The bad news is that the commission wants the Garden gone in 15 years. The Dolan family, which owns the Garden and its teams, had been hoping for a permit that would have allowed the Garden to remain on its current site in perpetuity.

This page supported the Dolan family’s position, but it appears to be doomed. Despite investing hundreds of millions in private funds to renovate the Garden in recent years, the Dolans apparently are no longer welcome to operate the world’s most-famous arena above Penn Station.

The issue now goes to the City Council, which could either allow the commission’s decision to stand by simply doing nothing or overrule the commission and give the Dolans only a decade to find a new location. The Council should let the commission’s ruling stand. It’s not the fairest solution, not by a long shot, but it certainly is fairer than the 10-year process that the local community board and some elected officials favor.

Supporters of the 10-year plan insist that the sooner the Garden is moved, the sooner work can begin on a new Penn Station. There’s no denying that Penn Station is a civic disgrace—that was true 40 years ago, and it is true today. And mass-transit advocates rightly note that the rail tunnels connecting Manhattan and New Jersey are antiquated, posing a huge obstacle to expanded Amtrak and New Jersey Transit service.

The status quo at Penn Station is unacceptable. In fact, the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan first began making that point back in the mid-1990s, when he served as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and wrote a federal transportation bill that, for the first time, favored public transit over highway construction.

All these years later, Moynihan’s vision of turning the old Farley Post Office building into a new rail station is nowhere near reality. And yet the Dolans are to be evicted—in either 10 or 15 years—because the Garden is perceived to be an obstacle to the transformation of the West Side transit hub?

There certainly is an argument to be made that New York deserves a better arena than the Garden, even in its renovated state. Nearby cities, including Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., have opened new areas recently with impressive results. The Garden is very much a creature of the late 1960s, a period few associate with classic sports architecture.

That being said, the Dolans have been treated poorly in the debate over Midtown West’s future. If the city is going to limit their permit, better 15 years than 10. The Council should resist pressure from the community and let the commission’s ruling stand.

A tweaked north side for Durst/Fetner's 625 West 57th Street. (Durst/Fetner)

Big, pointy apartments. (Durst/Fetner)

When Douglas Durst began deciding, yet again, what to do with the almost block-long property he owns at 57th Street and the Hudson River, City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden urged the developer to think big. A high-tech data center, a school and a hotel had all fallen through, so Mr. Durst had fallen back on that most reliable form of New York City development: housing.

Ms. Burden wanted something iconic, especially for a project on such a prominent street at such a prominent location right on the waterfront. With Hudson River Park right there, it ought to be iconic. Mr. Durst delivered something BIG indeed, hiring the Danish wunderkinds at Bjarke Ingles Group to design his project.

Yesterday, Ms. Burden got to put her official stamp on the project, when she and the rest of the City Planning Commission approved Durst/Fetner’s BIG pyramid. It was the second-to-last step in the arduous months-long public review process, in many ways made all the easier by a dynamic design that has made this arguably the most unusual apartment building in the city.

"Our approval will facilitate development of a significant new building with a distinctive pyramid-like shaped design and thoughtful site plan that integrates the full block site into the evolving residential, institutional, and commercial neighborhood surrounding it," Ms. Burden said before voting in favor of the project.

Contained within the striking design are 753 apartments in a building that tapers from CKCKthree stories along the river up to a pinnacle of CKCK38 stories. It has an unusual sloping aspect (technically a tetrahedron, not a pyramid) with a massive courtyard cut into the middle that is almost the site of a football field. The cutout also affords every apartment with an outdoor terrace, a feature that was especially important to Mr. Ingels.

The commission required a few modifications to the project, dealing primarily with how it is experienced from the street. There is a limit on the amount of signage and obstructions that can go in the windows of the retail lining 57th Street and the West Side Highway, to ensure transparency and a sense of activity that does not obscure what is going on inside. The fear is a blank wall would deaden the street life, as has happened ion places like Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn.

The developer has made similar gestures on 58th Street to ensure vibrancy on what is otherwise a block-long stretch of almost blank building. Retail wraps the corners of the building, but otherwise, there is a lobby and a loading dock and little else.

Part of the reason for this is the building is located in the 100-year-flood plane, so the Con Ed substation cannot go in the basement but instead by located above-grade. The utility needs access to the facilities at all times, so they have to be on the street, and cannot go higher up in the building. The developer also argued that there is barely any retail on 58th Street as is, so forcing it into the northern side of the building would be impractical and difficult to lease.

