Summary of Aug. 19th meeting & Crain's NY article

About 200 highly motivated people attended the meeting that Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito called this evening at the youth hostel to discuss Jewish Home & Hospital's plan to swap land so that the Chetrit group gets land from 106th through 105th between Columbus and Amsterdam for a luxury high rise, and JHH gets to build a possibly 22-story nursing home in the parking lot behind 792 Columbus Ave.

Below are:

Brief Background
Current Issues
The Players
Upcoming Chronology
Take Action

Crain's New York article.



BRIEF BACKGROUND:

As Borough Pres. Scott Stringer said, this was a bait and switch; Sen. Bill Perkins said we were hoodwinked, and all agreed that both JHH and Chetrit have a long history as bad actors. JHH waited through 2 years of a rezoning process in the area covered by Community Board 7 to speak out and ask for an exemption to the new zoning rules. Instead of being limited to 12-15 stories, it pulled the "helpless seniors" card and sought to remain under the old limit-less rule. The goal: to build luxury housing that would support its proposed new "state-of-the-art" 22-story nursing home. The community groups rallied around and ultimately approved the exemption for JHH - with several provisos.

These provisos were in 3 documents:

• a memorandum of understanding (MOU),
• a memorandum of agreement with the community (MOA) and
• a restrictive declaration (RD).

Unfortunately these documents were not notarized and not filed in a way to make them enforceable or to "run with the land." That means that they appear to apply solely to JHH, and not to the land it now wants to swap with Chetrit.

CURRENT ISSUES:

1. Assuming the swap goes through, would the Chetrit Group (partner of Larry Gluck and his Stellar Management, and developers of the 5 "Columbus Square" buildings) benefit from the zoning variance?

• JHH claims to want to keep Chetrit to the "8A/8B" zoning restrictions of 12-15 stories. (Click here to see Aug. 19, 2009 statement of Jewish Home.) Its attorneys and Chetrit's are looking into the matter. Manhattan Borough President Stringer's office, Community Board 7, and two members of the City Council are looking into this as well. They are hoping that the City Council and/or City Planning Commission will reverse the variance (and enforce the 8A/8B zoning) if a private developer takes that land.

2. Assuming the swap goes through, Park West Village residents are concerned about the loss of its dwindling open space, more years of construction, and the insanity of putting a nursing home on the same siren-burdened block as a police and fire station, with virtually no street parking for residents. Open questions:

• "Must" the remaining land within Park West Village be a community facility - as Helen Rosenthal of Comm. Bd. 7 suggested; or a playground, as a Park West Village resident said based on the plans; or may be something else?
  
  

3. Behind the scenes is the question of the role of Community Boards - promoted by Manhattan Borough President Stringer. If Community Board 7 and the three-document community agreements are flouted in this situation, does that undermine all others?


THE PLAYERS:
Many community groups including

• Manhattan Valley Preservation Coalition
• the Duke Ellington Boulevard Neighborhood Association
• Westsiders for Responsible Development
• Westsiders for Public Participation
• 145-147 W. 105 Street Housing Development Fund Corp.
• and more

Jewish Home & Hospital

The Chetrit Group

Community Board 7 (current chair: Helen Rosenthal)

Our electeds:

• Council Members Melissa Mark-Viverito and Inez Dickens (City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is presumably opposed to giving the zoning variance to Chetrit)
• Assembly Member Daniel O'Donnell
• State Senator Bill Perkins
• Mayor Bloomberg (consistently on the side of the developers where Chetrit has been involved)
  

City Planning Commission - Adam Wolff, Manhattan Deputy Director, awolff@planning.nyc.gov is doing an independent review of zoning options.

NYC Council - They granted the original variance to JHH, and are now being called on to undo it should the land become owned by a private developer.



UPCOMING CHRONOLOGY:

(1) Monday, Aug. 24 - meeting with Melissa Mark-Viverito, Scott Stringer, (Inez Dickens perhaps) and community spokespeople on the issues to discuss strategy. Contact Corey Peterson, the Community Board 7 liaison in Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office:
212.669.4546, cpeterson@manhattanbp.org

(2) Sept. 8 - Community Board 7 is having a meeting at 6:30 PM at the Jewish Home, and will give JHH a chance to present its position. Contact Helen Rosenthal, Chairperson of CB 7 at rosenthal.helen[at]gmail.com

(3) Sept. 11 - The Chetrit Group has promised to complete an expedited review of the zoning implications of R8A/R8B zoning at 106th Street by this date.

