WPP Court Date: Sept. 10 - Join Us There

Westsiders for Public Participation is having a court appearance. Below is an excerpt from the August 22nd mailing:

Our court hearing is scheduled for

• Wednesday, September 10
• at 9:30 AM,
• at State Supreme Court, 60 Centre St., Room 321.

Attend and support the legal right of community stakeholders to participate in decisions about our own community.

Our elected representatives and several of our neighbors representing constituencies of the community have joined with Westsiders for Public Participation as co-plaintiffs to demand what is required under the law.

Come to the hearing and learn the facts of the matter at first hand!

At stake:

• a comprehensive environmental review and legally required mitigation of the pressures that a 320,000 square foot mall with an underground parking garage of unknown use and capacity will place upon our community infrastructure, and
  
• the financial costs that could be imposed on nearby residents and businesses.
  

We have many concerns (see below) that the developers have not answered, because they have not been required to answer them, but would be required to do so under an environmental
review.

On September 10, we will ask the court to compel compliance with the Zoning Rules of the City of New York and to order an environmental review rather than waiting to achieve one through the administrative process at the Board of Standards and Appeals, which to this date has
not calendared our appeal.

On September 10, we will ask the court for an injunction to STOP all excavation and construction until the environmental review is satisfied. The injunctive relief we are requesting applies to ALL FIVE building sites, rather than just to 808 Columbus.

We will also ask the court to order Margaret Stix, counsel to the BSA, to produce a letter that the BSA wrote to the developers, informing them that they are continuing construction "at their own risk."

Community Concerns to be Answered by an
Environmental Review

Here are some of the concerns the community has expressed about the environmental impacts of the proposed "Columbus Village":

1. How will the already crowded 96th Street subway stops be able to handle the additional ridership?

2. How will traffic be impacted in the community by a destination commercial mall?

3. How will trucks be routed through the community streets and across Central Park?

4. At what hours will the stores receive deliveries?

5. How late will stores be open?

6. How will already sparse street parking be impacted?

7. How much additional pollution will be caused by traffic and by commercial operations?

8. How is it possible to locate commercial loading berths on the same block as a public elementary school and a health clinic?

9. What will be the impact of an influx of transient commercial shoppers?

10. How will condominiums protect the integrity of their playgrounds, green spaces and internal walkways from a large increase in pedestrian traffic?

11. What additional security needs will be created in the community?

12. What will the project do to noise levels in the community?

13. How will trash pickup be handled for the residences and commercial operations?

14. How will sewage be routed?

15. How will the underground garages be ventilated?

16. How are residents in the adjacent buildings affected by having their apartments facing an alley?

17. How much sunlight will be lost and how much creation of long shadows on our open spaces will be caused by the new residential towers?

18. How will the project affect the small local merchants already in the community?

19. How will the community be impacted by the canyon-like effect that will be created by the twin street walls stretching down three blocks of Columbus Ave., a configuration unprecedented in all of Manhattan?

20. How will the residents be compensated for the closure of walkways they have used for decades?

21. How will the new development affect public health?