Are Operators of Private Club in Publicly Owned Building Forgetting Who Their Landlords Are?
The City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is being petitioned by Community Board 1 (CB1) to compel the operators of the Battery Maritime Building to live up to clauses in their lease that require public access to the building. The historic — and landmarked — Battery Maritime Building is owned by New York City taxpayers, and leased by the EDC to Midtown Equities, a real estate firm that is a partner in Larry Silverstein’s 99-year lease on the World Trade Center, and also purchased the nearby landmarked office building One Broadway in 2018. At the Battery Maritime Building, Midtown Equities is partnered with Casa Cipriani, which operates an upscale hotel and private club within the structure.
In an October 2 letter to EDC chair Margaret Anadu, CB1 chair Tammy Meltzer raised concerns regarding the Battery Maritime Building’s adherence to the Public Access Agreement, a legally binding agreement that mandates multiple community benefits in exchange for the use of the building by Midtown Equities and Casa Cipriani.
“It has become exceedingly clear that several provisions outlined in the agreement are not being met,” Ms. Meltzer wrote. “CB1 has raised these concerns with Casa Cipriani, Midtown Equities and their lobbyists since 2022 but to no avail.”
Chief among the issues cited by CB1 are the availability of the building’s Great Hall, a majestic 8,500-square foot space with ceilings 34 feet high. Originally touted by EDC as the home of a new indoor, public market, this space was later reimagined as an event venue and community facility, which is supposed to be made available at nominal cost — or free of charge — to local groups a minimum 58 days per year. But it has yet to live up to this scaled-back requirement.
“The public and qualified organizations must be afforded the access and opportunities promised under the agreement,” Ms. Meltzer wrote. “Lack of compliance greatly undermines the Community Board’s ability to come to future agreements with an assumption of good faith. To respect this agreement and potential future agreements we strongly urge you to bring this party into compliance.”
A representative for Midtown Equities did not reply to a request for comment.
More than a decade ago, CB1 opposed plans by the City to expand the 1909 Beaux Art structure to make room for a hotel, but was overruled by the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, which voted in 2013 to allow the addition of a glass structure to the building’s roof.
Located next to the Staten Island Ferry, the Battery Maritime Building served for decades in the first half of the 20th century as the gateway for boats taking passengers across the East River. But after the advent of bridges, tunnels, and subways, ferry usage declined and the building fell into disrepair. In recent decades, its sole use has been as a berth for ferries taking passengers to and from nearby Governors Island. Starting in the early 2000s, developers and community activists proffered competing visions for the building, with the former advocating commercial uses such as a hotel and restaurant and the latter pushing for civic amenities, such as a school or museum.
For years, a succession of developers partnered with the EDC to rehabilitate and reopen the Battery Maritime Building, but then went bankrupt. Finally, in 2017, the troubled project was taken over by a partnership led by the hospitality firm Cipriani, a legendary proprietor of food destinations and event spaces worldwide. That firm’s Lower Manhattan footprint includes two venues carved out of historic building lobbies: Cipriani Wall Street (in the former banking hall of the onetime headquarters of National City Bank) and Cipriani 25 Broadway (in the erstwhile ticketing hall of what was once Cunard’s New York office).