From Coalition's Fall 2009 Newsletter:
Coalition's Proposal for a Public Park
in the Proposed Riverside Center
Extell is asking the City Planning Commission to approve a 35% increase in zoning (3.1 million sq. ft. for development) well above the approximately 2.4 million sq. ft. that remains under the development rights in the 1992 Restrictive Declaration. The site, now called Riverside Center, is on the southern end of Riverside South (W. 59th - W. 61st St.)
Extell's proposal (see CLW's Nov. 2008 newsletter on livablenewyork.org) includes 5 towers, ranging in height from 623 feet to 400+ feet and a privately owned open space plaza which is approximately 28% of the site. That amount of open space sounds impressive until you realize that is not truly public space and is not a park, merely scattered green places. Coalition hired a noted architect, Craig Whitaker, to analyze the Extell private open space and create a truly Public Park on the site. His drawing and recommendations are below.
· All the new streets are "mapped" and built by the developer before the
· buildings are constructed.
· A two-acre Public Park is built by the developer. That allows the community to
· enjoy the park before the project's 2018 expected completion.
· The developer turns over title to the park to the Parks Department.
· The park is maintained through contributions from units surrounding it just
· like at Madison Square Park.
· The buildings surrounding the park would look more like New York and less
· like "towers in the park."
(See Newsletter PDF for Mr. Whitaker's Proposal)
For Craig Whitaker's full analysis and proposal, send email to livablenewyork@erols.com. Write Craig's Plan in the subject heading.
For more information on "Battery Park City" Redux also known as Extell's Riverside Center 's 3.1 milllion square feet of development (W. 59th - W. 61st St.), email us for a PDF of our Nov. 2008 newsletter. And go to the Community Board 7 website: http://nyc.gov/html/mancb7/html/announcements/announcements.shtml for more information.
Partial Table of Contents - Fall 2009 Newsletter
*Coalition's Proposal for a Public Park in Riverside Center
*Fordham Fortress Approved By City - Lawsuit Filed By Alfred Condominium
*Design Streets For Pedestrians Not Vehicles
*Gas Drilling in the NYC Watershed
*Would You Like Some Poison With Your Water ?
*Pedestrian Safety, Traffic Calming, Air Pollution
*Trucks Consistently Ignore Laws - Endangering Everyone
*Consider This - US Standard for Radiation Exposure Least Protective in the World
*The Cellular Telephone Industries Association Asks the Federal Communications
Commission to Declare New Limitations on Local Zoning Authorities in the Siting
of Cellphone Towers