The solution was to establish a retail space within the lobby located in that section of the building, and to also install glass vitrines along the blank parts of the façade that could feature plants or sculptures on a rotating basis, creating a more engaging streetscape.

"It's an important approval, and we're pleased with her support and input," Mr. Durst said in an interview.

Previously, the developer agreed to additional modifications when the project received approvals two months ago from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. That included widening the sidewalks and narrowing the driveway between 57th and 58th streets located in the middle of the block at the main entrance to the building. Durst/Fetner will also provide seating and landscaping in the space. The developer also agreed to improve a connection to Hudson River Park at 59th Street, a block north of the development. The connection currently passes under an overpass of West Side Highway, and the developers will work with the city and state departments of transportation to spruce up the space.

"In all, this is an exciting project on a pivotal site that will benefit its occupants, the neighborhood and the city as a whole," Ms. Burden said.

One aspect of the project that has yet to be addressed is how long the affordable units in the building will remain affordable. The development is being built through the city's 80/20 program, which means 20 percent of apartments will be reserved for low- and moderate-income families, while the remaining number will be market rate.

Currently, those units will only be eligible for less well-off families for 35 years. The community board desperately wants permanent affordability, but Durst/Fetner insists it cannot agree to such an arrangement because they do not own the land. The developers themselves are leasing it from a family that has owned the land for more than a century, and is now comprised of some 100 trustees Durst/Fetner must negotiate with about extending the affordability window.

But local Councilwoman Gail Brewer has insisted the developers had better get negotiating, because she is willing to torpedo the project at the City Council—the final step in the public review process, where Ms. Brewer will have almost total say over the project—if her constituents do not get what they want.

Not in session. (MAS)

Update 10/31:The City Planning Commission announced last night that today's meeting has been cancelled.

The mayor may be sending city employees to work today, as he did yesterday. “We are here to serve the public," the mayor said. Those workers will be helping with recovery efforts in any way they can—planners planning escape routes, perhaps, or preservationists thinking of ways to protect buildings—but there will be no business as usual.

As a result, there is no plan to hold the near-weekly Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting today, as though anyone could get to the Municipal Building in flooded Lower Manhattan with all the bridges closed and subways flooded. Still, if you are a die-hard NIMBY and were thinking about going, don't bother. The City Planning Commission canceled its Monday meeting but hopes to combine it with its regularly scheduled Wednesday meeting tomorrow."Due to Hurricane Sandy, the City Planning Commission Review Session has been rescheduled for Wednesday morning,  October 31, at 10 a.m., in conjunction with the Public Meeting," a message on the City Planning site reads. "We apologize for any inconvenience." But a spokeswoman for the department said in an email that that meeting could also be canceled depending on the situation tomorrow. "It was our intention to hold meeting at 22 Reade Street, but we'll keep you posted as we know more," the email said.

The Landmarks meeting has yet to be rescheduled.

Does a big street call for big buildings? (Bridge & Tunnel Club)

Neighbors want to protect historic buildings like these. (Bridge & Tunnel Club)

Recently, the City Planning Commission approved plans for the rezoning of West Harlem, a plan meant to protect the smaller-scale of the neighborhood. Some locals believe it still allows for outsized development in some places, specifically along the 145th Street corridor. They have written a letter to the City Council, which will make the final decision on the rezoning in the next month or so, urging it to reduce the height of buildings on 145th Street. The letter, provided to The Observer by a concerned citizen, can be read in full after the jump.

To the City Council and All New Yorkers,

In 2007, responding to Columbia University’s expansion plans in West Harlem and in the face of significant development pressure, the community embarked on the rezoning of a 90 block area to protect the character of the neighborhood, its long term residents, and businesses. Community Board 9, and the City Planning Commission, with the strong support of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer initiated a rezoning study of the area—the first since 1961.

CB 9, the Department of City Planning, the MBP and elected officials worked tirelessly through numerous public meetings, presentations and discussions to finalize a contextual rezoning resolution that was adopted by CB 9 in June. CB 9 and the CPC agreed on every item in the proposal except for mid-block area of West 145 Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. There the City Planning Commission wanted to increase the height permitted from eight (R7A) to 12 stories (R8A IH) on a street comprised mostly of six story buildings. The "IH", or inclusionary housing, would provide developers a 33 percent bonus of buildable floor area in exchange for including 20 percent affordable units in their finished construction. The net amount of affordable units for the mid-block area of West 145 Street would be 41.

