here are a few items about upcoming things on the west side - the first is part of an email sent to me by a friend on the fate of trader joes at 72nd & broadway
FYI: A few months ago we heard that Trader Joe's was going to be in the new building still going up on 72nd and Broadway. More recently, heard that the deal was off. Apparently Linda Rosenthal, our assemblyperson also heard that and did some research. The deal is still on for Trader Joe's coming to that building. Just heard it from her last night.
Landmarks Commission Approves Chabad Proposal
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has approved a controversial proposal by Chabad of the Upper West Side to build a day school, synagogue and community center in two landmark rowhouses on West 86th Street.
The proposal, which was voted down by Community Board 7, would allow Chabad to build a roof and rear yard addition to the building as well as perform other renovations. It also means that the renters who live in the buildings now would have to move out. Those renters and neighbors complained that the new construction would change the neighborhood too drastically. But Chabad of the Upper West Side Associate Director Rabbi Meir Ossey told Lubavitch.com that "the renovations will preserve the buildings' historic appearance and will also restore original architectural details that have been lost over the decades."
The commission originally asked the organization to change the proposal, in part because it involved elevating the floor heights, which they found unacceptable. The commission's vote was unanimous, said spokeswoman Lisi de Bourbon.
Chabad's updated proposal "called for keeping the floor heights/plates the same, reducing the height of the rear addition so that the cornice is the same height as neighboring buildings — you can't see the play terrace or the fence — and bringing the addition back from the lot line by three feet," de Bourbon wrote in an email.
The project won't likely be completed until 2013.
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An unexpected alliance between a powerful developer and a neighborhood retirement home is causing an uproar in the Manhattan Valley section of the famously ornery Upper West Side.
Enigmatic developer Joseph Chetrit and Jewish Home Lifecare, which has a campus at 120 West 106th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, have decided to swap properties.
In exchange for its 106th Street campus, the retirement home will receive both cash and the right to develop a 22-story replacement retirement home atop a parking lot within Mr. Chetrit's Park West Village on 100th Street. Mr. Chetrit, in turn, will get the right to build luxury condominiums on one of the most desirable sites in one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Manhattan.
The reason for the uproar is rooted in the history of the 106th Street campus itself.
Back in 2007, Upper West Side community groups, appalled by the erection of Extell's 37-story and 31-story Ariel East and West condos at 100th Street and Broadway, succeeded in down-zoning much of the neighborhood to prevent future tall developments. At the time, the Jewish Home requested a special carve-out, or exemption, from the down-zoning, arguing that it needed to retain development rights in order to remain viable. The community board granted the Jewish Home's request.
The Jewish Home's original plan was to bid out a portion of its campus to a developer, and thereby subsidize the creation of a new retirement home on the existing site.
And then came the credit crunch, that greatest of party crashers.
"In early 2008, we sent out 2,000 letters to developers, brokers and so on in the New York metropolitan area and around the country," recalled Ethan Geto, the Jewish Home's lobbyist and spokesman. "We got back about 70 meaningful replies, which got boiled down to about 10. Then as we started negotiating, they started all falling by the wayside because of the recession."
The only developer that remained? Mr. Chetrit. And his contentious land-swap proposal.
"Now people are saying, 'Hey, wait a minute, you got this special exemption and now you're dealing with Chetrit?'" said Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president.
Further inflaming the debate is the fact that residents of Park West Village aren't particularly ecstatic about the coming of a new 22-story building.
"Unfortunately, where they want to build the Jewish Home and hospital is a real hardship for the community, because that was supposed to be the open space part of this deal [in Park West]," Mr. Stringer said.
Mr. Geto, for his part, contends that the open space in question is merely a parking lot, and that the new building will contain publicly accessible open space. Mr. Geto also maintains that Mr. Chetrit doesn't even want the existing zoning carve-out on 106th Street: The carve-out would allow him to build taller, but the zoning preferred by the community would allow Mr. Chetrit to build more densely.
"What some people in the community felt, people who are, let's say, cynical, was that all along the Jewish Home really had a secret plan to retain carve-out because it would be much more attractive to sell the entire campus to a developer," Mr. Geto said. "That premise is completely wrong."
