More Trump Riverside South development

[NYguy]

NY Post...

TRUMP ROUNDING OUT W. SIDE DEVELOPMENT

By LOIS WEISS

October 16, 2002 -- DONALD Trump is keeping busy.

He's putting together plans to top off the northernmost piece of his West Side project with a new curved condominium building at 72nd Street, while also working on a new master plan to turn the southernmost commercial portion of the site, at 61st Street, into several more apartment buildings. Skidmore Owings Merrill is now taking another look at the section on Trump's behalf.

Skidmore planned the original Riverside South project on the Hudson Railyards and helped Columbia University lay out the four-block commercial piece as a Business School and performing arts campus annex.Trump and his Hong Kong-based partners will have to take any development plan for the southern Trump Place site through rezoning and the city's land use review process.

"We're designing a fantastic, residential development on that site," Trump confirmed. "It's zoned now for commercial and it's very early in the process, but we will be going for that [zoning] fairly soon."

Meanwhile, at the northernmost piece of the West Side site, HRH Construction has already begun working on an unusual 35-story tower designed by Costas Kondylis that will eventually contain 180 condominium units.

To its south is the tallest building on the site, a 50-story condo that is topped by a round crown. Another condo and three rental buildings already line Riverside Boulevard.

"We're doing a building which is going to be really very beautiful, and very luxurious," Trump said. "It's going to have a gentle curve and will look up and down Riverside Park and the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge."

Trump compared the design to the curved glass façade on the 17 State St. office building downtown, overlooking New York Harbor.

That building gives a sense of what the new Trump condo will look like - just move it uptown, add lots of limestone and spin it around.

As for Trump's most recent multimillion-dollar commercial venture - a McDonald's ad filmed in his own offices, overlooking Central Park - Trump laughs, "Not bad for an afternoon."

If you watch the ad carefully, you might also glimpse of a small rendering of the first few Trump Place buildings.

[Stern]

"We're designing a fantastic, residential development on that site," Trump confirmed. "It's zoned now for commercial and it's very early in the process, but we will be going for that [zoning] fairly soon."

-Wrong move. Spectacular, Im sure, like the rest. Further the final building is nothing like 17 State Street, foremost it is brick, Im sure the NIMBY's wouldnt allow a beautiful glass building anyways.

[Agglomeration]

You're right about that. There is an organization that opposes Riverside South in all its forms. it's called Coalition for a livable west side, and it's the epitome of nimbyism. It wanted to shut down the AOL Time Warner Center, and it virulently opposes the rebuilding of the World Trade Center.

Here is a good example of their views from a newsletter:

The World Trade Center towers should not be replaced. Our collective strength as a nation and as New Yorkers, is rooted not in power or tower, but in the love evidenced in the rescue efforts. Community breeds such devotion.

Neighborhoods, not architectural statements, create bonds among people. Neighborhood residents, workers and visitors share needs, pleasures, adversities, celebrations and commemorations.

Instead of isolating towers, let us choose to embody the core of our society in a community designed to bring commuters and residents together in an all encompassing complex of residential, cultural, educational, health, business, commercial and gathering place uses. And, most importantly, at the center create a tangible monument to all those who so tragically lost their lives on the site. " Mary Brendle, Manhattan resident (Community District 4 Manhattan Historian) (former Chair CB4)

[NYguy]

Instead of isolating towers, let us choose to embody the core of our society in a community designed to bring commuters and residents together in an all encompassing complex of residential, cultural, educational, health, business, commercial and gathering place uses.

And in the process we'll create world peace, end world hunger, and unite in song and dance...

[Fabb]

Right. She's a dreamer.

Trump and his Hong Kong-based partners
I wonder who they are.
Some of them are not afraid to build tall.

[NYguy]

NY Times...

Blotting Out the Light: A New Tower by Trump

By CHARLES V. BAGLI

Richard Seader and his fellow residents in the Chatsworth, a landmark building on 72nd Street near Riverside Drive, battled their landlady for decades with the dramatic flair of the musicals and plays Mr. Seader once produced on Broadway.

Now Mr. Seader and the other tenants have joined forces with the current landlord to fight Donald J. Trump over a 36-inch-wide strip of land that separates the Chatsworth's western wall from the site of the next planned tower in the $3 billion Trump Place project, on the Hudson River waterfront.

Both sides claim to own what can best be described as a three-foot demilitarized zone.

The dispute has all the elements of a typical New York real estate brawl, but it also wends its way through the city's industrial past, when railroad barons ruled New York, and the storied history of the Chatsworth, a Beaux-Arts masterpiece where Brenda Vaccaro and Susan Sarandon once lived and Conan O'Brien now occupies the penthouse. Finally, the Chatsworth's fate may have fallen into a Catch-22 in the arcane and contradictory world of zoning and urban planning.

If Mr. Trump has his way, his latest condominium tower at Trump Place will cantilever over the 36-inch strip and block the unobstructed views of the Hudson from the Chatsworth's 350 or so west-facing windows. More important, the tenants say, a portion of the 31-story Trump tower will come as close as three inches from 102 windows of the 12-story Chatsworth, blocking all light and air from 82 rooms and rendering them uninhabitable.

The city does not usually permit windows in a wall built on a property line, but no one imagined when the Chatsworth was completed in 1904 that a residential development would spring up on the once bustling railyard next door.

Mr. Seader and the tenants' association worry that the fire escapes on the western wall, like the one outside his kitchen window, will become dangerously impassable and that construction of Mr. Trump's tower will damage the stability of the Chatsworth, much as a nearby sewer project cracked the foundation in the 1970's. Some of the fire escapes themselves could be knocked out by Mr. Trump's tower. The landlord has filed a lawsuit to block the project. There is also a Web site: TrumpPlaceIsChokingUs.com

"This is an enormously serious problem," said Mr. Seader, who has lived in the Chatsworth with his wife, Sylvia, for 41 years. "The most critical issue is the physical safety of the building."

