Preserve West Park North: July 2008

Friday, July 25, 2008

July 25, 2008 update from Westsiders for Public Participation

Westsiders for Public Participation
P.O. Box 20093, Park West Station, New York, NY 10025 westsiders@earthlink.net

Most Documents at DOB are “Lost”; Our Lawsuit to Be Amended;

Most of the documents we were supposed to see last week in response to our Freedom of Information Law request were reported “lost” by the file clerk. The “lost” documents included all of the correspondence between the Department of Buildings and the developers of the proposed “Columbus Village,” related to the permit revocation letter issued by DOB in May. It is clear that the developers have not successfully cured their zoning violations. It is also clear that the DOB intends to do nothing about it.

Furthermore, the BSA has declined to calendar a hearing on our appeal filed nearly two months ago, citing reasons that make no legal sense to our attorney, while assuring us that the developer is proceeding with construction "at his own risk."

We’ll be back in court next week filing an amended lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop construction, and asking the court to compel City agencies to perform their ministerial duties as required by law. Despite the obstruction of DOB and BSA, we are moving towards our goal of obtaining what the law requires and what we as community stakeholders deserve: public participation in the outcome of the development, and mitigation of its impacts on our community. But we need your help.

The DOB’s tactics, and our difficulties getting on the BSA calendar, highlight the fact that no one at the City is enforcing the rights of citizens to participate in the development of their communities. It is up to us. If you have not yet contributed to our goal of defending our legal rights and mitigating the impacts of the proposed “Columbus Village” on our community, will you please do so now?

The total of all contributions we have received since April 14 is $32,270. This is a significant sum, yet we are still $15,065 behind our target for fund-raising by August 1 - the date when our next attorney payment is due.

What will be the consequences of a massive shopping center in our community, built without any input from the community? What will be the consequences for traffic, parking, noise, pollution, crowding on the nearby subways and buses, added security costs for your building? We all will enjoy the convenience of additional shopping, but we all could pay a big price in costs and other quality of life concerns.

With our input, we can keep the positives and eliminate some of the negatives of the development. Without our input, it’s all up to the developers. In the long run, the value of protecting our legal rights and property values will far outweigh the cost of your contribution. Please contribute whatever you can today!

Please also spread the word about the need for funding, and assure everyone you meet that every penny they contribute will be spent directly to fight for our legal rights.

Contributions should be made payable to Westsiders for Public Participation and mailed to:

Westsiders for Public Participation
P.O. Box 20093, Park West Station
New York, NY 10025

Please include your email address if you wish either to receive an acknowledgment of your contribution or to subscribe to our progress updates.

Names of contributors will be held in strict confidence. We pledge our accountability to the community. Complete financial statements are available upon request.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

July 11, 2008 update from Westsiders for Public Participation

Update – Friday, July 11, 2008

Reviewing DOB and Developers’ Documents on Monday, then Back to Court;

Contributions toward Our Mid-Summer Fund Raising Goal

The next regular update will be sent on July 25.

Status of Permits at 808 Columbus

The DOB has responded to our Freedom of Information Law request. On Monday morning we will be at the DOB offices, reviewing all of the correspondence between the DOB and the developers of the proposed “Columbus Village,” related to the permit revocation letter issued by DOB in May. We will report our findings to you.

Our attorney has been in communication with the Board of Standards & Appeals, to discuss the delay in getting our hearing on its calendar. The bottom line: this is a somewhat unusual and complex matter for the BSA; along with complex notice requirements, it means this will not be calendared as quickly as we originally thought.

The delay at the BSA does not change our rights. Remember, although work at 808 Columbus has resumed, the developers have not successfully cured their zoning violations and all work is at the developers’ own risk. In the meantime, we’ll be back in court filing an amended lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop construction pending the completion of the administrative process at the BSA. Step by step, we are moving towards our goal of obtaining what the law requires and what we as community stakeholders deserve: public participation in the outcome of the development, and mitigation of its impacts on our community.

