Hundreds Turn Out for Tower Hearing

 by Ronald Drenger

Four hundred Downtown residents filled the auditorium at P.S./I.S. 89 on March 30 for Community Board 1's public hearing on the 35-story residential tower proposed for the lot at the corner of West and Chambers streets, behind P.S. 234.
At a Community Board 1 hearing, Tim Johnson, president of the P.S. 234 PTA, says parents cannot support the new residential building without "infrastructure to support it."

Even before any of them had a chance to step to the microphone, they made their position on the proposal abundantly clear. One of the project's architects, who was presenting the plans onstage, bumped into an easel, which fell backward and knocked down a second easel, sending a rendering of the proposed building tumbling to the floor.

The audience burst into applause, gleeful over even this symbolic downfall of a project that, at least in its present configuration, they vehemently oppose.

Developer Scott Resnick's proposal for the city-owned lot, known as Site 5C, calls for a 360-foot-tall metal and glass tower along West Street, an eight-story wing on Chambers Street and an 18,000-square-foot community center. The project, which is backed by the city's Economic Development Corporation, includes 456 apartments and a 10,000-square-foot public plaza.
At the hearing, which Resnick and an EDC official attended, local residents and community leaders said that the tower is too big and out of context with the neighborhood, and that it will rob sunlight from precious park and playground spaces in the area.
Scott Resnick and his team of architects and lawyers discussed their proposal for city-owned Site 5C at a meeting of the community board's Executive Committee on March 10. Board members, a representative of the P.S. 234 PTA and local residents responded to the presentation with a barrage of criticism. They said that the tower is not in scale with the surrounding area and that the project would worsen street congestion, block sunlight and bring more residents than the neighborhood can handle. They also said that a community center to be incorporated in the new building is too small.
Charles Komanoff, a member of Washington Market Park's board of directors, objected to the shadows that the building would cast on the park in the afternoon.
Rendering of a 10-foot-high frosted glass wall that would stand along the eastern edge of the building's plaza, separating it from the P.S. 234 playground and the dog run. The wall would be lit at night. Image: Thomas Balsley Associates/The Tribeca Trib
"That is precisely when our park is most and best used-when the nearby pre-schools and elementary schools have been discharged, the air is just warm enough, and the sun is just bright and strong enough to make the park the vibrant open space and community gathering spot for Tribeca's children, families, neighbors and workers."

Clay Olsen, a fifth grader at P.S. 234, agreed. "When your child is playing in the park, do you want him to see sun or shadow?" he asked.
Bob Townley, director of Manhattan Youth, which runs a wide range of youth and community programs Downtown and would manage the community center, said that the facility must be at least 40,000 square feet.

"We need 40,000 square feet to accommodate the huge demand for services," he said.

Many of the more than 30 speakers-wearing white hats distributed by Manhattan Youth with the inscription, "Show Your Face For Community Center Space"-supported Townley, pleading for more room for vital community programs. "The building should definitely be made smaller, but not by sacrificing the 40,000-square-foot community center," said Susan Kay, a parent who also teaches children's pottery classes in the neighborhood.

Others said the community should oppose the project,, even with a larger community facility, if the tower is not reduced.

P.S. 234's PTA and principal oppose any residential project on Site 5C while the school remains overcrowded.

"The proposed development is bad for P.S. 234 and the 700 families who belong to our school community," said Tim Johnson, the PTA's president. "We cannot support further residential development in the absence of infrastructure to support it, particularly schools."

CB1's Tribeca commitee is planning to issue a new resolution citing the strong community opposition to Resnick's plan and the original intent of the city that the property be used for a public purpose. The resolution

Computer rendering of the building, as it would look from Washington Market Park.
will also reiterate the community board's earlier position for a shorter and less bulky building and a larger community center.

The proposal will then be reviewed by the Manhattan Borough President, the City Planning Commission and the City Council. Opponents plan to lobby public officials to reject the project unless Resnick and the city make major modifications.

"I want to assure you," Councilman Alan Gerson said at the hearing, "that to the extent I have a say in this, and I expect to have a great deal of say, this proposal, in this form, with this height and bulk and 18,000 square feet of so-called community space, will never pass the City Council."