The UWS again temporarily relocated to 22 Reade Street on Tuesday morning to witness continued arguments and testify on 50 West 66th Street, the 775-foot tower* under review by the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA).
* A tower that, despite volumes in the public record, the BSA interprets as merely 35 stories, although it is filed with the Department of Buildings (DOB) as 39 stories (in an area intended for mid-20 to 30 stories) and seeks to rise to the height of a 77-story office tower…
For over three hours, the volleys continued, with strong support from our elected officials. Thank you to State Assembly Member Dick Gottfried, Senator Brad Hoylman, and Council Member Helen Rosenthal for appearing in person and speaking so eloquently against greed and perversion of zoning.
Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, Comptroller Scott Stringer, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer also sent supportive testimony by proxy for the record. Their voices were joined by nearly twenty neighbors who spoke against the development.
LW! Lawyer Stuart Klein pursued concerns listed on page one of the May 13 BSA Appeal Filing, namely the excessive mechanical space, which was incidentally, also the root of a Department of Buildings (DOB) Notice Intent to Revoke. Although City Planning addressed mechanical voids vertically, Klein is challenging the 20,000 square feet of mechanical loss deductions laterally across the multiple mechanical floors. The Chair would not hear it.
On September 10th, she nearly simultaneously claimed there was “nothing new” in the requested second round submissions from the appellants, but went on to say that the Board would not entertain the mechanical argument because it was a “new argument” despite counsel rereading the basis of the Appeal again into record. Sounds like we found the sweet-spot where we could produce a“new argument” that was “nothing new”! ABSURD!
Then again, as we TESTIFIED, words aren’t always what they mean when it comes to the city agencies.
Let’s restore intention, rationale and predictability to planning!
SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY:
When the Appeal resumes at the BSA, 22 Reade Street
NO PUBLIC Comments will be entertained
beginning at 10am