(4) Sept. 30 - NY State's agencies will decide whether to supporting the financing package.

______________________

TAKE ACTION

(1) While we're waiting for the strategy committee, neighbors should E-MAIL State Senator Bill Perkins urging him to stop this possible zoning debacle. He is an ally, but needs our e-mails and letters to bolster his position with other electeds. Make sure to include copies. See a sample petition in the article above this one.

The addresses are:

perkins@senate.state.ny.us

cc:
Mayor Bloomberg, mbloomberg@cityhall.nyc.gov,
Scott Stringer, bp@manhattanbp.org,
Melissa Mark Viverito, viverito@council.nyc.ny.us,
Inez Dickens, dickens@council.nyc.gov,
Daniel O'Donnell, odonned@assembly.state.ny.us
Helen Rosenthal, rosenthal.helen@gmail.com .

(2) Park West Village residents and representatives of the 105th-106th street neighborhood will meet at 6 PM on ??? Check the Park West Village Tenant Association website for details: www.pwvta.org currently states:

"GREAT TO SEE EVERYONE -- 185 concerned citizens! --
AT THE COMMUNITY MEETING TONIGHT!
FOLLOW-UP MEETINGS PLANNED NEXT WEEK
For info, please revisit this website Thursday
or write: Scott Stringer at bp@manhattanbp.org or Melissa Mark-Viverito at mviverito@council.nyc.gov, or Bill Perkins at perkins@senate.state.ny.us.

(3) Join one of the 4 committees:

• State action (what can the state do regarding funding approval or withholding thereof to exert political and other pressure on JHH) - Contact Keith Lilly at Sen. Perkins' office, klilly@senate.state.ny.us.
• Zoning (ensuring that in a private developer cannot use JHH's zoning variance) - contact Scott Stringer's office: Jessica Silver, JSilver@manhattanbp.org, Corey Peterson, CPeterson@manhattanbp.org, or Melissa's office (see above).
• Public Relations - let's get some press! Contact Joan Paylo (district leader for Community Free Democrats) and Michael Jones: Joan: CFDJoan[at]aol.com (I don't have Michael's contact information).
• Is this any way to build and run a nursing home? - Contact Cynthia Doty (district leader for Three Parks Democratic Club), CLDoty[at]aol.com.

----------------------------

From Crain's NY Business:

An Upper West Side zoning kerfuffle

By Theresa Agovino

Published: August 19, 2009 - 3:07 pm

A land-swap deal between Jewish Home and Hospital and Chetrit Group has enraged some Upper West Side residents who fear the for-profit developer will use Jewish Home’s special exemption in zoning laws to construct massive buildings on the site it’s acquiring from the nonprofit.

Jewish Home possesses an exemption to build higher than typically allowed under zoning rules that prevent the construction of tall buildings in the neighborhood. The city exempted Jewish Home so the nonprofit group could retain its right to someday build an efficient new facility on its West 106th Street campus — even a tall one — because such a project would also deliver a community service. Now, some residents worry that Chetrit Group will use the exemption that was given to Jewish Home so it can build high-rise housing instead.

“This is a classic bait and switch,” said Glory Ann Kerstein, co-coordinator of the Manhattan Valley Preservation Coalition. “Jewish Home got the carve-out from the zoning because they are a nonprofit, and now they want to give it away.”

Spokespeople for both Jewish Home and Chetrit Group denied the allegation.

The Chetrit spokeswoman said the company has no plans to use the exemption granted to Jewish Home and is currently examining neighborhood zoning rules to ensure the developer can build a viable project on the site. She said the contract between the two has not been signed yet.

Under the deal, Jewish Home would move to a site owned by Chetrit on West 100th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, which currently houses a parking lot. Chetrit would than take over Jewish Home’s campus on West 106th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, which currently holds five buildings.

Jewish Home had originally planned to sell off part of its campus to fund the development of a new facility. Numerous developers had initially expressed interest in purchasing part of the site, but the recession squelched much of the enthusiasm, and the Chetrit offer was the only economically viable alternative, according to a Jewish Home spokesman. He wouldn’t comment on whether Jewish Home was also receiving cash in the proposed deal.

Upper West Side City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito is holding a community meeting Wednesday evening to discuss the swap. She said she would move to remove all zoning exemptions granted to the property so any development will be forced to comply with the local zoning.