Mr. Trump, who successfully fended off lawsuits against his supersized Trump World Tower near the United Nations, is unsympathetic to the tenants' complaints about their loss of views.

"Welcome to New York," Mr. Trump said.

"They've had those windows for many years," he continued. "But I got this approved in 1992. They're 10 years too late."

After years of community opposition and lawsuits, Mr. Trump obtained city approval in 1992 to build what he now calls Trump Place, which will have 16 apartment buildings with 5,700 apartments when finished, a 20-acre public park and an extension of Riverside Drive from 72nd Street to 59th Street. The developer's model clearly showed that the tower at 72nd Street would butt up against the Chatsworth, blocking windows and possibly making some rooms illegal for occupancy.

The tower will be the sixth built in the project and the one regarded as the most valuable, because of its location. Excavation work for the foundation has already begun, and the developer hopes to begin construction by December.

But the owner of the Chatsworth, Lenore Dean, never voiced any opposition, mostly because control of the building had been taken away from her and put into the hands of a receiver in 1987.

Regarded as one of the finest apartment hotels in the city a century ago, the Chatsworth had fallen on hard times. The vast 15-room apartments had been carved into smaller units, the elevators did not work and the terra cotta cherubs that adorned the facade were chipped and broken. For more than 20 years, the tenants' association, which included Ms. Sarandon and Mr. Seader, had to fight for heat, hot water and the most basic repairs.

"It was monstrous what was going on here," said Mr. Seader, a tenant leader who produced more than 60 plays and musicals on and off Broadway, including "Swinging on a Star."

Mrs. Dean died in 1998 at 93, and ownership of the building passed to her five grandchildren, who have regained control of the property and worked hard to restore the grandeur of the Chatsworth, according to Mr. Seader and another tenant, Henry Saltzman, whose apartment windows on the 10th floor look west onto Mr. Trump's construction site.

But just as a sense of relief and hope settled over the residents of the building, the reality of Mr. Trump's project shocked them. The only windows in a number of apartments will be completely blocked by Mr. Trump's tower. In some spots, the new building will be 3 to 48 inches away, according to the lawsuit. The tower will be so close, Mr. Seader said, that the fire escapes could be turned into dangerous chimneys in the event of a fire.

Assemblyman Scott Stringer said he had asked the city to intervene, but so far, each of the appropriate agencies has said the matter is out of its hands.

"We're looking at the issues," said Ilyse Fink, spokeswoman for the Buildings Department. "But the siting of the building was approved by City Planning."

Not so fast, said Robyn Stein, Ms. Fink's counterpart in the Department of City Planning.

"It's not under our purview anymore," she said. "We went through the land use process 10 years ago. We approved a facade and an envelope," or a space within which a developer can design a building. "But the design wasn't detailed. They have to go to the Buildings Department."

So the Chatsworth owners are trying to force Mr. Trump to redesign his tower so it does not encroach on their property. They contend that they own the 36-inch strip of land atop the retaining wall at the edge of the two properties as a result of a 100-year-old deal with Chauncey M. Depew, president of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company.

According to the documents, Mr. Depew wanted to build the retaining wall on the two properties in 1887 so that rocks, earth and debris would not fall on his train tracks. In a subsequent agreement, Mr. Depew gave his neighbor the right to excavate a portion of the retaining wall and erect the western foundation of what became the Chatsworth.

The Chatsworth's current owners contend that Mr. Depew also said that the three-foot strip along the top of the retaining wall and along the west side of the Chatsworth belongs to the building. Even if he did not, the Chatsworth lawyers contend, the Chatsworth has established ownership by maintaining the fence and the locked steel gates at either end of the strip for more than 30 years.

"It's totally without merit," Mr. Trump said of the Chatsworth lawsuit.

The Trump project's lawyers claim that the developer owns the top of the retaining wall and can therefore build a tower that will rise up against that wall and then cantilever over the top of it and almost, in some places, brush up against the Chatsworth.

Howard S. Weiss, a lawyer for the Chatsworth owners, said that they had tried to reach a compromise with Mr. Trump this year. But, Mr. Weiss said, when City Planning officials indicated they would consider their alternative proposal from the Chatsworth group, the talks were broken off. He vowed to continue the battle.

"This is not about views," Mr. Weiss said. "We understand that the reality of life in New York is that there's always going to be development and views are going to be lost and gained. This is about light, air and safety."

[Gulcrapek]

So make it thinner and taller.. geez

[chris]

Does anyone have photo progress or renderings of this building?:
"HRH Construction has already begun working on an unusual 35-story tower designed by Costas Kondylis."

[Derek2k3]

looks like 17 State Street my ass...maybe in the dark.

240 Riverside Boulevard at Trump Place http://www.kondylis.com/projects/00a09.html

240 Riverside Boulevard at Trump Place, or Building A at Trump Place is part of a large-scale residential architecture project on Riverside South in New York City. These buildings are being designed and constructed for Trump New World Project Management and Hudson Waterfront Associates. This building will have 409,000 square feet of rental space upon completion.

http://www.kondylis.com/images/photos/00a09_ab1.jpg http://www.kondylis.com/images/photos/00a09_ab2.jpg

http://www.kondylis.com/images/photos/00a09_ab4.jpg http://www.kondylis.com/images/photos/00a09_ab3.jpg

http://www.kondylis.com/images/photos/00a09_ab5.jpg

[enzo]

Yuck. How is that "unusual" as stated in the first article?

