
Quick Links
Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village Homepage
Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village
On October 17, 2006, Tishman Speyer Properties and partner BlackRock investment bank, signed the largest American real estate deal ever, agreeing to pay $5.4 billion for Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, a vast corridor of 110 apartment buildings with a total of 11,232 units, along the East River. Built by Metropolitan Life for returning veterans in 1947, with the help of tax breaks and the government’s powers of eminent domain, nearly three quarters of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartments have regulated rents at roughly half the market rate. An apartment can be decontrolled after it becomes vacant, or if the rent reaches $2,000 a month and the existing tenants’ household income rises above $175,000 for two consecutive years. Twenty-seven percent of the apartments are now at market rates and another 1,800 units will be decontrolled over the next two years.
Present tenants fear that a new owner would transform the complexes into a luxury enclave and organized a failed $4.5 billion offer intended to preserve at least 40 percent of the complexes as middle-class housing, for buyers or renters. City officials refused to provide assistance or tax breaks that the tenant’s group had requested, arguing that the city could create and preserve affordable housing for significantly less money at other sites. While Tishman Speyer has pledged that there will be no sudden shift in the neighborhood’s makeup, they refuse to commit to preserving a large block of apartments as affordable housing. They further insist that there are no plans to develop any of the open space in the complex.
Recent headlines
Tishman Speyer Disputes Legitimacy of Tenants
May 27, 2008
New York Times
Stuy-Town and Peter Cooper Village Getting Landscaping Overhaul
April 20, 2008
New York Times
Class-Action Suit Against Stuyvesant Town Owners Fails
August 24, 2007
New York Newsday
Quick Links
United Nations Capital Master Plan Website
GAO Report on UN Renovation (Nov. 2006)
GAO Update on UN Renovation (Feb. 2007)
Secretary-General Annual Progress Report
UN Capital Master Plan Accelerated Renovation Strategy IV (Feb 2008)
United Nations Renovation
The United Nations General Assembly (GA) has cleared the way for a major rehabilitation of the UN campus to begin. In February 2008, the GA approved the $1.9 billion budget for the renovation project, which is planned to be completed by 2013.
The master planning process for renovations to the UN campus began in the 1990’s. The goals of the renovation are to improve the safety and functionality of the 17 acre, 2.6 million sf campus. Originally designed to serve 75 member countries and 700 conferences a year, the current campus serves 192 countries and is the site for 8,000 meetings a year. In addition, the facility is not in compliance with modern fire and safety codes (though it is technically exempt from those codes) and has asbestos insulation throughout the building. The renovation will not only address those problems, but reconfigure the floor plates of the buildings to allow for a more flexible configuration of space. Energy efficient design measures will also be incorporated into the building, approximating a LEED Silver rating. Finally, security enhancements will be made throughout the campus.
The original plan called for the rehab to be done in phases while more than 3,700 workers remained on campus. This would have left the UN looking for approximately 300,000 sf of “swing space” for over 1,000 workers. The new plan, however, calls for only 2,200 workers to remain on the campus, meaning that the UN will have to find even more temporary office space throughout the city. The relocation of additional staff, however, allows the renovation to be completed by 2013 – 2 years sooner than originally planned.
The approval of this most recent plan is the latest step in what has been a long planning process. At one point, there were plans to build a tower to temporarily hold the UN’s workers on the Robert Moses playground, immediately south of the UN. Despite the contention that the playground was underused, the New York State Legislature refused to pass legislation to alienate the parkland. A year after that 2005 defeat, the chief architect of the renovation resigned.
Recent headlines
United Nations Owes City Millions in Rent
May 29, 2008
The Real Deal
Groundbreaking for UN Renovations Today
May 5, 2008
Other
United Nations Renovation Will Impact Trees
April 16, 2008
New York Sun