The Municipal Art Society of New York » Urban Planning

City Builder Book Club: MAS Staffer Mary Rowe on Death and Life

MAS — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:58:55 +0000

Mary W. Rowe, vice president of strategy and partnerships at MAS, is this week’s guest writer for City Builder Book Club. The City Builder Book Club is a joint venture between the Centre for City Ecology and Creative Urban Projects to facilitate a deeper understanding of how cities work by hosting a guided reading and discussion of books that have developed and challenged ideas on urbanism. This winter, the book club is reading at book many of us at MAS hold dear, Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Read an excerpt from Mary’s article below, or read it in its entirety here. You can also read along with the book club, which is reading 1-2 chapters per week, through April. The reading schedule is listed their website.

Mary Rowe on the Introduction: Why you will read and reread this book

…This week we are to be reading the Introduction. On the page facing it, Jacobs chose to quote Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose ideas she greatly admired. I am struck by the hopefulness of the quote she chose:

“…more complex and intense intellectual efforts mean a fuller and richer life. They mean more life. Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have enough of it.” (Jacobs quoting Oliver Wendell Holmes, Front matter, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Random House, New York, 1961.)

The Introduction begins with a sentence for which she is now—in professional planning circles—infamous. “This book is an attack on current city planning and rebuilding.” The chapter—which is really a tour de force, summarizing the ideas that she will lay out in detail and the notions that will become, over time, generally accepted as the contemporary understanding of how great, large, complex cities thrive, or decline. But that first sentence has led what may have already been a narcissistically-preoccupied profession—urban planning—into thinking this book, and therefore city-building, is about them. (Attention readers who happen to be planners: You probably think this book is about you, don’t you…don’t you…?). It really isn’t. What we’ve seen in my lifetime (I am just slightly older than the book) is the democratization of city-building, with Jacobs’ neutralizing the traditional deference paid to ‘experts’, in favour of the real experience of people. Her practical, common sense analysis and shunning of grand approaches and universal theories was by her own powers—as Holmes advocated—by which she made sense of the city. She challenges her readers to do so also. Where has this left the profession of planning? If lay people—who live, work, and use the city in every way—know best what they need and want from it, what “expertise” does a planner bring? This is a worthy question, to which lots of planners have creatively responded (including several you will read here, in subsequent posts). But Death and Life is not about planning or planners. It’s about life.

As mentioned earlier, Jacobs wrote a new essay for the front matter of the 1992 edition, to include with the original Introduction. If your edition doesn’t include it, you might want to borrow a friend’s 1992 book or read an excerpt online as it provides a further challenge from the author to better understand how cities work, and the still generally unheeded implications for their planning and governance.

Reading Death and Life first in the Jacobs canon is important because the concepts here underpin her work that follows. In reflection you can see the seeds of subsequent volumes—how city economies grow, the challenges of governance and dependencies on “senior” governments, the importance of seeing connections—the “web” of organized complexity, her distrust of large “schemes” or one-size-fits-all universals (from the “right” or the “left”). And she lays out her method, to which you will see she returns again and again, as her “tactics for understanding”:

think about processes, not outcomes;
work inductively, not developing theories and applying them; and
look for the “un-average”—clues that explain things in smaller instances and quantities that may be instructive at larger scales. (For more information on this, see the final chapter of Death and Life, “The Kind of Problem a City Is”.)

Death and Life is an eloquent and rigorous primer of the Jacobs way. And if you’re like me, you’ll return to Death and Life again and again, as a reminder to pay attention to what you are seeing… Continue reading

MAS President on Governor Cuomo’s State of the State

MAS — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:25:35 +0000

In response to Governor Cuomo’s 2012 State of the State address last week, in which he announced a proposal to replace the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center with a complex in Queens, MAS President Vin Cipolla urges “What’s good for Manhattan must be good for Queens.” Vin’s op-ed on the State of the State for Metropolis follows below in its entirety.

What’s good for Manhattan must be good for Queens
For almost two decades, The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) has advocated for the transformation of the Farley Post Office into a new Penn Station to be called Moynihan Station. Governor Cuomo’s recent State of the State address suggests that 2012 could be the station’s moment.

The immediate story is, of course, the possible razing of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and its replacement, at the site of the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, by what the Governor describes as the nation’s largest convention center. Before moving ahead, however, we must make sure that what’s good for Manhattan is equally beneficial for Queens.