Although one of the community's priorities is affordable housing, at a well attended public hearing on June 18, not one person spoke in support of R8A IH on the block. The consensus was that the trade off of 41 affordable units was not worth the out-of-scale 12 story heights on West 145 Street mid-block. There were other prospective locations in West Harlem for affordable housing that could contextually support those 41 units. The increased density on West 145 Street would also create issues of out-of-scale traffic, parking, noise, air pollution, wind and shadows, as well as additional pressure on the public transport system and infrastructure. The Community strongly favored R7A.

In spite of the clearly stated desires of neighborhood residents and CB9 and statements from the CPC and the MBP that they would respect the wishes of the community, MBP Stringer and the CPC have thrown their considerable weight behind the plan to allow 12 story buildings on West 145 Street mid-block. Their decision not only comes as a shock, but is deflating to all those who have worked so hard for years on every block of the rezoning.

The proposal now moves to the City Council where Councilman Robert Jackson will likely cast the deciding vote before it becomes law. We respectfully appeal to Councilman Jackson to support the wishes of his constituents and vote against R8A IH in favor of R7A on West 145th Street.

Sincerely,
Concerned Citizens for the Contextual Rezoning of West Harlem

The West Harlem rezoning is an especially historic occasion since it is the culmination of more than five years of planning by the community as a direct response to Columbia’s new Manhattanville campus. Following the university’s rezoning of the 17 acres between 125th Street and 133rd Street on which its new campus is already rising, the City Planning Commission promised to do a rezoning of the 90 blocks to the north, offering protection from potential overdevelopment that could be ushered in by the new school buildings.

"West Harlem is a vibrant, diverse community, and this rezoning will preserve the scale of its beautiful Beaux Arts, Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival brownstones and apartment houses built in the first decades of the 20th century," commission chair Amanda Burden said. "The rezoning also will reinvigorate an existing light manufacturing area just north of 125th Street by allowing commercial, community facility and residential uses in existing and new buildings to promote economic development and job creation."

In addition to this special district, the new rezoning restricts development on the side streets to roughly four stories, while on the avenues it rises between eight and 12 stories, where an exclusionary housing bonus can allow developers to add additional development in exchange for setting aside 20 percent of their projects as affordable. While local activists liked the rezoning overall, they felt that the upzoning along 145th Street, the area’s major commercial corridor, was too high. Historic preservation is also an issue, bound up in part with the overdevelopment issues.

"The Boys and Girls Club owns P.S. 186, one of the historic schools built by Charles Snider; he built hundreds of them at the turn of the century," said Catherine Abate, a local resident who has been active in the planning process. "Now, they could well develop it and do a 14-story residential structure, and with all that development, it's hard to think they wouldn't. I think the real concern for us [is] there are some important tenements, too, that with those kind of incentives, developers will have no choice but to demolish historic buildings and build bigger."

Borough President Scott Stringer, who persuaded the Bloomberg administration to undertake the rezoning five years ago and helped plan it through his office in the subsequent period, applauded the commission’s support for the plan. "The plan reflects the input of thousands of stakeholders in West Harlem and is a model for how we can craft a community-based planning process that finds common ground and safeguards a neighborhood," Mr. Stringer said. "It is a promise kept to the residents of West Harlem—and a proud moment for all who were involved."

The Bedford-Stuyvesant North rezoning covers 140 blocks across much of the neighborhood from Flushing Avenue (north) to Quincy Avenue (south), Classon and Franklin avenues (west) to Broadway (east). As with West Harlem, contextualism is key, again with downzonings on down-scale streets and offsetting upzonings on the wider north-south corridors, which also provides space for new affordable housing.

"Bedford-Stuyvesant is a vibrant community experiencing new growth and investment," Ms. Burden said. "This rezoning will ensure that new development complements the neighborhood while preserving the community’s historic brownstones, rowhouses and small apartment buildings. The proposed rezoning would protect neighborhood character, create new opportunities for permanently affordable housing and strengthen established commercial corridors, such as Broadway, Bedford and Myrtle Avenues."