Looks like a great condo-complex for Buckhead, Atlanta but falls really short of anything that deserves built on a bluff overlooking the Hudson. Not much interesting in the entire development if you ask me.

[NYguy]

I like it. *For a residential building, its better than 17 State St. *17 State is nice, but it does stick out from the rest of Downtown. *This building will be a nice addition not only to Trump's development, but the entire Upper Westside...


http://www.kondylis.com/images/photos/00a09_ab1.jpg

[NYguy]

I'm still more interested in this area of the development though...

"We're designing a fantastic, residential development on that site," Trump confirmed. "It's zoned now for commercial and it's very early in the process, but we will be going for that [zoning] fairly soon."

[DominicanoNYC]

Trump is starting to become the *juggernaut of residential buildings. He's buying property like crazy. This render looks nice though.

[JerzDevl2000]

Not a bad building, I think Mr. Kondylis also designed TWT.

The renderings are better than that architecture itself. Anyone else think that this should have more than a flat top. C'mon!

[Edward]

Riverside South's official website, www.riverside-south.org , is coming soon:

Riverside South is a $3 billion real estate and public use development on the 52-acre site of the former New York Central Railroad yards on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The final Riverside South project will include 5,700 new apartments and condominiums at both market and affordable rates and a 27-acre public waterfront park along the Hudson River financed with private funds. The Riverside South Planning Corporation exists to implement details of the master plan, including enforcing building design controls, overseeing park construction, and lobbying for the relocation of the elevated Miller Highway, the noisy, obstructive and potentially dangerous structure that cuts through the entirety of the new waterfront park.


Hudson River waterfront in January of 2002, with the gantry of the float bridge of New York Central Railroad (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/topic.cgi?forum=1&topic=32) and George Washington Bridge (http://www.wirednewyork.com/bridges/gwb/default.htm) in the background.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/guide/ny_central_railroad/gantry_ny_central_railroad_gwb.jpg



Construction started on a 27-acre public waterfront park along the Hudson River. 24 March 2003.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/parks/riverside_south/riverside_south_park_24march03.jpg

[TLOZ Link5]

it's certainly a worthwhile reclamation of brownfields.

[Evan]

Any chance they would either submerge or relocate that highway in the second picture???

[JerzDevl2000]

Evan,

Here's the answer to your question

http://www.nycroads.com/roads/west-side/

------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the above link:

"North of West 57th Street, the urban boulevard ties into the rebuilt "Miller Highway" viaduct. Originally constructed as an extension of the West Side Highway, this elevated highway opened in 1936 to serve as a connector to the Henry Hudson Parkway (which officially begins at West 72nd Street). Throughout the 1990's, the Federal and state governments spent $80 million to bring the viaduct up to current operational and seismic standards. (Preliminary studies are underway for the relocation of the elevated "Miller Highway" section from West 72nd Street south to West 59th Street. The design studies, for which $17 million has been allocated, will be completed in 2003.) "

Keep your fingers crossed - I'd like to see Riverside Park connect seamlessly with this proposal and go right down to 57th St.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ZippyTheChimp]

There's no info yet on the website Edward posted. There is a
sign at the park construction site with drawings. The agreement between Trump and the city states that he pays for the construction and maintenance of the park. The project involves extensive road work. Fill is brought in to slope the land up to the level of the existing streets. Riverside Blvd is constructed on top, along with connecting side streets.

The Miller Highway would submerge at 72 St, run under Riverside Blvd, and return to grade at 57 St. The problem with the tunnel is money. The highway was completely rebuilt in 1996, and in 1999 Congressman Jerrold Nadler opposed "rebuilding a new highway that would only benefit Trump."
The financial picture has gotten a lot worse since 1999, so I think the odds of this tunnel getting built soon are slim.

The drawings on the site show a logical approach. The "interim" park is being built (basically the waterfront). There are two plans for a final park, one with a tunnel, and one with the existing highway. Maybe the situation will change by the time the project is complete.

[Kris]

June 12, 2003

New Park on Hudson Fills Gap in Greenery

By PATRICK HEALY

Malissa Liburdi remembers when the east bank of the Hudson River was a nest of rotting railways and a haven for drug dealers and addicts. The riverfront was unsettling in the daylight and unsafe at night, said Ms. Liburdi, 40, who has lived on the Upper West Side for 15 years.

But yesterday, Ms. Liburdi ambled along a newly opened section of Riverside Park South, her nephew and brown-and-white spotted dog in tow. As joggers and bikers zipped along the river, Ms. Liburdi said she was pleased to see the industrial riverfront evolving into parkland.

"We're very excited about this new park opening," Ms. Liburdi said. "The trees and the water and the grass — it's kind of a balance of nature."

Donald J. Trump gave a three-acre swath of land between 65th and 69th Streets to the city yesterday. It was another step in Mr. Trump's planned $3 billion development, which will add 16 apartment buildings and 29 acres of public park to the east shore of the Hudson River between 59th and 72nd Streets.

"When all the phases are complete, there'll be nothing to touch it," Mr. Trump said.

Riverside Park South will "close the gap" between Riverside Park on the north side and Hudson River Park on the south, said Henry J. Stern, the former Parks Department commissioner.

Lying in the shadow of the West Side Highway, the newest parcel of park features marsh grasses and boardwalks that curl like ribbons. Thomas Balsley, architect for the Riverside South project, said the park is designed to evoke memories of railroads, which once loaded and unloaded freight cars at piers that are now toppled hunks of burnt metal.

The $62 million Riverside Park South project is just one example of a citywide attempt to convert miles of waterfront to green space. The city is reviving the waterfront and marina at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, parks on the Harlem and Bronx Rivers and a five-mile walkway on the northern shore of Staten Island.