Getting rid of Javits is a great idea – but not in isolation. The key issue is what will replace it. If a reimagined Far West Side is to succeed, we need to develop nuanced and comprehensive strategies for urban design, transportation and how to engage the public in the planning process.

We also need to make sure that the new convention center doesn’t become another Javits or, worse yet, another Coliseum. New York City’s history of failed convention centers (the Coliseum stood for 44 years; Javits opened 26 years ago) proves that we need a convention facility with the spatial flexibility and community buy-in to thrive well into the 21st century.

Let’s start with transportation. With both a new convention center and a redeveloped Javits site on the horizon, New York urgently needs a transportation infrastructure that can support these mega-projects.

The gargantuan size of a modern convention center like the one proposed by the Governor dictates a comprehensive transportation upgrade. The 18-acre Javits site is larger than 13.5 football fields and gets more than three million visitors a year. The proposed Queens site would handle at least that number of people, if not considerably more. Numbers this large demand an expanded Kennedy Airport and extensions of the subway and bus lines serving Ozone Park.

While, on Manhattan’s Far West Side, some transportation improvements are already in progress, more are needed, with the perennially overcrowded Penn Station topping the list of challenges. In 1963, 200,000 people passed through its concourses daily; by 2008, usage had more than tripled to 640,000 – more than LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark Airports combined. A redeveloped Javits site necessitates replacing Penn Station with Moynihan Station, and soon.

Integrating a new convention center and a redeveloped Javits site into their respective neighborhoods is equally important. The best way to ensure these developments’ long-term viability is to , first, insist on a planning process that is fully transparent and public and, second, expose the plans to rigorous review, early and often. Community engagement is essential. A public planning process like the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) would allow community boards to weigh in alongside policymakers and experts. Public forums to tease out urban design, sustainability, environmental effects and community issues would raise the odds of success even more.

The construction of a new convention center in Queens and the simultaneous redevelopment of the Far West Side could bring millions of new visitors – and millions of tax dollars – to New York City. Let’s make sure these projects benefit their host neighborhoods as much as they do the city as a whole. Our citizens deserve nothing less.

NYU’s “Core” Project Enters Public Review

MAS — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:39:54 +0000

MAS joined several hundred community residents last night for Community Board Two’s first official public review of NYU’s application to redevelop significant portions of their core campus in Greenwich Village. Huge attendance caused the meeting to relocate to a larger venue several blocks away; for nearly three hours, residents spoke about how the years of construction impacts, loss of public amenities and increased density will affect their neighborhood’s historic character and livability.

The Department of City Planning officially certified NYU’s plan as complete on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012. This certification marked the beginning of the City’s seven-month public review and approval process known as the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). The Greenwich Village expansion is one part of NYU 2031: NYU in NYC, the University’s strategic plan to add 6 million square feet of campus space throughout the city over the next twenty years. If approved, NYU’s proposal would add approximately 2.5 million square feet of academic space to two residential superblocks: Silver Towers and Washington Square Village.

MAS has been actively involved in the discussion regarding NYU’s expansion plans beginning in 2010 as participants in Borough President Stringer’s Community Task Force on NYU Development. NYU’s application is now under 60 days of public review. For a full schedule of public hearings see Community Board 2’s website. To learn more about this development project see our NYU web page and read our comments on the Draft Scope of Work for an Environmental Impact Statement for the NYU Core submitted to the Department of City Planning in May 2011.

What Does the Cornell/Technion Proposal Mean for Roosevelt Island?

Hazel Balaban — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:49:26 +0000

Last week, it was announced that the Cornell University-Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Consortium was chosen from seven applicants who this past summer responded to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Request for Proposals (RFP) for Applied Sciences NYC. The RFP called for a university or partnership to develop and operate an applied science campus in New York City in exchange for access to city-owned land on Roosevelt Island, as well $100 million in city capital for infrastructure upgrades. The Cornell/Technion proposal includes plans for an eleven-acre campus with more than two million square feet of space for two thousand students. The hope is that this investment of money, time and talent will breathe new life into the city’s economy as well as Roosevelt Island.

In 1971, the now defunct Urban Development Corporation (UDC) of New York State—a state agency charged with the economic development of New York—undertook the transformation of a patch of land between Manhattan and Queens which at that time was known as Welfare Island. The UDC renamed the island Roosevelt Island and with a master plan laid out by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, the corporation gradually began to transform the island into a residential community. In 1984, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York was created to take responsibility for the development and operation of the island. The corporation assumed the role of the UDC as the lessee under a 99-year lease (expiring in 2068) from the City of New York.

