The managing boards of a dozen condominium buildings in Battery Park City have now passed resolutions calling upon the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) to halt its ongoing initiative to consider a possible redesign of South End Avenue.
The scope of this project was recently narrowed, when the BPCA announced that it was no longer considering filling in the pedestrian arcades that line the facades of four buildings along the thoroughfare, in order to create new retail space. (This was the most prominent and controversial aspect of the study, and had attracted widespread criticism.)
But the resolutions enacted by the twelve condominiums also take issue with the broader process of reconceiving South End Avenue, demanding that the Authority specify what problems it aims to solve with the project, how it intends pay for any new construction, and how long and disruptive such construction might be. Some of the resolutions also call for new leadership at the Authority, and echo longstanding demands by community leaders and elected officials that residents of Battery Park City be appointed to a majority of seats on the agency’s board.
The roster of condominiums on record as opposing the project includes eleven buildings in the southern half of the community (Battery Pointe, the Cove Club, Liberty Court, Liberty House, Liberty Terrace, Liberty View, Hudson View East, Hudson View West, One Rector Park, the Regatta, and the Soundings), and one building in the northern section of Battery Park City, Riverhouse.
These measures coincide with a strongly worded resolution from the Battery Park City Committee of Community Board 1, enacted on October 25, which calls for the BPCA to, “immediately cease and desist their process with the South End Avenue Survey and Design plans,” “not to move forward with any capital changes to South End Avenue without approval from the residents living in the southern neighborhood and the existing businesses along South End Avenue,” and “to disclose all goals, objectives and method of funding for such a project in a clear and transparent way.” The resolution also calls for the City’s Department of Transportation to update a study and proposals from 2013, which were formulated in conjunction with CB1, and focused on traffic safety.
Although no one at either of two recent meetings of CB1’s Battery Park City Committee spoke in support of the initiative to reconfigure South End Avenue, some local residents see merit in the idea. Margaret H. Liu, who has lived in Battery Park City for 25 years and operates a real estate brokerage on South End Avenue, says, “we own commercial space here. This street is a prime location, or at least it should be. Creating more commercial space, or enlarging and making more convenient the space that already exists, would be a value for the community.”
Ms. Liu adds, “we have a very wide street, which is too wide for so little traffic. At the same time, the sidewalks are too narrow for the number of pedestrians. Some version of the plan would make the whole area more much livable. this is a huge plus for people who live here, work here, or do business here.”