Council Member Pledges Support to Opponents of New Tower Planned for Tribeca
City Council member Christopher Marte hosted a public discussion on Monday evening about the new residential tower planned within Tribeca’s Independence Plaza complex. The session, in an auditorium at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (directly adjacent to the site of the proposed tower), drew more than 100 local residents, most of whom voiced opposition to the plan.
“From our office, you have our commitment. We’re going to stand by you,” Mr. Marte told the crowd. “We’re going to work with you. But we want to make sure the organizing is coming from the grassroots level, from the community.”
According to Mr. Marte, developers Stellar Management and Vornado Realty have not provided any more information to the Department of City Planning about the proposal. The vision still calls for a tower taller than 900 feet, with 90 stories of apartments and commercial space. This structure is intended to be built in a courtyard at the top of a staircase at Greenwich and Jay Streets, once the front of P.S. 150 before that school moved to the Financial District in 2021. The base of the proposed tower is seen in gray in the rendering above.
When a resident asked whether an offer by the developers to include affordable housing in the plan would make it acceptable, Mr. Marte answered, “that’s not how I see it. I don’t believe we should have this 90-story tower here in Tribeca at all. If they move forward with this, they’ll try to use a NIMBY vs. YIMBY argument in the press. I’ve been called worse.”
He added, “developers have taken away affordable housing from this community at a faster rate than they have created it. As a result of gentrification, this community has lost more affordable units than any other in the entire State.”
Pointing to what may be his strongest weapon against the plan, Mr. Marte said, “member deference remains strong.” This refers to a tradition in the City Council by which each member retains an effective veto over projects in his or her district, with the entire municipal legislature voting in support of the local representative. But he may get to wield this cudgel only if the City Planning Commission (CPC) agrees that the proposal by the developers amounts to a major modification of what is known as a Large Scale Residential Development (LSRD), a term denoting the consolidation of multiple, separate zoning lots into a single unit for the purpose of erecting a project that will span the borders several such plots. If the CPC, which is controlled by the Mayor, determines that the plan is only a minor modification, then the City Council is bypassed entirely. The only way to prevent such an end run would be legal action.
“The Mayor has his philosophy on what NYC should look like and feel like,” Mr. Marte said. “We disagree. If this goes to court, we have several strong arguments. There are only 16 buildings in all of New York that are 90 stories or taller. And the impacts would be significant for the Hudson River Park, Washington Market Park, the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and P.S. 234, all of which are close by.”
Tribeca resident Stephanie Kelemen, who spoke after Mr. Marte, began by asking, “raise your hand if you think this proposed tower is a bad idea.” Most of the assembled crowd lifted their arms.
“Nobody who lives in Tribeca likes this project,” she said. “But I’m here today to ask you how much you don’t like it. We’re in a new era of urban development. New York City is not just the City of Yes. It is the City of Anything Goes, where our policymakers are handing out pieces of our City like a fifth grader handing out brownies when running for student council. It’s winner-take-all, get-it-while-you-can, and it’s corrupt. Our sunlight, our open spaces, our peace, are all up for grabs unless we fight.”
“This is a time as a community to come together and decide that this is something we care about,” Ms. Kelemen continued. “We’re going to have to fight for it. They don’t think it matters that we spent years building this community. They don’t think it matters if our culture and our history are washed away.”
“A cookie-cutter, luxury condo skyscraper is not going to do anything to solve the problems we are facing today,” she said. “Our goal is to form an organization that represents the community, with cohesive opposition, where all of our resources are pooled. We are creating a not-for-profit group with a leadership board that represents the entire community.”
The board of this group is slated to include Ms. Kelemen, longtime Independence Plaza tenant leader Diane Lapson, and Tribeca resident Richard Corman, who serves on Community Board 1 and is president of the Downtown Independent Democrats political organization. Anyone interested in participating in the group is urged to contact Mr. Marte’s office via email, at District1@council.nyc.gov.