In its mission statement, the goals of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation are to:

1) Promote, develop, and maintain the mixed-use residential community on Roosevelt Island.

2) Provide appropriate level of services which develop and maintain public facilities,open spaces, and commercial facilities.

3) Ensure good governance by compliance with applicable Federal, State, and City laws.

The plan for the island approved with subsequent modifications provides for the development of housing, retail and schools for a mixed income, handicap accessible, residential neighborhood. The plan also restricts automobile use on much of the island and provides for an innovative garbage compacting system that transports waste through underground tunnels to a collection station where it is compacted and sealed in containers. The development of the island was quietly a laboratory for urban experimentation.

If realized, the Cornell/Technion plan with more than two million new square feet of university space will once again transform the island. The details of the proposal have yet to emerge but the information that has been released include plans for a net zero energy campus. And, according to terms set forth by the city, the first phase of the permanent Cornell/ Technion campus on Roosevelt Island is to open no later than 2017. The development of the proposal is on an incredibly tight timeline, so the challenge will be for these universities, the city, and community stakeholders not only to think creatively—to re-imagine the island and the relationship of universities to the communities they’re situated in—but also to think incredibly quickly.

What comes of this collision of ideas and expediency will say a great deal about the future of this piece of land and perhaps if successful will become an economic development model for other cities.

Follow Up: “New York’s Next Great Waterfront Park” In the News

MAS — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:13:03 +0000

Last week’s release of the MAS report, New York’s Next Great Waterfront Park garnered a fair amount of media attention. A synthesis of the lively and insightful discussions that took place at our July 2011 charrette, the report was prepared in conjunction with noted New York landscape architect Barbara Wilks and her firm, W Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Read the complete report online, or to download it click here.

Check out the press about New York’s Next Great Waterfront Park below:

New York Observer, Hope Floats! Municipal Art Society Revives Plans for East River Waterfront

Wall Street Journal, Park Plan Gives Added Access to East River

Curbed NY, East Waterfront Plan Bobs Along, Slowly Forward

DNAinfo, Municipal Art Society Offers Renovation Advice for Con Ed Pier

MAS would especially like to thank Council Member Daniel Garodnick, who helped to make New York’s Next Great Waterfront Park a great success. We look forward to working with all of the stakeholders to ensure that the Con Ed Pier truly becomes New York City’s next great park.

Moynihan Moves Forward

MAS — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:00:54 +0000

On December 13, AECOM, the global design, engineering and planning firm, announced that they received a $19 million contract by the Moynihan Station Development Corporation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to complete the first phase of work to transform the Farley Post Office building into Moynihan Station – a new inter-city rail hub for New York City.

A recent article in Bloomberg News discusses the critical role that Moynihan Station will play in the expansion of the Northeast Corridor. Ridership on the Northeast Corridor has grown 30 percent from 2000 to 2011. According to Amtrak, however, the only way that additional passengers could be accommodated along the Northeast Corridor in the future is if the federal agency moves its operations in New York City from the currently overcrowded Penn Station across the street to Moynihan Station.

AECOM’s involvement in the Moynihan Station development project will result in the completion of Phase 1 by 2016. This will allow access to Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and Long Island Rail Road trains through entrances at the Farley Post Office. These new access points will help to alleviate passenger congestion in Penn Station and reduce the queue times of trains coming in and out of New York City.

The specific work that is to be completed as part of Phase 1 includes:

The creation of nineteen access points from the Farley Post Office to the train tracks that lie beneath the building, including eight additional unused tracks.
Two new above-grade entrances through the Farley Post Office just west of 8^th Avenue, at 31^st and 33^rd Streets.
Improved connections from the Farley Post Office to the 8^th Avenue (A/C/E) Subway and Penn Station.

MAS has a long history of working with federal, state, city and civic partners to advocate for the creation of Moynihan Station. We are excited that AECOM was selected to commence the work for Phase 1, and we look forward to engaging all stakeholders in a dialogue on the future vision as the design of the central train hall moves forward.

For background information on the Moynihan Station development project and to learn about MAS’s involvement in this work, click here.