Do the setback! (Studios Architecture)

The earlier 10th Avenue addition, sans setback. (Studios Architecture)

Much of the debate around the expansion of the Chelsea Market has centered around not the former Nasbisco factory turned popular shopping center (and subsequent tourist attraction), but the old railroad trestle next to it.

Part of the justification for expanding the market by 25 percent was that, in addition to providing construction jobs and new office space for the city's booming tech sector, the developer of the project, Jamestown Properties, would pay about $19 million to the High Line, to help fund ongoing maintenance. But there was also great community outcry over the fact that much of the new addition would be built on the 10th Avenue side of Chelsea Market, directly overhanging the High Line.

Earlier today, the City Planning Commission unanimously approved the project's expansion, and addressed a few of these concerns. The 10th Avenue addition will now be set back from the High Line, stepping back like a wedding cake as it rises, providing more air and light over the elevated park.

But the agreement was not a total victory for the Friends of the High Line, who are desperate for funds to keep the expensive park in shape. As a salve to community concerns about affordable housing, roughly one-third of the $19 million Jamestown had promised to the park will go instead into an affordable housing fund, which can be spent on projects in the neighborhood.

"We are gratified by the City Planning Commission's thoughtful and balanced approach in consideration and approval of Jamestown's application to expand the Chelsea Market," Michael Phillips, Jamestown's COO and project manager on the expansion, said in a statement. "With the leadership of Commission Chair Amanda Burden, the commission has modified the application to allow for some of the funds generated through a zoning bonus to be used for affordable housing, an approach that follows the road map set forth by the community board."

The board tentatively approved the project earlier this summer, raising questions about its size and a lack of affordable housing. They also fought against the possible inclusion of a hotel in an expansion planned over Budakkan on the Ninth Avenue side of the project, a concern echoed by Borough President Scott Stringer when he voted against the Chelsea Market expansion in July. He also lobbied for the project to be moved away from the High Line, though he preferred moving all of it to Ninth Avenue.

The Ninth Avenue addition, which had once been taller and included a hotel. (Studios Architecture)

As part of the agreement to win approval from the commission, Jamestown agreed to remove a hotel from its plans. It also reduced the height of the Ninth Avenue addition. That piece will now rise to 135 feet, even with the neighboring roofline of the market, rather than to a height of 160 feet.

As for the setbacks on 10th Avenue, they begin at the top of the market where the new addition is pushed back 15 feet, followed by another 10 feet when the new section reaches 185 feet, with a few more setbacks from there up to a final height of 230 feet. That is shorter than the neighboring Caledonia condo building though still taller than a number of the neighboring industrial buildings.

Altogether, the modifications reduce the expansion's overall size from 325,000 new square feet to roughly 285,000 square feet. The market currently contains about 1.2 million square feet of office and retail space.

"With these modifications, I believe this will be a great addition to the West Chelsea neighborhood," Commissioner Burden said before the commission voted unanimously to approve the project. "The additional office space will serve what has become a destination for creative and technology industries, and this new development will provide critical amenities to the High Line."

Despite the funding cut, Friends of the High Line also applauded the project's approval. "The City Planning Commission made a number of thoughtful changes to various aspects of the plan," Friends co-founder Robert Hammond said in an email. "We are pleased with the way the plan is moving forward, and we will continue to work with the community."

While polling has found general support for the expansion in the city, some locals still oppose the addition. "It's fiddling with the margins," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. "When you look at how much West Chelsea has been upzoned in the past 10 years, more than any other community, when you add to that an upzoning of one of New York City's most beloved landmarks, it just adds insult to injury."

He said the affordable housing contributions are "a sham" because, like a kitty set aside from the 2005 rezoning of the neighborhood, into which these new funds will also be deposited, none of the money has so far been spent. Though that is more a problem for the city than Jamestown.

He vowed to continue fighting the expansion at the City Council, where it will be taken up in the next two months ahead of its likely approval. The project lies in Council Speaker Christine Quinn's district, who has found herself stuck between addressing the concerns of her neighborhood base in Chelsea and the demands of the real estate industry, who appear to favor her as their candidate in next year's mayoral elections. How she threads the needle on this project will be interesting to see.