"This is taking the decrepit industrial waterfront and returning it to a natural state," said Michael Bradley, executive director of the Riverside South Planning Corporation. "People are rediscovering the waterfront."

And at Riverside South, the city is paying nothing, said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. As part of a 1992 deal that allowed the Riverside complex, Mr. Trump and his partners agreed to pay to renovate and maintain the park.

The new segment cost $8.5 million to renovate. Maintenance and security at all of Riverside South currently costs about $1 million per year, which is paid by Mr. Trump and his partners.

Parks department officials said construction on the third phase of the park will begin this September and be completed by 2004.

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

[czsz]

Photo found on flickr...they should have restored the old viaduct with its industrial-chic archways...

http://static.flickr.com/3/5081350_ee1c75184e_b.jpg

[vc10]

I was up there a week or so ago -- the connector from Riverside Blvd to 79th St has yet to be finished. What's the schedule for that or is litigation still stopping it?

[Peakrate212]

Any chance they would either submerge or relocate that highway in the second picture???

Evan - go read about the highway under the Thread on The Avery.....We talk all about it and how you have to blame the govt reps for the West side for our exposed highway......talk to Fat boy Nadler

[BPC]

I bicyle through their frequently and think the park and highway work well together. The combo creates a cool urban setting, with weather-protected BB courts and such underneath. If you want pristine green lawns, move to the burbs.

[czsz]

I guess we ought to divert the funds for Hudson River Park to soup kitchens then, and sell off Central Park to developers. Damned suburban intrusions.

[BPC]

"I guess we ought to bulldoze Rockefeller Center and Times Square then and put up green lawns. Damn urban intrustions."

See -- your argument works in both directions! Cities are about diversity and balance, not purity. The stretch of Riverside Park in front of the Trump buildings, IMHO, achieves that balance. The oinly real beneficiairies of a billion dollar project to bury that viaduct would be Donald Trump and his Asian investors, as the lower stories of those new buildings would be vested with river views. Congressman Nadler was right not to support federal funding for something that would only benefit a private developer.

[vc10]

Disagree. First of all, Trump and the Asian investors are out of there, so he's no longer the beneficiary.

Secondly, burying the traffic is its own reward -- making the park (and it's a public park...) far more useful and attractive.

The Westway was a good idea. Anything that makes the waterfront more accessible is a good idea. Long term, the city should seek to bury all of its waterfront highways, which were a really bad mistake (by among others, Robert Moses) when they were built.

The oinly real beneficiairies of a billion dollar project to bury that viaduct would be Donald Trump and his Asian investors, as the lower stories of those new buildings would be vested with river views. Congressman Nadler was right not to support federal funding for something that would only benefit a private developer.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Burying the viaduct would make sense in a world of unlimited funds, but given the present fiscal realities, it would divert money from other projects.

The viaduct has no impact on accessibility to the river. Unlike the FDR, it is about 6 stories high for much of its length, and does not have a roadway beneath it. That land is put to good park use, the viaduct providing a canopy for basketball courts.

Except near 72nd St, the roadway is far removed from the buildings, so the impact on residents is minimal. It blocks river views, so that should be a consideration when deciding what floor to live on - standard practice for Manhattan home-hunting.

Spending billions to bury a roadway that has not yet reached middle-age is a waste of money; it would be better spent burying the Gowanus Expwy, where the DOT is spending hundreds of millions just to keep it from falling apart.

[vc10]

That might be true, but saying that burying it would only benefit a private developer is wrong.


Spending billions to bury a roadway that has not yet reached middle-age is a waste of money; it would be better spent burying the Gowanus Expwy, where the DOT is spending hundreds of millions just to keep it from falling apart.

[ZippyTheChimp]

I didn't say that at all. Acknowledging fiscal limitations, I pointed out that this project would be a lesser priority than, among others, the example I cited.

[NYatKNIGHT]

http://www.pbase.com/image/58236257.jpg

[ablarc]

http://www.pbase.com/image/58236257.jpg
So this is almost alright, right?

[ZippyTheChimp]

Compared to this...

http://www.oldnyc.com/lomex/watts_elizabeth/Dscn0092.jpg http://www.transalt.org/press/magazine/043Summer/images/19gowanus.jpg

http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/brooklyn/bqe/avoidingtraffic/21bqe.jpg

I'd say it's perfect.

[JMGarcia]

I hear there's plans to replace the ill-fated tunnel between the WFC and WTC with a high viaduct along the BPC waterfront... ;)

[lofter1]

Didn't Libeskind have a circular ramp (aka viaduct for peeps) linking WTC + WFC in his original Master Plan?

[ZippyTheChimp]

Who?

[JMGarcia]

LOL

I needed a good laugh.

[BrooklynRider]

I like the new park, but I think there is a big difference in quality between it and the Hudson River Park sections that are completed. The Trump Park (Riverside park?) seems to have been done on the cheap to some extent and the plantings are kind of mundane and repetitive. It is is an immense improvement over what was there before, but for me it is lacking somethingI can't quire put my finger on.

[finnman69]

I like the new park, but I think there is a big difference in quality between it and the Hudson River Park sections that are completed. The Trump Park (Riverside park?) seems to have been done on the cheap to some extent and the plantings are kind of mundane and repetitive. It is is an immense improvement over what was there before, but for me it is lacking somethingI can't quire put my finger on.

Hanging out in the summer by the boardwalks is wonderful. All that sea grass makes me forget I'm in NYC. It feels like Amagansett or Cape Cod.

[JMGarcia]

I like the new park, but I think there is a big difference in quality between it and the Hudson River Park sections that are completed. The Trump Park (Riverside park?) seems to have been done on the cheap to some extent and the plantings are kind of mundane and repetitive. It is is an immense improvement over what was there before, but for me it is lacking somethingI can't quire put my finger on.