MAS Releases “New York’s Next Great Waterfront Park”, A Report on the Future of East Midtown’s Waterfront

MAS — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:00:34 +0000

On December 13, 2011, MAS released the report New York’s Next Great Waterfront Park to help guide the transformation of the former Con Ed pier along the East Midtown Waterfront into a thriving public space. New York’s Next Great Waterfront Park was prepared in conjunction with MAS Planning Committee member and noted New York landscape architect Barbara Wilks and her firm W Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Read the complete report online, or to download it click here.

The report offers a set of community driven design principles for the East Midtown Waterfront, exploring how to maximize the site’s adjacency to the East River, what kind of physical infrastructure and community involvement are needed to ensure the success of the park, and how to both leverage and respect the local ecosystem. The recommendations grew out of a charrette, or design workshop, convened by MAS in July 2011. The purpose of the all-day session was to bring attention to the East Side’s pressing need for publicly accessible open space and to articulate a community-driven vision for a new waterfront park. For more information on the July 2011 charrette, you can read The New York Times event recap here.

Said Vin Cipolla, president of the Municipal Art Society: “The charrette yielded an even greater degree of creativity and collaboration than we had hoped for. If the resulting design principles are used to guide this project, the waterfront park on the former Con Ed Pier will be an exceptionally vibrant and versatile resource for all New Yorkers.”

The charrette brought together over 50 architects, designers, urban planners, local officials, members of Manhattan Community Board 6 (CB6), representatives from city agencies and civic advocates. Among the participants were Councilman Dan Garodnick; State Senator Liz Krueger; representatives from Congresswomen Carolyn Maloney’s office; CB6; the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC); The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation (NYC DPR); The United Nations Development Corporation, School Construction Authority, NYU Medical Center, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, Transportation Alternatives, and landscape architects George Bloomer, Jim Mituzas and George Vellonakis from the NYC DPR; Mary Margaret Jones, Senior Principal, Hargreaves Associates; Christopher Marcinkoski, Director, PORT Architecture + Urbanism; and Dong-Ping Wong, Director, Family Architects.

MAS will be submitting New York’s Next Great Waterfront Park to the NYC EDC and AECOM, who was selected by NYC EDC to conduct a feasibility study of the East River Waterfront from 38^th to 60^th Streets and to complete the initial rehabilitation work on the former Con Ed Pier. MAS looks forward to working with NYC EDC, AECOM and the local community as work begins on this critical portion of new open space on the East River Waterfront.

New York’s Next Zoning Resolution

MAS — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:42:30 +0000

Is New York City’s much-modified 1961 zoning resolution the best framework for creating a more livable, sustainable and equitable city? Our panel of zoning experts at the MAS Summit for New York City didn’t think so. Deftly moderated by Vicki Been, director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at NYU, the panel consisted of Donald Elliott, a zoning consultant with a national practice; Michael Kwartler, architect, planner and founder of the Environmental Simulation Center; Mitchell Silver, president of the American Planning Association and Jerilyn Perine, executive director of the Citizens Housing & Planning Council.

Although the panelists offered a variety of perspectives on how to reform the zoning resolution, they all believe that continuing to use the current framework will put NYC at disadvantage with respect to other cities that have modernized their regulatory framework. Among the specific suggestions offered by the panel include: incorporating environmental best practices into the zoning resolution, re-thinking the separation of uses, integrating historic preservation with land use planning, and finding new models and methods of public engagement.

The panelists believe that New York is ready for a new vision and we agree. Please stay tuned as MAS develops a plan for New York’s Next Zoning Resolution.

MAS Releases Report on NYC’s Garment District

MAS — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:00:16 +0000

One year after our Garment District panel discussion at the 2010 MAS Summit, we’re excited to be releasing Fashioning the Future: NYC’s Garment District at the 2011 edition of the Summit, a report which is the culmination of our work on one of the fashion industry’s greatest assets – Manhattan’s Garment District.

Today, with the re-zoning proposal, which would have significantly altered the manufacturing character of the district, off the table, it is time to acknowledge the strengths of the district, address its current needs, and plan for its future. Over the last year we have conducted case studies, gathered new data, interviewed dozens of experts, researched the history and explored a variety of policy recommendations. The recommendations detailed in the report offer a vision forward.

To read about our report and watch our panel discussions, go here.

MAS Seeks Consultant for Green Preservation Manual

Lisa Kersavage — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:58:01 +0000

Today MAS released a request for proposals seeking a consultant to prepare a manual tentatively titled Greening New York City’s Landmarks: A Guide for Property Owners. MAS, with the assistance of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), is producing the manual as an educational tool for property owners.