The zoning-busting Zipper Building. (NYU Local)

The reactions have been rolling in to the City Planning Commission's near-unanimous approval of NYU's Greenwich Village expansion plan from yesterday. Activists oppose it, business groups support it and politicians are mixed on the issue. The most striking statement comes from Borough President Scott Stringer, who is glad to see further modifications to the plan but also expresses exasperation at the fact that some of his negotiations with the NYU have been walked back.

“I am pleased that the City Planning Commission’s vote today ratified important aspects of my agreement with NYU on the 2031 Core Campus plan. Those agreements included removing the dormitory on top of the school on Bleecker Street, the temporary gym, and university uses under two new public parks on the northern superblock. Additionally, the commission ratified commitments I received to ensure continued access to playground space throughout construction, and to create a contextual height for the LaGuardia Boomerang Building. I also commend the commission for eliminating the proposed hotel use and the commercial overlay.

“However, while I am pleased with the progress made, I am disappointed the commission did not ratify NYU’s commitment to eliminate a portion of the ‘zipper building’ to protect light and air for neighboring residential buildings, nor did it remove one story of university uses below the proposed public school to assist in reducing density-related impacts. This makes no sense, especially in light of fact that NYU agreed to these changes. I expect the City Council to correct these mistakes.”

The borough president had convinced the university to setback the Zipper Building, so it would  leave more light and air on Bleecker Street. A City Planning spokeswoman would not explain the changes, simply saying that this was the final recommendations were the result of months of negotiations, and what was proposed was most appropriate. An NYU spokesman would not comment on whether or not the university would follow the recommendations of the borough president regardless of the commission's, but the latter are the only ones that are binding.

Generally speaking, the university welcomed the changes in its official statement, from Senior Vice President Alicia Hurley, who has leading the redvelopment efforts. "Following a comprehensive review by the City Planning Commission, we are pleased that NYU's strategy for its core has been approved by the Commission," she said. "We believe the plan with the modifications
enacted by the Commission allows the University to meet its academic space needs near its Washington Square core over the next two decades while addressing the concerns of the local community."

The Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Conference supported the vote, but so did Villagers for a Sustainable Neighborhood, a group of more than 100 business that have generally opposed the plan. That is partly because many of the commission's actions addressed business, not residential concerns, from the elimination of a hotel to the removal of a commercial overlay that would have allowed NYU to add groundfloor storefronts to buildings in a nine-block swath east of Washington Square Park.

“I applaud the City Planning Commission for recommending significant changes including reducing the size of several of the buildings, protecting open space and removing non-essential pieces of the proposal like the commercial overlay on the loft blocks and the hotel,” said Judy Paul, CEO of the Washington Square Hotel and one of the organizers of the group.

Finally, a source close to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's office points out that he is expected to support NYU's proposal in some form, and the vote of his representative on the City Planning Commission against the rezoning—the lone dissenting vote—should not be taken as a sign of his standing on the project.

Those towers? Not quite so big. (NYU)

Now the NYU plan is perfect, at least in the eyes of planning potentate Amanda Burden and the rest of the rest of the City Planning Commission. About an hour ago, the commission conditionally  and near unanimously approved NYU's contentious expansion plans for its two superblocks just south of Washington Square Park.

The commission is requiring the university to modify its 2 million square foot expansion in a number of meaningful ways, though the outlines of the new mini campus remain largely intact. There was one dissenting vote for the modified plan, from Commissioner Michelle de La Uz, who is the appointee of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.

The biggest thing to go is a hotel in the so-called zipper building, which will replace the Coles athletic center at the corner of Mercer and Houston streets. Locals, including a few hotels, were worried about pick-ups, drop-offs and general transience coming to the corner.

The university had argued it needed the space to host guest faculty and conference visitors, but it was willing to give up the rooms, though not the space--the zipper building will still rise to 26 stories, an issue that still rankles many expansion opponents. Some observers believed the hotel was simply included as the sort of component that could easily be eliminated without harming the overall plan while still providing the appearance of compromise.

"They still get the building they want," Greenwich Village for Historic Preservation executive director Andrew Berman told The Observer after the vote.

The two boomerang-shaped towers within Washington Square Village will be reduced in height, so that they do not rise higher than their 1950s neighbors, but the bulk of the building has not been reduced, meaning shorter, fatter buildings. This could further wall off the interior open space, which has been a major concern for the community, who see the university as privatizing this open space. There will, however, be an oversight committee created to try and ensure open access to this open space.