I think that having something so large and tall (the elevated) running through it completely changes the scale of everything else in the park making everything seem somewhat small rather than a feeling of openess I think it would have otherwise.

[czsz]

It feels like Amagansett or Cape Cod.

...if they were under a giant bridge...

Anyway, isn't sea grass inappropriate for the Hudson riverfront? It isn't an Atlantic beach...

[lofter1]

Anyway, isn't sea grass inappropriate for the Hudson riverfront? It isn't an Atlantic beach...
As opposed to, say, a manicured lawn?

[czsz]

It could have had little rock outcroppings to mimic the Palisades. Something more riverine. Hudson-y. They could have even tumbled something down from viaduct level ...

[NYatKNIGHT]

The section just south of the last finished section is sort of like that - natural trees and plants, and rocks right down to the water. Is this a future part of the park, anyone? There is nothing but creepy camp sites and litter there now.

[lofter1]

Eventually there will be park all the way to 59th St. where the Hudson River Park begins.

Info (http://www.nylcv.org/Programs/WPC/blueprint/boroughs/manhattan/pages/3_riverside/index.htm)

[lofter1]

There is a THREAD (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3059), with a link to the Park website but the website still says "under construction" :mad:

[lofter1]

Some Cool Pics (http://www.figure-ground.com/travel/image.php?piers) of the old collapsed piers, like this ...

http://www.figure-ground.com/travel/piers/0023.jpg

[BPC]

God those are beautiful. Whenever I muster up the energy to bicycle the Hudson (rarer and rarer), seeing the collapsed piers is the highlight. Of course, Trump wants them carted off to the dump.

[krulltime]

There is a THREAD (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3059), with a link to the Park website but the website still says "under construction" :mad:

Yes it has been for along time. Stupid website.

[MidtownGuy]

Like a Gehry design that happened naturally. I love seeing this when I'm rollerblading.

[lofter1]

The Surprise in This Box?
A Highway, Some Assembly Required

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gifhttp://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/23/nyregion/0623-met-webBOX.jpghttp://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gifhttp://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gif

By JAMES BARRON
June 23, 2006
NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/nyregion/23box.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

Quietly, if the arrival of a wheezing, chugging pile driver can be described that way, a construction crew is beginning to build a highway in a box on the West Side of Manhattan.

Or, more precisely, a box for a highway.

Maybe, years from now, the highway will be routed through the box. Maybe.

The road is the West Side Highway, which between West 59th and West 72nd Streets runs on a viaduct. For generations the ground below the viaduct was a no-man's land of railroad tracks. But as apartment buildings began to rise above it, on the eastern edge of the 13-block-long parcel in the 1990's, the lower western edge was transformed into a 23-acre park.

Now, as work begins on four more apartment buildings in the planned 17-building community, the highway-in-a-box crew will build the structure to contain the West Side Highway between 59th and 72nd Streets when the viaduct is no longer viable. Because the viaduct is less than 15 years old — still fairly young for a viaduct — no one expects the city to consider routing the road through the box for at least 10 to 15 years.

Michael W. Bradley, who has played a major role in getting the highway-in-a-box going, is careful to say what the project is not. It is not Westway, the underground road that residents waged war on and that the city abandoned in the 1980's. It is nothing like the Big Dig, Boston's leak-prone tunnel project, and its $180 million price tag is nowhere near the Big Dig's $14.6 billion.

"It's all relatively simple construction," said Mr. Bradley, the executive director of Riverside South Planning Corporation, a nonprofit organization formed by five civic groups and Donald J. Trump (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/donald_j_trump/index.html?inline=nyt-per), when he was the developer for the buildings at the edge of the site. "You don't have to excavate and relocate the utilities and shore everything up."

Unless the utilities and the buildings to which they are connected have already been built.

That is why the four new buildings created an opportunity for Mr. Bradley's group to start on the box, as well as what he called "Rubik's Cube of construction" — the work on the box would have to be coordinated with work on the four new buildings.

The first step in building the box is to place steel support columns — hence the pile driver — between 65th and 64th Streets.

"If this is done now, you save a ton of money and heartaches," Mr. Bradley said. He estimated that the savings would total "at least $40 million."

But with the box ready when the viaduct needs to be replaced, the cost of rerouting the highway could be about the same as building a new viaduct.

Some excavation would still be necessary, because the space for the box between 65th and 69th Streets was filled in when the first of the apartment buildings was being built. The box was suggested in the city's 1992 agreement that allowed Riverside South to be built, and the responsibility for building it was the developer's.

For years the developer was Mr. Trump, who Mr. Bradley acknowledged was a "lightning rod" for opponents. "Just by his presence," Mr. Bradley said, "there were people who might have seen the merits of the project but were either turned off or scared."

But Mr. Trump's Hong Kong partners sold the Riverside project last year for $1.76 billion. And now Jerrold L. Nadler, who represented the Upper West Side in the New York State Assembly and now represents it in Congress, says that "their obligation was to build the box at their expense — Trump, Riverside South, whoever's building it."

By Riverside South's calculations, $30 million in private money will be spent on the box project, along with $150 million in city, state and federal transportation money. The state is committed to building the southbound section of the box between 65th and 62nd Streets, Riverside South says.

But Mr. Nadler took issue with using city or state money to excavate filled-in stretch between 65th and 69th Streets. "They're going to say, 'We have to remove the landfill and build the box at public expense,' " Mr. Nadler said.

"That's wrong. If and when there's an agreement that we ought to move the highway, then the box ought to be there, built at their expense, not at public expense."