WPP is asking for contributions:

Contributions towards Our Mid-Summer Fund Raising Goal

During the two-week period ended Thursday, July 10, WPP received 18 contributions totaling $2,365. We are now $15,915 from our mid-summer goal of raising an additional $20,000 by August 1 - the date when our next attorney payment is due.

All contributions of every size demonstrate commitment to the fight we have undertaken to defend our legal rights and to mitigate the impacts of the proposed “Columbus Village” on our community. The total of all contributions we have received since April 14 is $31,420.

Please consider contributing whatever you can, and we will update you on our progress toward our goal, in each of our regular updates. Please also spread the word about the need for funding, and assure everyone you meet that every penny they contribute will be spent directly to fight for their legal rights as citizens.

Contributions should be made payable to Westsiders for Public Participation and mailed to:

Westsiders for Public Participation

P.O. Box 20093, Park West Station

New York, NY 10025

Please include your email address if you wish either to receive an acknowledgment of your contribution or to subscribe to our progress updates.

Names of contributors will be held in strict confidence. We pledge our accountability to the community. Complete financial statements are available upon request.

Welcome to the Coalition to Preserve West Park North

We want to preserve our homes and vital neighborhood.

We call upon Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the City Council, the City Planning Commission, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and other other elected representatives to keep the commitments that permitted the development of the area west of Central Park (the "West Park North") area as we now know it:

Affordable housing
Open spaces, light and air
Merchants who serve our needs.

Today, owners Laurence Gluck and Joseph Chetrit are building several luxury highrise apartments and high-end stores between 97th and 100th Streets - construction that is drastically affecting our quality of life.

As stakeholders in this neighborhood, we demand a voice in the decision-making process.

BACKGROUND

The government planned for a dynamic, economically and ethnically integrated community when it used eminent domain to condemn the homes of many thousands of people who previously lived on these more than 20 square blocks of land. The original developers of the many Mitchell-Lamas, Park West Village, and the Frederick Douglass Houses took the land on that premise. Any future development must honor the spirit of that intention.

Many of us have lived here since long before it was fashionable. We raised families, watched generations come and prosper and intend to be here for the long run. We are the neighbors who, as urban homesteaders, built this neighborhood. We've seen its character change from funky to fabulous and its success is our legacy.

TODAY

Any development in our area must provide for housing and services that meet the needs of the people now living here. The government must keep its commitments to this ethnically and economically diverse community.

Right now there are 5 buildings going up.

808 Columbus Avenue - about 31 stores -- 10 or 15 stories taller than neighboring buildings, and extending from 97th to 100th Street on the west side of Columbus Avenue.
775 Columbus Avenue - about 15 stories on the northeast corner of Columbus and 97th Street.
795 Columbus Avenue - about 15 stories between 98th and 99th Streets on the east side of Columbus.
805 Columbus Avenue - about 15 stories, southeast corner of Columbus and 100th Street
801 Amsterdam Avenue - about 15 stories on the southeast corner of Amsterdam Ave. and 100th St.

four of them along Columbus Avenue, making "the longest pair of unbroken street walls along any avenue in Manhattan."

But the 5 buildings now under construction provides

no affordable housing
open space only for prospective residents
many fewer trees (many old ones were cut down for the construction
big chain stores and banks, but not much affordable shopping.

And the construction itself has been a nightmare. Aside from "routine" violations, the developers were cited for a major wall collapse in July 2007 requiring the evacuation of all 280 apartments at 784 Columbus Avenue.

A lawsuit has been filed against the New York City Department of Buildings to force the developers of the proposed "Columbus Village" to comply with land use regulations and respond to community interests.

The announcement for the lawsuit notes, "Thousands of residents, a public school, a health clinic and numerous businesses are within one block of the construction sites. The main construction are, which runs between 97th and 100th Streets along both sides of Columbus Avenue, is the most extensive in any residential neighborhood in New York City."

We insist that the developers obey the law to the letter and provide "community use" that really meets community needs (not just private medical or dental offices that earn a profit for the developer.)

Westsiders for Public Participation is now taking the lead in this action, and we urge that others participate.