The final change was the elimination of a commercial overlay that stretched for nine blocks around the site, up to the buildings just east of Washington Square Park. A little known feature of the rezoning application, it would have allowed some of the older buildings to have new ground-floor retail built within. Two residential buildings within the area, that have since been bought by NYU, vehemently opposed this part of the plan, and it was eliminated to accommodate their concerns.

But at the end of the day, there are still four very big buildings coming to the Village in the future.

Reflecting on an AIDS memorial. (AIDS Memorial Coalition)

Happy hour had just ended at the Stonewall Inn on Monday night (2-for-1 well, beer and wine). Rob (dirty martini) and Steve (Budweiser) were sitting at a table discussing the merits of Tom Brady and Eli Manning.

“Brady is better in the pocket, he’s better by the numbers, but Eli just always pulls it out for you,” Scott said. “No pun intended,” he quickly added.

“I think Brady’s better. He’s just past his prime,” allowed Rob.

So they were in agreement, a rarity, they said.

Among the things they disagreed on—Thai food (Rob prefers pad thai, Scott pad see ew), books (Rob thrillers, Scott histories)—was a recent proposal for an AIDS memorial on a triangle of land across from the shuttered St. Vincent’s Hospital.

“I think it’s a lovely idea,” Scott said. “It had a huge impact on the gay community, on the neighborhood, on the entire city, and it has never been properly commemorated. This would be the perfect place to remember those who were lost.”

“It’s a big community,” Rob said. “Bigger than just us. We need a space that feels welcoming to everyone. Besides, I don’t like the design. All those mirrors, it looks like something Frank Gehry would do.”

This fight has more color than a rainbow flag.

The AIDS Memorial Park was conceived by Christopher Tepper and Paul Kelterborn, friends with a flair for city planning—Mr. Tepper works at the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Mr. Kelterborn at the Municipal Art Society. They are no strangers to the power of a nice public space. Their inspiration came from a 2010 article in New York magazine, about the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital and the unusual role it played in serving the AIDS community in New York.

“The building standing there being vacant had become a sort of de facto monument to the epidemic,“ Mr. Kelterborn told The Observer.

When Rudin Management, the august real estate family that had been working to turn the hospital into condos for years, revived its plan last spring, the young bucks saw an opportunity and launched the AIDS Memorial Park Coalition to create a proper memorial in New York, something a city long associated with the illness lacks.

But there are those in the Village who have been less than taken with the idea. (This is the Village after all, so everyone has an opinion on what goes on in their backyard.)

The Rudins are rooting for a regular park. (Rudin Management)

“We are a park-starved community,” said Marilyn Dorato, head of the Greenwich Village Block Association. “We need more space for people to just sit out and relax. There is a section of the approved plan that has an AIDS memorial. There is opposition to giving this whole space over to a use like this.”

According to Ms. Dorato—who says she has been called homophobic for her opposition—she lost a number of close friends to AIDS and a memorial would be too painful. “I don’t really need to be overwhelmed with memories all the time,” she said. “That period was really, really dreadful.”

There are those in the gay community who oppose the plan, as well. “I’d rather have a park,” said Scott Colton, head of the 305 West 13th Street Tenants Association. “I don’t think we need to memorialize AIDS.” Ms. Colton felt that many within the AIDS community have been cast aside by what might be called the AIDS Establishment run by gay men.

“What are we memorializing, a disease?” she said. “That was controllable!  What, bad behavior of people who went out and had sex knowing full well that was how it was transmitted with total disregard for the consequences?”

Even some of the old guard oppose the plan, feeling that the memorial is the work of arrivistes. “The AIDS garden was a plan by a group of 20-something men in the gay community,” said Tim Lunceford, an activist opposed to both the memorial and the Rudin plan.

The Rudins are against the memorial for practical reasons: there is concern that altering the plan could reopen the public review process, delaying construction of those condos. The plan is currently under review at the City Council, having won support from the City Planning Commission in January. (It was staunchly opposed in the fall by Community Board 2 while Borough President Scott Stringer conditionally approved of it.) The Council will vote by April.

The developer is sticking to his own park proposal, already approved by the planning commission, though he points out it will have AIDS memorial aspects. “We’ve always been very consistent in the design that we’ve put forth in working with the community, that we have placeholders for commemorative elements reflecting HIV and also the rich history of St. Vincent’s,” Mr. Rudin told The Observer after the commission voted for his plan on Jan. 23.