Mr. Bradley said that by the time the environmental impact statement on the highway-in-a-box concept was finally completed in 2001, there was a consensus that "it doesn't make any sense to do this now, but maybe we'll get back to this" when the existing elevated road is showing its age.

Some longtime opponents of the Westway are equally unhappy about the box project. "It is absolutely the wrong thing to do," said Olive Freud, an organizer of the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development.

"If they wanted to do something for the people in the neighborhood, they'd complete Riverside Boulevard and forget about the highway," she said. The boulevard was created to run in front of the new apartment buildings.

But the parks commissioner, Adrian Benepe, said the park "will be a better park if the highway is underground and the park's on top."

"It really makes a lot of sense," he added. He called Carl Schurz Park, on the Upper East Side next to Gracie Mansion, "a much better park because the highway is underneath it, not next to it or on top of it."

"I think a lot of people now realize no matter how nice Hudson River Park is, it would have been nicer if Westway had been built in some configuration," he said. "The highway would have been underground, we would have had a much larger park and a much better connection from the community to the park."

Copyright 2006The New York Times Company

[lofter1]

... the parks commissioner, Adrian Benepe, said ...

"I think a lot of people now realize no matter how nice Hudson River Park is, it would have been nicer if Westway had been built in some configuration," he said. "The highway would have been underground, we would have had a much larger park and a much better connection from the community to the park."

Oy -- Revisionism :( :mad: :( :mad:

Sure, Mr. Benepe, spend the billions that come out of the taxpayer's pockets.

Did Benepe ever meet a developer he DIDN'T like?

[finnman69]

The Surprise in This Box?
A Highway, Some Assembly Required

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gifhttp://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/23/nyregion/0623-met-webBOX.jpghttp://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gifhttp://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gif

By JAMES BARRON
June 23, 2006
NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/nyregion/23box.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

Quietly, if the arrival of a wheezing, chugging pile driver can be described that way, a construction crew is beginning to build a highway in a box on the West Side of Manhattan.

Or, more precisely, a box for a highway.

Maybe, years from now, the highway will be routed through the box. Maybe.

The road is the West Side Highway, which between West 59th and West 72nd Streets runs on a viaduct. For generations the ground below the viaduct was a no-man's land of railroad tracks. But as apartment buildings began to rise above it, on the eastern edge of the 13-block-long parcel in the 1990's, the lower western edge was transformed into a 23-acre park.

Now, as work begins on four more apartment buildings in the planned 17-building community, the highway-in-a-box crew will build the structure to contain the West Side Highway between 59th and 72nd Streets when the viaduct is no longer viable. Because the viaduct is less than 15 years old — still fairly young for a viaduct — no one expects the city to consider routing the road through the box for at least 10 to 15 years.

Michael W. Bradley, who has played a major role in getting the highway-in-a-box going, is careful to say what the project is not. It is not Westway, the underground road that residents waged war on and that the city abandoned in the 1980's. It is nothing like the Big Dig, Boston's leak-prone tunnel project, and its $180 million price tag is nowhere near the Big Dig's $14.6 billion.

"It's all relatively simple construction," said Mr. Bradley, the executive director of Riverside South Planning Corporation, a nonprofit organization formed by five civic groups and Donald J. Trump (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/donald_j_trump/index.html?inline=nyt-per), when he was the developer for the buildings at the edge of the site. "You don't have to excavate and relocate the utilities and shore everything up."

Unless the utilities and the buildings to which they are connected have already been built.

That is why the four new buildings created an opportunity for Mr. Bradley's group to start on the box, as well as what he called "Rubik's Cube of construction" — the work on the box would have to be coordinated with work on the four new buildings.

The first step in building the box is to place steel support columns — hence the pile driver — between 65th and 64th Streets.

"If this is done now, you save a ton of money and heartaches," Mr. Bradley said. He estimated that the savings would total "at least $40 million."

But with the box ready when the viaduct needs to be replaced, the cost of rerouting the highway could be about the same as building a new viaduct.

Some excavation would still be necessary, because the space for the box between 65th and 69th Streets was filled in when the first of the apartment buildings was being built. The box was suggested in the city's 1992 agreement that allowed Riverside South to be built, and the responsibility for building it was the developer's.

For years the developer was Mr. Trump, who Mr. Bradley acknowledged was a "lightning rod" for opponents. "Just by his presence," Mr. Bradley said, "there were people who might have seen the merits of the project but were either turned off or scared."

But Mr. Trump's Hong Kong partners sold the Riverside project last year for $1.76 billion. And now Jerrold L. Nadler, who represented the Upper West Side in the New York State Assembly and now represents it in Congress, says that "their obligation was to build the box at their expense — Trump, Riverside South, whoever's building it."

By Riverside South's calculations, $30 million in private money will be spent on the box project, along with $150 million in city, state and federal transportation money. The state is committed to building the southbound section of the box between 65th and 62nd Streets, Riverside South says.

But Mr. Nadler took issue with using city or state money to excavate filled-in stretch between 65th and 69th Streets. "They're going to say, 'We have to remove the landfill and build the box at public expense,' " Mr. Nadler said.

"That's wrong. If and when there's an agreement that we ought to move the highway, then the box ought to be there, built at their expense, not at public expense."

Mr. Bradley said that by the time the environmental impact statement on the highway-in-a-box concept was finally completed in 2001, there was a consensus that "it doesn't make any sense to do this now, but maybe we'll get back to this" when the existing elevated road is showing its age.

Some longtime opponents of the Westway are equally unhappy about the box project. "It is absolutely the wrong thing to do," said Olive Freud, an organizer of the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development.

"If they wanted to do something for the people in the neighborhood, they'd complete Riverside Boulevard and forget about the highway," she said. The boulevard was created to run in front of the new apartment buildings.