The guide will provide straightforward action steps describing how to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of the city’s landmark buildings while meeting preservation standards. While the primary audience will be owners of New York City’s small landmarked buildings, it will also be useful to owners of small older buildings across the city. The guide should be completed by the summer of 2012, and will be published digitally and available free of cost on MAS’ and the LPC’s web sites.

The publication is part of the MAS Preservation and Climate Change campaign, and will fulfill one of the milestones in PlaNYC, “to create a handbook of energy efficiency strategies for historic buildings.” In a panel at MAS 2011 Summit for New York City (October 13-14), speakers will be discussing the role of the city’s older and historic buildings play in New York’s sustainable future, and will explore the challenges and importance of retaining, improving and reusing the city’s older buildings and how doing so can generate jobs and improve the environment.

MAS is grateful for generous funding for this manual from the New York Community Trust, The J.M. Kaplan Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Elizabeth and Robert Jeffe Preservation Fund.

If you’re interested or know a qualified individual, click here to download the RFP. Proposals are to be delivered no later than November 14, 2011 (not November 5).

MAS and Pratt Institute Train Brooklyn Based Community Planners

MAS — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:16:25 +0000

On Saturday, September 24, MAS and the Pratt Institute Graduate Programs for Sustainable Planning and Design teamed up to host the fall session of Livable Neighborhoods. The day-long event brought together community activists from Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Brownsville, Flatbush, and Sunset Park, along with graduate planning students, to learn from professionals in the fields of city planning, economic development and historic preservation.

Instructors included city officials, non-profit leaders, and experienced community activists. The fast-paced day left those who participated with new tools and insight to become better involved in the major planning and policy issues facing their communities.

Livable Neighborhoods, generously supported by the Altman Foundation, is aimed at providing community activists with the knowledge they need to effectively participate in decisions that impact their neighborhoods. Since the inception of Livable Neighborhoods, MAS has provided hands-on training to more than 700 New Yorkers (including over one third of the city’s 59 community boards).

MAS designed Livable Neighborhoods in 2006 to fill an information gap for new community board representatives looking to expand their knowledge base. Over time, MAS has expanded the program to offer targeted trainings in topics like Advocating for Parks and Open Space, while also creating custom workshops for the needs of specific community boards. In the coming months, we will be updating our Livable Neighborhoods Manual, which serves as a more in depth reference on many of these topics.

Check back to learn about our next training program in the spring of 2012.

MAS Testifies on East River Waterfront Greenway

MAS — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:05:23 +0000

On September 8, 2011, State Senator Liz Krueger, State Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh and City Council Member Dan Garodnick held the second of three public hearings regarding the proposed United Nations Expansion Plan and development of the East River Waterfront Esplanade from East 38th to 60th Streets. To read MAS’ full testimony, click here.

MAS’ advocacy for this project is part of our longstanding commitment to open up access to the waterfront across the city and on the East Side in particular. In July of 2011, we held a community charrette to generate ideas for a portion of the waterfront – the former Con Ed pier between East 38th Street and East 41st – and are working with Barbara Wilks and her firm W architecture to produce a report articulating principles for a new waterfront park.

The issue that was the topic of the hearing was the sale of a portion of Robert Moses Playground, which is located on First Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets, to the United Nations. Once the United Nations has ownership of the land, it will consolidate its office space in a new office tower on this site. This will in turn allow the City to sell UN Towers 1 & 2 which are currently occupied by the UN and dedicate a portion of the proceeds of that sale as well as the sale of the Robert Moses Playground to help close the gap in the East River Greenway from 38th to 60th Streets. Asser Levy Place, a street just east of First Avenue between West 23rd and West 25th Street, would be mapped as a park to compensate for the loss of open space on Robert Moses. All of this contingent on an agreement being reached by elected officials, the City, and UN by October 10th.

While MAS is always concerned with the loss of public park land, our testimony noted the potential for this transformative change to the waterfront and urged all those involved to take several items into consideration as the project moves forward. In particular, MAS suggested that the elected officials in close consultation with City carefully consider providing a replacement to Robert Moses Park in the surrounding neighborhood.

For more detail on the plan, visit East Side Open Space, a website created by the elected officials involved in the project to inform the community on its progress.