Among the powerful people backing the memorial is the same planning commission that approved Mr. Rudin’s plans. “Given the past efforts of the applicant on this proposal, I am confident they will continue to work with the community in the future, including those interested in creating the AIDS memorial,” influential chair Amanda Burden said.

Messrs. Tepper and Kelterborn have lined up some influential backers as well, including Whoopi Goldberg, Kenneth Cole and Robert Hammond of the Friends of the High Line, who are on the jury for the memorial design competition, launched in November. Michael Arad, designer of the 9/11 memorial, chaired the jury and has become a de facto spokesman for the project.

An official design was announced on Jan. 30. Called Infinite Forest, it was designed by Brooklyn firm studio a+i and features a stand of birch trees bounded by a triangle of mirrored walls. A nice place for reflection, but not necessarily somewhere to take the kids frolicking on a play date.

The ultimate decision on the fate of the memorial stands with Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who must decide between one of the city’s most powerful real estate barons and the pillar of her political base, the Village’s gay community, not to mention her constituents opposed to the memorial. The community has been demanding numerous concessions from the Rudins for affordable housing, a smaller condo tower and other issues, which could be costly to the developer, and it is possible he and the speaker could come to an agreement on an AIDS memorial that would be far less costly than any of those proposals. A mirrored olive branch.

Then again, city planning officials said that it would be almost impossible to approve the coalition’s design within the current land-use review, setting the development back as much as a year—one promise in the Rudin deal is that the condos cannot open before a new emergency care center or the park space is completed, which is tentatively scheduled for 2014.

This could just be a politically savvy move by two upstarts trying to get a big AIDS memorial built somewhere, anywhere. Get on board with one of the most contentious development fights of a generation and see where it takes you. You win, you win. You lose, you have built up a huge base of support. For her part, the speaker is already hard at work on the issue. A Quinn spokesperson reported diplomatically, “We look forward to working with all parties to ensure the appropriate location and design for an AIDS memorial.”

mchaban@observer.com

eknutsen@observer.com

All smiles. (PMcM)

Earlier this afternoon, a die-hard group of developers, activists and real estate enthusiasts gathered at the New York Department of City Planning for a much anticipated meeting. In a brief meeting, the controversial Rudin development project at the former site of St. Vincent's Hospital passed with unanimous support from all City Planning commissioners.

Commission Chair Amanda Burden explained that she was pleased with how the developers had worked with the community. "The Rudin West Village proposal represents an important step in incorporating the former St. Vincent's campus into the fabric of the West Village," Ms. Burden said.

Commissioner Angela Battaglia similarly voiced her support of the project, but encouraged Rudin to continue searching for a way to include an affordable housing program into the massive real estate endeavor.

After the meeting, Mr. Rudin spoke to a bevy of reporters, most of whom were curious about the affordable housing angle Commissioner Battaglia had mentioned. "I'm not exactly sure, there were a couple of different comments, and I think we need to see what their report was," Mr. Rudin said. "Maybe after we’ve read it we can comment on it."

Mr. Rudin explained that the development project will create "a revitalized neighborhood with jobs being created and stores being refilled." In addition to condos and a park, the new space will include *an urgent care clinic with exactly two hospital beds.

As Mr. Rudin was speaking to the press, several opponents of the project gathered behind him, with signs reading "Shame! Shame!" and "City Planners to The West Side: Drop Dead."

The vociferous activists argued that without a fully-operational hospital, complete with in-patient care and Level 4 trauma facilities, the West Side of Manhattan would be put in dire straits. "There's a very large disparity of hospital beds and this isn’t being addressed by the plan," said Dr. Gerrie Nussdorf. "There’s a change in health care where these freestanding clinics are somehow taken as being equal to hospitals." The urgent care center, she said, is "kind of a band-aid: it can help certain things if they’re not so serious, but for serious things people need to be transported to a hospital."

Another opponent, Timothy Lunceford, told The Observer that despite the planning commission's statements, the Rudins have not worked with the community. "I'm telling you the commission did not tell the truth today," he said. "Bill Rudin has not told the truth any time he's presented to the board about working with the community."

Mr. Rudin told the assembled reporters that *financing is completely in order for the project, and it will be completed sometime in 2015.

eknutsen@observer.com