But the parks commissioner, Adrian Benepe, said the park "will be a better park if the highway is underground and the park's on top."

"It really makes a lot of sense," he added. He called Carl Schurz Park, on the Upper East Side next to Gracie Mansion, "a much better park because the highway is underneath it, not next to it or on top of it."

"I think a lot of people now realize no matter how nice Hudson River Park is, it would have been nicer if Westway had been built in some configuration," he said. "The highway would have been underground, we would have had a much larger park and a much better connection from the community to the park."

Copyright 2006The New York Times Company


This is such a no brainer to create a great park and bury an ugly highway. Creative use of construction and site planning. I had been wondering why they sank all those pilings and poured a concrete mat foundation for a bermed hill. It's actually for a future rerouting of the West Side highway. Brilliant.

[antinimby]

This is such a no brainer to create a great park and bury an ugly highway. Creative use of construction and site planning. I had been wondering why they sank all those pilings and poured a concrete mat foundation for a bermed hill. It's actually for a future rerouting of the West Side highway. Brilliant.Yes, but apparently some people will always complain:

Some longtime opponents of the Westway are equally unhappy about the box project. "It is absolutely the wrong thing to do," said Olive Freud, an organizer of the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development.

[lofter1]

It really comes down to who will pay for it. Does the cost have enough benefit to justify it??

[antinimby]

If you want to improve anything, it's going to cost money.
Better now than later on, when the costs will only increase.
Like finnman said, this is a no brainer, they gotta do it.

[lofter1]

No -- they don't.

There are better more immediate uses of the limited amounts of OUR taxpayer dollars.

[ablarc]

...this is a no brainer, they gotta do it.
I'm with antinimby on this one. An elevated highway is no asset to a park.

[antinimby]

lofter, there always is but that doesn't mean you ignore other things because they don't seem too important or urgent now. If you wait until things fall apart to worry about them, then you are not running a city wisely.

[antinimby]

I'm with antinimby on this one. An elevated highway is no asset to a park.No ablarc, it's not only about the park. When that highway needs replacing (and eventually you know it will) they'd have this ready to go. They need to do it now because they are building in the area and working it in now is much easier than having to tear up and redo everything later on. That's the idea.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Building the box now is a good idea.

Replacing the highway while it is still in good condition is a waste of public money.

[lofter1]

Exactly ^^ just rebuilt ~ 10 years ago.

[BPC]

Building the box now is a good idea.

Replacing the highway while it is still in good condition is a waste of public money.

Agreed. Eventually, decades from now, the higway will need replacing, and then that generation can decide how best to do the job. OUR generation is now facing that decision with the Gowanus, which (unlike the Upper West Side, which is already fully developed) presents an ENORMOUS development opportunity if the viaduct is torn down. As for the West Side Highway, the architects behind the East River park plan presented some nifty ideas for how to make an underpass into a pedestrian-pleasing experience. They should be called upon to design the West Side Highway underpass as well. If nothing else, the example of Grand Central and Park Avenue should teach us that an elevated viaduct need not be a blight on its surroundings.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Let's not forget the BQE.

The generally accepted life span for an elevated highway in the Northeast environment is 50 years. The BQE is approaching 70.

Rebuilding in place is a very slow and expensive process, and you're left with another 50 year roadway. The best solution is a tunnel, which can be built without disrupting the existing El, is easier to maintain, and improves the landscape.

It is being done in Europe
http://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/projects/a86/

[TREPYE]

If they are ever going to put the BQE underground its a hell of a lot of subway tunnels that they are going to have to work around.

[krulltime]

Yes... just imagine all the exits they have to make coming out of those tunnels.

[SilentPandaesq]

To bury the BQE... you would need MASSIVE TBMs, working round the clock and deep underground to do it in any reasonable time frame. Watch "I, Robot" and think that this is the level of deep under ground and complexity required. On and off ramps would be underground spiraled nightmares....


Although, would be pretty cool to see the DOT come up with a plan like that.

[ZippyTheChimp]

If they are ever going to put the BQE underground its a hell of a lot of subway tunnels that they are going to have to work around.The only place that there are a lot of tunnels is the section at Brooklyn Heights, where you wouldn't have to bury the roadway at all. Three sides are already enclosed; all is needed is a non-load bearing wall.

To bury the BQE... you would need MASSIVE TBMs, working round the clock and deep underground to do it in any reasonable time frame. Watch "I, Robot" and think that this is the level of deep under ground and complexity required. On and off ramps would be underground spiraled nightmares....Those TBMS are already in existence and being used worldwide. A tunnel is now the preferred alternative for the Gowanus replacement.

http://www.dot.state.ny.us/reg/r11/gowanus/index.html

[antinimby]

Ah yes, the BQE-Gowanus Expressway project.
Est. completion date: 2300 A.D.

[lofter1]

Does that date ^ apply even after portions of the Gowanus come crashing down?

[finnman69]

They started foundation work for extending Riverside Boulevard and 64th st to the Blvd.

The Avery is up to the second floor.

the Rushmore
piling work is beginning

[Derek2k3]

Went by Trump Place on Sunday and took some pics...damn this 10 image limit.

