Community District
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Manhattan CD07 Projects
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Manhattan Community District 07
250 West 87th Street New York, NY 10024 Phone: 212-362-4008 Fax: 212-595-9317 Email: office@cb7.org
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Columbus Circle
With the recent completion of the Time Warner Center, renovations to the monument and circle itself, and restoration of the 2 Columbus Circle building, the Columbus Circle area of midtown Manhattan is quickly growing into its own small neighborhood. The area, which runs between 54th Street and 63rd Street and between Broadway and West End Avenue, is seeing significant growth in luxury condominium and apartment development, with at least three major developments currently under construction. In October 2006, consumer electronics retailer Best Buy signed a 15-year-lease on 46,000 square feet just north of the Circle.
Recent headlines
Building Design for 2 Columbus Circle Emerges to the Public
May 1, 2008
New York Times
Lost Opportunities at Columbus Circle?
March 30, 2007
New York Sun
Columbus Circle Revitalization Continues
February 22, 2007
New York Sun
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Fordham’s Expansion Website for Neighbors
Draft Scope of Work for EIS of Fordham’s Expansion – As Submitted to DCP
Community Board 7’s Comments to DCP Concerning Fordham’s Draft Scope of Work for Expansion EIS
Fordham Expansion
In 2005, Fordham University announced plans to expand its Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan to serve over 10,000 students, adding 2.5 million gross square feet to their current campus. The university’s student population had outgrown the campus, which originally accommodated 3,500 students but served 8,000 students in the 2007 academic year. The campus currently includes most of the superblock between 60th and 62nd Streets and Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues.
The expansion plan calls for selling or leasing the two corner parcels of the campus along Amsterdam Avenue for construction of two luxury residential buildings – 47 and 57 stories tall – to help finance the proposed development of their educational facilities. In addition, Fordham plans to build several new high-rise dormitories and a new law school, as well as new classroom space. Under the proposal, much of the development will occur on the perimeter of the site. Father McShane, Fordham’s President, said this concentration was to “maintain at the center of campus the green space that has been so much a community resource for the last 40 years.” (As quoted in the NYT, 2/23/05)
Local residents and several local politicians are concerned about the height, bulk, and location of the development. Community Board 7 has stated that they believe that the plan as currently envisioned will create a “fortress-like” feeling that will negatively affect the surrounding area. (See CB 7’s comments on the plan.) Many also feel that the plan calls for too many parking spaces and will encourage more vehicular traffic surrounding the site. In addition, Fordham is asking DCP to allow it to compare the environmental impacts of the proposed developments to the environmental impacts of building three residential buildings that can be built “as of right”. Manhattan Community Board 7 feels that Fordham should instead compare the environmental impacts of the proposed development to not building any more buildings, which is the traditional baseline (or no-action alternative) for Environmental Impact Statements.
Currently the Department of City Planning (DCP) is reviewing Fordham’s Draft Scope of Work for preparation of an EIS for the expansion. After it issues the final scope of work, the University will prepare a Draft EIS of their proposal. Once DCP is satisfied the DEIS is complete, it will issue a “Notice of Completion,” which will begin the ULURP review of the project. It is not yet clear when the environmental review process will be completed.
Recent headlines
Politicians Oppose Fordham Expansion Plan
September 10, 2007
New York Sun
Fordham University Announces Plan to Expand its Lincoln Center Campus
February 23, 2005
New York Times
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New York Historical Society Tower
The New-York Historical Society wants to begin a $20 million renovation of its landmark building at 170 Central Park West that would also allow a developer to build a 23-story glass apartment tower that has 18 floors of condominium apartments behind the society’s museum and library. The apartment tower would be 280 feet high, doubling the 136-foot height of the current structure. The master plan calls for 70,000 feet of new program and office space for the society, as well as 120,000 square feet for residential use. The lead renovation architect is Paul Spencer Byard of Platt Byard Dovell White in Manhattan, and the proposal to potential developers specifies that a “star architect” be chosen to design the tower. The society is seeking a developer who would provide financing and construct not only the apartment tower and an extra floor atop its four-story building, but also a five-story annex that would rise above an adjacent empty lot it owns at 7-13 West 76th Street. The first phase is expected to start in the summer of 2007.
The society has approached the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which must approve changes to the exterior of the building between 76th and 77th Streets. The exterior has landmark status not only individually, but also as part of the Upper West Side-Central Park West Historic District and a smaller domain, the Central Park West-76th Street Historic District. The Department of City Planning must also sign off, and public hearings are expected. Opponents say the design is out of character for the historic area, fear the "domino effect" its erection would have on the Upper West Side, and feel that it is inappropriate to turn a historic landmark into profit-making real estate.
Recent headlines
Landmarks Commission to Approve Historical Society Renovation
April 18, 2007
New York Sun
Landmarks Commission Delays Vote on NY Historical Society Renovations
March 21, 2007
New York Sun
Community Board Votes Against Historical Society Renovation
March 7, 2007
New York Times
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Manhattan Community Board Seven
West Siders for Responsible Development
NYC Department of City Planning
Upper West Side Rezoning Proposal
Manhattan’s Community Board 7 has passed a resolution calling for the rezoning of an area of the Upper West Side bounded by 97th Street, 110th Street, Riverside Drive and Central Park West. The proposal comes as two luxury towers being constructed by Extell Development Corporation, each more than thirty stories tall, are rising on Broadway between 99th and 100th Street. Although the two buildings are being built as-of-right under the current zoning, many residents fear that the project’s disproportionate scale threatens the neighborhood’s character and are pushing for a rezoning which would prevent similar developments from taking place in the future.
CB 7’s proposal would limit building heights to 125 feet along Broadway and 75 feet on other streets, but would make exceptions for developments which include units for tenants with low and moderate incomes. It would also bar air-rights transfers of the type which allowed Extell’s high-rises to exceed heights of 300 feet. Council Member Inez Dickens, whose district includes the proposed rezoning area, has expressed strong support for the plan. The Department of City Planning has said that while it agrees with the board’s call to limit heights on side streets, it would like to raise the proposed limit on avenues to 175 feet. In order become law, the board’s plan would require the approval of the City Council.
The City Council approved the rezoning on September 25, 2007 in an unanimous vote. New developments along Broadway must remain under 14 stories. City Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito, who represents the area, praised the approval as a "safeguard against aggressive development."
Recent headlines
UWS Group Files Lawsuit Against Extell
November 30, 2007
New York Sun
Upper West Side Rezoning Plan Approved
September 26, 2007
New York Times
Exceptions Made for Nursing Home in Upper West Side Rezoning
September 20, 2007
The Real Estate, New York Observer