Rally at 163 Washington Avenue for Shorter Building
If you were wondering why folks who live in the vicinity of Washington and Myrtle Avenues aren’t too psyched about the 18-story development that is planned, one neighbor has created this mash-up to try to put it all in perspective. On Saturday afternoon, 40 or 50 people turned out at a rally against the project,…
If you were wondering why folks who live in the vicinity of Washington and Myrtle Avenues aren’t too psyched about the 18-story development that is planned, one neighbor has created this mash-up to try to put it all in perspective. On Saturday afternoon, 40 or 50 people turned out at a rally against the project, with Council Member Letitia James and a representative from the Wallabout Historic District at the mic. The group is trying to persuade the developers to create a lower building better in keeping with the scale of the neighboring structures without sacrificing square footage; of course, what this ignores is the fact that developers typically make the most money from the units highest in the sky. There’s another meeting on Wednesday night at 7:30 at St. Luke’s Parish House; email buildingtootall AT yahoo DOT com for more information. Update: A reader took us up on our offer to post alternative interpretations of how the proposed tower relates to its neighbors, hence the second rendering above.
Tower Plans for Washington Ave Ruffling Feathers [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
for the record i just read an artical in the star ledger about these guys mark caller and pinny loketch…they are good people doing the right thing… that site was going to be developed by someone, we are lucky it was them.
In addition to the concerns about the scale of this project, the community should also be concerned about the very shady developers (GLC Group: Mark Caller and Pinny Loketch). Given the opportunity, they will always do the wrong thing.
It’s realistic in that at 16 stories is about 4 times as big as the 4 story bldg next to it and reasonably wider for the sake of stability.
or build a shorter version of the Singer building on this spot
as to the other tall buildings in the area:
they are on a larger lot
they have parking
they are 100+ feet from any other building in the neighborhood
its the last part that keeps them from overpowering the area
my vote would be for a round or stacked offset square tower, just not another office building.
as to zoning the area is under consideration for R5B, so a 177 foot tower would be against the planning for the area.
“I can think of countless intersections and streets around the world where taller modern buildings stand beside and over quaint shorter buildings”
Money where your “bouche” is…
Photos or links, multi-story worldly person.
Me thinks not. Only in wacky mis-thought areas of NYC.
Though I am sure there are exceptions.
Remember that Bugs Bunny cartoon?
“I can think of countless intersections and streets around the world …”
give me a break!!!
I can think of countless intersections and streets around the world where taller modern buildings stand beside and over quaint shorter buildings and mixing up the streetscape like so can actually be quite a pleasant contrast. Buenos Aires, Montreal, much of Europe. Cities change over time, why resist it? It’s amazing that people living in NYC of all places can champion America’s disdain for anything over a few floors. I say extend the context beyond 3 blocks.
“imagine them trying to build Willoughby Walk today. The hysteria would be deafening. You’d think the neighborhood would turn into ruins.”
Actually at the time there was quite a bit of outcry from preservationists…who were not NIMBYs. The Pratt family owned most of the ‘nabe, and financially when push came to shove, MANY historically significant (from an architectural perspective) were leveled for Willoughby Walk. Same thing over on Hall & Dekalb. One trade off, Pratt acquired one of the towers closest to the campus.
Many a late night in the Willoughby Dorms as an art student burning the midnight oil. Got to see quite a few aerial shots of the area pre-Willoughby Walk…but I tip my cards 😉