To read more about our ongoing work on the East Side Waterfront please visit:
http://mas.org/urbanplanning/east-side-waterfront-park/

East Side Waterfront Park: New York’s Next Great Public Space?

MAS — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:08:43 +0000

On July 26 MAS hosted a design charrette for the former Con Ed Pier located between East 38th and East 41st Streets on the East River waterfront. The charrette (an intensive design workshop) was co-sponsored by local elected officials and Community Board Six. This work is a continuation of MAS’ longstanding commitment to opening up access to the waterfront. You can read the New York Times event recap here.

The charrette came at a particularly important moment – the City has hired consultants to study the potential greenway between East 38th – East 60th Streets, the ferry service has just begun three blocks to the south on East 34th Street, and Con-Ed has turned over the pier to the City with $13 million dollars to help fund its reconstruction. Charrette participants including representatives from NYC Parks & EDC, Community Board 6, the United Nations Development Corporation, NYU, in addition to residents of the surrounding neighborhood.

MAS is working with Barbara Wilks and her firm – W Architecture – to synthesize the great ideas that emerged from the charrette. Please stay tuned for more updates on what we hope will be NYC’s next great waterfront open space. And to learn more about upcoming public meetings: http://www.eastsideopenspace.com/

MAS Keeps Spotlight on Waterfront Access, Organizes Charrette

MAS — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:00:17 +0000

On Tuesday, July 26 MAS will host a design charrette to re-imagine an unused pier located between East 38th and East 41st Streets on the East River waterfront. The charrette (an intensive design workshop) is co-sponsored by local elected officials and the community board and will take place at the NYU Langone Medical Center from 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. It will include input from the community as well as the expertise of design professionals to produce a plan for the site that is realistic, innovative, and sustainable.

Recently the city announced it will begin infrastructure work on the pier, including rehabilitating its piles and decking, funded by a $13 million payment from Con Edison, the former owner of the site. The city has tapped AECOM to provide engineering, design, and planning services for the project. The potential consolidation of the U.N.’s campus may also facilitate funding for construction of elements of the project.

In June 2007, MAS convened six of the world’s leading landscape architects in a charrette to envision what a waterfront park might look like on the former Con Ed site.

MAS presented the results to the public two days later in a meeting attended by hundreds of local residents. Today, East River Realty is redeveloping that site, but the adjacent pier is now in the hands of the city. Rehabilitating this pier as a public space is the first step in creating a great new park that would provide access to the waterfront and fill a big gap in a potential East River greenway extending from the Battery to Harlem.

Working with noted landscape designers, neighborhood residents, community stakeholders and experts from city agencies, the upcoming charrette will add an important dimension of community and design input into this conversation, which will hopefully culminate in a beautiful new waterfront park for residents and visitors alike. MAS is excited to capitalize on the convergence of vision, plans, and real activity around the site.

We are happy to recognize the support and partnership of our sponsors including:
Manhattan Community Board Six, City Council Member Daniel Garodnick, State Senator Liz Krueger, State Senator Thomas Duane, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
State Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney, City Council Member Rosie Mendez, City Council Member Jessica Lappin and ‘Wichcraft for generously providing the day’s lunch.

If you are interested in participating and helping us build a new waterfront park for a neighborhood that needs it please email us at info@mas.org

NYU Expansion Update: MAS Testifies on the Environmental Review

MAS — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:08:59 +0000

MAS testified yesterday, May 24, at the NYC Department of City Planning hearing on the projected 2.5 million sq. ft. of development NYU is proposing to add to their Greenwich Village campus. The purpose of the meeting was to solicit public comments on areas that should be studied in NYU’s Environmental Impact Statement. MAS’s comments focused on the need to ensure full disclosure of information to help inform decision makers and the public about any potential project impacts.

NYU’s plan for Greenwich Village is part of NYU: 2031, a 6 million sq. ft. city-wide expansion plan designed to accommodate existing academic and housing needs and allow for additional growth.

The scale of NYU’s development plans and the site’s history as a location of urban renewal requires an environmental review and the hearing on Tuesday was the first formal step prior to NYU starting the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). NYU expects to begin the ULURP process – which includes consultation from the Community Board and Borough President – in early 2012. Learn more about NYU’s Scope of Work for their Environmental Impact Statement.

Read our detailed written comments on NYU’s Draft Scope of Work and please stay tuned for more information on NYU’s expansion plan.