This morning, the Department of City Planning had a standing-room-only crowd at its public hearing to discuss the proposed rezoning of the Far West Village. The drive to down-zone this stretch of Manhattan, an irregular plot of land west of Greenwich Street between Horatio and Morton streets, has been spearheaded by the Greenwich
Village Society for Historical Preservation.
Attendance in support of the plan was overwhelming, with most people urging the board not to delay the zoning change; they believe several developers are racing against the clock to construct large, out-of-scale buildings under the current zoning, such as Richard Born, at 166 Perry Street. GVSHP executive director Andrew Berman also pleaded with the board to reconsider two conspicuous exemptions in the plan: the Superior Ink Factory, at 70 Bethune Street, which Related Companies wants to develop into a 120-foot-high residential development, and the Whitehall Storage building, which extends from Charles to West 10th streets between West and Washington streets, where the Witkoff Group is is planning a 175-foot-high project.
A couple of people spoke up against the rezoning, including Cary Tamarkin, who is planning a to develop a building at 393 West 12th Street. Mr. Tamarkin said that he bought his property before the rezoning proposal, and if passed, it will severely affect the economics of his project.
The DCP has not yet set a date to vote on the rezoning.
– Matthew Grace