Be that as it may, elected officials and community board members remain skeptical. They have demanded that the Jewish Home and Mr. Chetrit sign a restrictive declaration promising not to develop the 106th Street site beyond the more restrictive zoning. And the local City Council member, Melissa Mark-Viverito, is drafting legislation to eliminate the zoning carve-out at the heart of the controversy.
The chairwoman of Community Board 7, Helen Rosenthal, called the planned declaration "a responsible reaction to an ironic situation."
Meanwhile, one side in the conflict has taken pains to stress the importance of the retirement home to the community. "It's not a betrayal," Mr. Geto contended. "The only thing it is, it's unexpected."
A spokeswoman for Mr. Chetrit did not respond by press time.
Upper UWS Downzone Shoots Itself in Foot
The upper Upper West Side thought it was done with luxury high-rise problems when, in a bout of anti-Ariel fury, the community board and the City Council downzoned 51 blocks of the UWS. But in a moment of weakness, the community board left out one site -- the Jewish Home Lifecare campus at 120 West 106th Street. And now it's come back to bite them in the tuchus. The retirement campus plans to swap properties with developer Joseph Chetrit. Jewish Home can build a new 22-story building on what is now a parking lot in Chetrit's Park West Village on 100th Street, where the new zoning called for open space. Chetrit can build luxury housing on the current retirement home site. Everybody happy? Not quite. Upper UWSers are crying conspiracy and drafting legislation to take back the Jewish Home's zoning exemption. But Ethan Geto, the Jewish Home spokesperson, is sure everyone will be fine once the shock wears off. "It's not a betrayal," he says. "The only thing it is, it's unexpected."Council Approves Plan to Limit High-Rises on Upper West Side
The City Council unanimously passed a rezoning plan yesterday that limits the spread of high-rise buildings along 51 blocks on the Upper West Side, an area that officials say has undergone a significant increase in development.
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The plan is intended to preserve the physical character of the community. It generally limits buildings to 14 stories along Broadway; 10 to 11 stories along the other avenues; and 6 to 7 stories on the side streets. Additionally, it imposes design restrictions so that new developments more closely match the neighborhoods around them.
Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito, a Manhattan Democrat who represents the area, called the plan a "safeguard against aggressive overdevelopment that is running rampant throughout the city."
The rezoning area is bounded to the west by Riverside Drive and the east by Central Park, and to the south by 97th Street and the north by 110th Street.
The plan was prompted by the construction of 37- and 31-story condominium towers along Broadway near 99th Street by the Extell Development Company, said Councilwoman Melinda R. Katz, a Queens Democrat and chairwoman of the Council's Land Use Committee.
"That basically galvanized the community to make sure" the area wasn't overrun by large-scale development, she said.
Under the old zoning rules, there were no height restrictions and developers could buy unused air rights from buildings on surrounding streets. The new plan ends those transfers.
The 51-to-0 vote comes as the Council is preparing to consider a far more contentious expansion plan by Columbia University that calls for Columbia to take over 17 acres in the nearby neighborhood of Manhattanville.
| Aroma Pizza Cafe to Open Another midtown lunch option is set to open the week of October; Aroma Pizza Café is finishing the final touches to its large space on 36th St. (between 5th and 6th). Aroma Cafe will offer the range of lunch options we have beome accustom to - fresh salads, sushi, sandwiches, fish, pizza and hot lunch varietes, but is singling itself apart from the rest with a hummus bar. Prices are set to be compettive - check it out! | |
Posted on 10/13/2009 | |
| Prime Grill to Add UWS Location Kosher-NY has learned that the one and only Prime Grill, a leader in quality Kosher dining, is planning another Manhattan eatery on the Upper West Side. The new location will offer an international bistro style menu - stay tuned for further details. | |
Posted on 10/13/2009 | |
| My Most Favorite Moving Uptown It seems that expansions come in twos! Kosher-NY has learned that My Most Favorite Food, a midtown dairy staple, is opening a new location 72nd Street, between Broadway and West End Ave. MMFF will be the third Kosher restuarnst to try its luck in the very same location with Nargilla Grill and Dougies both having been previous tennants. Management confirmed that construction is well underway and a total overhaul is taking place. Expected opening is mid November, stay tuned for details. | |
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