Recent Media Coverage of the Neighborhood

Commercial Property News, May 22, 2008
NYC Officials to Join Westsiders for Public Participation’s Lawsuit Regarding Columbus Village Project

West Side Spirit, May 8, 2008
Westsiders for Public Participation lawsuit

Globe.St.com, April 23, 2008
'Columbus Village' suit to focus on zoning error

Columbia Spectator, April 16, 2008
Westsiders for Public Participation lawsuit

Columbia Spectator, February 26, 2008
109th St. buildings go on market

Columbia Spectator, Feb. 8, 2008
Harlem Residents Split on City Development on Frederick Douglass

Columbia Spectator, Feb. 8, 2008
City Gov't Fights Tenant Mistreatment, Discrimination (W. 94th St.)

Sense of the Community Statement - And Sequel

On April 9, 2007, the Coalition to Preserve West Park North met at the Fredrick Douglass Community Center and issued this Sense of the Community.

OUR PURPOSES:

1. To conduct a Forum where Community Members could voice their thoughts, hopes, fears and concerns about the development work being done in our neighborhood. In particular, the focus was the Park West Village (PWV) properties that cover 97^th to 100 Streets from Columbus to Amsterdam Avenues. These “super blocks” were created with a substantial investment of public (read "tax") dollars and incentives to create a multi-racial, multi-ethnic community of people with different income levels. Federal and city resources, regulations and abatements created Park West Village, which has resulted in a remarkably vital vibrant community.

2. To report on the results of meetings with our elected officials who have formed a Task Force that will reach out to the Mayor’s Office and various agencies to help help save our quality of life.

Included in this group are

Melissa Mark Viverito, City Council Member
Gale Brewer, City Council Member
Bill Perkins, State Senate
Danny O’Donnell, State Assembly, and
A representative of Charles Rangel, U. S. Congress, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

3. To secure additional community support for future Coalition activities and alert our neighbors to some immediate problems like the imminent damage to the Trinity Lutheran Church at 100^th Street and the need to report and compile an audit trail of complaints using the 311 system.

4. To report on the work being done by the Construction Committee created by Community Board 7’s District Manager.

We know that change is happening, but it must be compatible with the quality of life for people already here. Therefore, we are committed to work together and use all resources at our command to shape our neighborhood and keep it a place where we can continue to live and thrive.

Some of our specific concerns:

TRAFFIC

An issue of major concern is the anticipated traffic congestion that will result from the use of any of the proposed loading areas. The demolition of all of the Columbus Avenue frontage gave a new, clearer picture of the future. We agreed that a single underground entrance on Columbus Avenue for both the east and west side developments, perhaps on the northeast corner of 97th Street, would be ideal. Now is the time to address this issue because such a decision cannot easily be made after the fact. We will help get the necessary approvals for the underground entrance for all deliveries and garbage pick-up.

EXISTING LAWS & SAFETY ISSUES

The current plan laid out by the developers disregards existing laws and safety issues critical to the ongoing viability of this neighborhood. Short-term decisions, motivated solely by profit potential will be devastating to all of us. Further, without proper planning, the potential profit may never become a reality. In particular,

We want our elected officials to ensure that an Environmental Impact Statement be completed on the area.
We want documentation for our elected officials and we want their help getting rulings from the Departments of Buildings, Transportation and Environmental Protection on

proposed ramps (30 feet vs. 50 feet from the existing building);
the use of 351 sq. ft. of “community facilities” to build more overall square footage.

P.S. 163 parents and children want safe streets: what is proposed is not safe and a real hazard for children who attend school on 97^th Street.
We need the Department of Health and the Department of environmental Protection to require, in advance, the installation of scrubbers and vents for all of the proposed underground systems.
We know that proposed underground parking and the Whole Foods operation will require extensive use of air conditioners, refrigeration, compressors and drainage systems. All of these infrastructure issues need to be described and addressed before they are built.

PUBLIC LAND FOR PRIVATE PROFIT

The City has given away public land (including the de-mapped streets!) for private profit. This has many unhappy ramifications. Not the least is remembrances of a terrific community that had their homes destroyed under the guise of Urban Renewal. We do not need to be renewed. We need to be respected and the developers need to build in a manner that will benefit all.

Preserve West Park North