NEW YORK – June 5, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer and City Council Member Margaret Chin (D-1) responded today to a letter from David R. Weinreb, CEO of The Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC) addressed to Mayor Bill de Blasio on their effort to build a mixed use tower on the site of the Fulton Fish Market’s New Market Building adjacent to Pier 17, the South Street Seaport commercial development they are already renovating under a long term lease with the City’s Economic Development Corporation.
In a joint statement, Brewer and Chin said:
“HHC’s statement that they are ‘working on a significantly revised plan to address the height issue’ is welcome news. We look forward to seeing how well their revised proposal meets the Seaport Working Group guidelines and preserves and enhances the vibrancy and historical significance that the Seaport deserves. The entire area can fairly be described as where New York City began; it’s up to us to make sure future generations can see how.”
Brewer and Chin, working with Manhattan Community Board 1 Chair Catherine McVay-Hughes and other local elected officials, convened a Seaport Working Group– composed of residents, business owners, Community Board members and other stakeholders in the Seaport area– which developed guidelines in a community-based planning process moderated by Pratt Institute urban planning professor Jonathan Martin.
One main tenet of those guidelines, issued last summer, was that a tall building (such as the one proposed by HHC last fall) was inappropriate for the area, which has a mosaic of overlapping local, state, and federal historic district and urban renewal designations.
Direct HHC letter link: http://on.nyc.gov/1RMKGkl
Direct SWG guidelines link: http://www.slideshare.net/GaleABrewerMBP/jm-presentation-swg-final-sm06022014
Contact:
Jon Houston | jhouston (at) manhattanbp.nyc (dot) gov | 212-669-8137
