From Landmark West!
At this afternoon's public hearing, the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) gave Congregation Shearith Israel yet another opportunity to get its act together. It's been over a year since Shearith Israel filed its original application for 7 zoning waivers to construct 5 floors of luxury condos on top of a new community house on the midblock of West 70th Street, well beyond what zoning allows. And now a fourth (fourth!) public hearing has been scheduled for June 24, 2008.
The good news is that the community - with help from our remarkable team of expert attorneys, architects and appraisers (many of them providing hours and hours of pro bono services) - will also get its chance to reiterate all the reasons this application falls far short of the standard for zoning variances. The bad news is that the BSA, despite months of hearings and mounds of paper submissions, does not seem inclined to reject Shearith Israel's application outright, even though Shearith Israel repeatedly fails to make the case for why this project deserves exemption from the zoning rules that govern all other development in this area (which is protected by low-rise, contextual zoning and historic district designation).
A key issue is Shearith Israel's contention that it cannot possibly construct a profitable building on the site (yes, you read that correctly and, yes, Shearith Israel is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt institution - playing the same real estate games as St. Vincent's, Ramaz, the New-York Historical Society, and [insert YOUR block here]). But at a public review session yesterday, April 14, the BSA Chair referred to certain aspects of Shearith Israel's feasibility study as "not credible" and another BSA commissioner cited the community opposition's feasibility analysis as more convincing than the applicant's.
Congregation Shearith Israel's condo project gets another "do-over" in June. Still, the community can give itself a well-earned pat on the back for showing up, meeting after meeting, and winning to fight another day. And keeping both the applicant and the BSA on their toes!
We couldn't have made it this far without significant financial and volunteer support. If you want to help us beat this thing - and send a strong signal to all of those other, similar projects waiting in the wings - please respond to this email! We'll figure out how to get you involved.
Thanks to all.
