Pyrrhic Victory for Green-wood's Minerva
The New York Times is reporting (a few days after a local publication picked up the story) that Green-wood Cemetary has agreed to stand aside and not try to block the construction of a new condo building at 614 7th Avenue by developer Chaim Nussencweig and architect Robert Scarano after the two sides agreed on…
The New York Times is reporting (a few days after a local publication picked up the story) that Green-wood Cemetary has agreed to stand aside and not try to block the construction of a new condo building at 614 7th Avenue by developer Chaim Nussencweig and architect Robert Scarano after the two sides agreed on a compromise to the design that will preserve the line of site, if not much else, between Minerva and the Statue of Liberty. Neighborhood activists are upset by the news, arguing that the revised plan still largely destroys what has been one of the greated views in Brooklyn and that there are no guarantees that developer won’t fink out on his agreement later on. We have to agree. Being able to see a glimpse of Lady Liberty through a small set-back is a pyrrhic victory. Hopefully, the Bureau of Standards and Appeals will reject the plan outright after the developer failed to get his foundation poured before the down-zoning deadline despite racking up several DOB violations in the process. Why the Bureau would cut this crew any slack is beyond us, but you never know what’s at play behind the scenes when politics and money intersect.
No Condos Between Goddesses [NY Times]
614 7th Avenue [Courier Life] GMAP
i’d make the guess that if you don’t care if the line of sight between minerva and liberty is blocked, then you really don’t care about quality architecture, good design or livable cities, either. life is in the details.
i said it before and i will say it again, the downzoning of the south slope was a sham. every view of the city will be blocked when the 12 story building of 4th avenue get built. instead they should be enforcing zoning laws. no more self certification by architects in the hip pocket of boymelgreen etc. like scarano and folk. so instead what you have is upzoning of fourt avenue (more money for big developers), downzoning of row houses (less money for small home owners). what you see on fourth ave and fourth street is the tip of the iceberg , congestion ,no parking and overcrowding for everyone. theres your pyrrhic victory for the stop all new developement (as long it is on my block) crowd.
What is msot amusing is the entire area around the Greenwood Cemetary is mostly filled with total crap. There are no brownstones. Most townhouses have aluminum siding facades.
I would say 50% of the properties in “Greenwood Heights” should be demolished, and replaced with high density housing. There is nothing worth saving there.
Crawford
I hear this all the time, but given the new construction and the number of properties that are for sale, not just in brownstone Brooklyn, but in the city generally, I have a hard time believing this.
I do think that there is a definite shortage of housing for folks looking to pay less than $1,200 per month in rent, or for those looking to purchase for less than $500,000. But actual units?
I keep looking at the property that is on this site and wondering how many people are out there looking to buy condos that are $800 to $1000 per sq ft? If you are making $60-$70k per year can you afford that? Who are all of these people? All of the Wall Street bankers are living in Westchester, LI, CT or NJ, and those that do live in NYC are pretty firmly entrenched on the Upper East Side, with only a few exceptions. Are these folks selling their homes in Greenwich, Oradell, and Irvington to move into a condo in Sunset Park? So who exactly will be buying these places?
People who already own don’t want their neighborhoods to be overrun with high-priced construction that is out of context with the rest of the housing stock, created to appeal to people who will never buy in that location anyway. Taste is subbjective and what is unattractive to me may be something someone else views as being fabulous, but is there any indication that there is a market for high-end condos and co-ops in Sunset Park, or is this just developers hopping on the “build while you can” bandwagon?
Condos – Bolymegreen
This is slightly off-topic, but does anyone know what that huge building going up on 4th Ave. & 4th St. is? It looks fairly massive, is it just condos or is it a hotel maybe?
If it isn’t a brownstone, the “community” activists will fight it. In case any smug brownstoners care, NYC has a tremendous shortage of housing.
It is truly ridiculous to me that EVERY SINGLE new building built is decried as crap and “neighborhood destroying”. And every “developer” is esentially a blood sucking interloper motivated by the worst kind of greed.
I really think that a huge % of these anti everything folks ought to really think about how ridiculous their positions are and put them in some historical context.
These neighborhoods that are all being destroyed were all BUILT by “developers” – It is no coincidence that all these buildings were built around the same time, using similar styles and similar materials. – The reason is that 75-125 years ago these were the “modern” techniques and the most cost effective to make a profit. And the developers of that time sought to maximize sales and profits just as todays developers do.
I am sure that if there were internet boards at that time a bunch of similar luddites would be screaming about the repetitive, boring architecture, the cheap construction techniques and unimagined density brought on by these greedy developers.
Just take a step back and hear how silly you all sound dreaming of the “good old days” and recongnize that arguments are much more effective when people dont use them ALL THE TIME;
It\’s a tricky web of issues. Iceberg is right that property rights have to be taken seriously. At the same time, I sympathize with those opposing the development because that is one butt ugly building.