A lil intro.
http://static.flickr.com/59/198577970_96375fd3c7_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/76/198568671_a88281f6ba_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/76/198569430_e05f045e7a_o.jpg
Costas Kondylis & Partners (http://www.kondylis.com/)


Some of the old proposals
http://static.flickr.com/69/198568669_06de77718d_o.jpg
Lincoln West Master Plan (1985)
Commercial, Master Planning, Mixed Use, Residential
Rafael Vinoly Architects (http://www.rvapc.com)


http://static.flickr.com/71/198571332_9ded66a0fa_o.jpg http://static.flickr.com/69/198571330_a4e0eed66d.jpg
Television City (1987)


http://static.flickr.com/59/198568670_82b01bc83e_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/62/198569431_0e084f587a_o.jpg
Riverside South; SOM (1992)
Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (http://www.som.com)

[Derek2k3]

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/8614/img0204io7.th.jpg (http://img107.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0204io7.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/7968/img0215wo7.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0215wo7.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/6185/img0211pb6.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0211pb6.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/1920/img0216fv2.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0216fv2.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8141/img0218hj2.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0218hj2.jpg)
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/7118/img0225bx2.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0225bx2.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8300/img0235hz8.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0235hz8.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/382/img0228lg2.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0228lg2.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2708/img0226qm0.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0226qm0.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/9664/img0224db1.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0224db1.jpg)

[Derek2k3]

http://static.flickr.com/60/198568665_a6828fb9bb_m.jpg

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/2091/img0212kl7.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0212kl7.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/7747/img0209xk9.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0209xk9.jpg)
The Heritage at Trump Place
240 Riverside Boulevard/ Riverside South Building A
31 stories 362 feet
Costas Kondylis & Partners
Dev-Hudson Waterfront Associates/ Trump New World Project Management
Residential Condominium
174 units 368,150
Completed 2002-2005
$125,000,000



http://static.flickr.com/77/198567211_5ec4fa8f82_m.jpg

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3955/img0214ei6.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0214ei6.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/6981/img0213uz8.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0213uz8.jpg)
220 Riverside Boulevard
220 Riverside Boulevard & Between West 70th Street & West 71st Street Trump Place/ Riverside South Building B
542 feet 48 stories
Costas Kondylis & Partners LLP Architects
Dev-Hudson Waterfront Associates/ Trump New World Project Management
Residential Condominium
441 units 784,747 Sq. Ft.
Completed 2001-April 2003



http://static.flickr.com/67/198567210_a5e3a1048c_m.jpg

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/5784/img0217qj9.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0217qj9.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/790/img0222mn7.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0222mn7.jpg)
200 Riverside Boulevard
423-463 West 69th Street/ 422-444 West 70th Street
Riverside South Building C
46 stories 491 feet
Costas Kondylis & Partners/ Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects
Dev-Hudson Waterfront Associates/ Trump New World Project Management
Residential Condominium
562,910 Sq. Ft./ 643,000 Sq. Ft. 374 units
Completed 1999/2000

[Derek2k3]

http://static.flickr.com/70/198567208_158a702b66_m.jpg http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5927/img0238ii5.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0238ii5.jpg)
180 Riverside Boulevard
455 West 68th Street/ 428-488 West 69th Street/ 185-199 Freedom Place/ Riverside South Building D
40 stories 422 feet
Costas Kondylis & Partners/Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects
Dev-Hudson Waterfront Associates/ Trump New World Project Management
Residential Rental
514 units 558,086 Sq. Ft.
Completed 1999



http://static.flickr.com/61/198567206_b3e8ebfa9c_m.jpg http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9320/img0239tm0.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0239tm0.jpg)
160 Riverside Boulevard
423-443 West 67th Street/444 West 68th Street/ 161-177 Freedom Place/ Riverside South Building E
33 stories 354 ft
Costas Kondylis & Partners/Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects
Dev-160 Riverside D L.L.C./ Hudson Waterfront Associates/ Trump New World Project Management
Residential Rental
438 units 539,940 Sq. Ft.
Completed 2001



http://static.flickr.com/58/198567205_b137122d0a_m.jpg http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/3805/img0240xp4.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0240xp4.jpg)
140 Riverside Boulevard
143-157 Freedom Place, 433 West 66th Street/ 434 West 67th Street
Riverside South Building F
27 stories 338 feet
SLCE/ Costas Kondylis & Partners/ Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects
Dev-Hudson Waterfront Associates/ Trump New World Project Management
Residential Rental
354 units 355,600 Sq. Ft.
Completed October 2001-2003



http://static.flickr.com/57/198567204_b3e8ebfa9c_m.jpg

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6720/img0241hi3.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0241hi3.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4810/img0250tp2.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0250tp2.jpg)
120 Riverside Boulevard
West 65th and 66th and Riverside Boulevard Riverside South Building G
18 stories 230/234 feet
Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Costas Kondylis & Partners, LLP/ SLCE
Dev-Hudson Waterfront Associates/ Trump New World Project Management
Residential Rental
272 units 389,568 Sq. Ft.
Completed 2003-2005



http://static.flickr.com/73/198568667_bd52cebf82_m.jpg
One West End Avenue (O-2)
1-29 West End Avenue
25 stories 293 feet (DOB)
Costas Kondylis & Partners
Dev-Atlantic Development Group
Residential Rental
211 units 198,000 ft² Sq. Ft. 284,074 Sq. Ft. (Total)
Under Construction 2005-Late 2006


33 West End Avenue
Riverside South O-1
14 stories 135 feet
Costas Kondylis & Partners
Dev-Atlantic Development Group (Senior Living Options,Inc.)
Residential Rental
120 units 85,000 Sq. Ft. 284,074 Sq. Ft. (Total)
Under Construction 2005-Summer 2006

[Derek2k3]

(Continued from the previous page)


http://static.flickr.com/69/198568668_6654dca0da_m.jpg
Avery Riverside
100 Riverside Boulevard/ Riverside South Building H
30 stories 344 feet
SLCE Architects
Dev-Extell Parcel H, L.P. (Extell Development Corporation)
Residential Rental
271/274 units 480,000 Sq. Ft.
Under Construction 2005-Fall 2007


http://static.flickr.com/61/198571329_a8752e29db_m.jpg
The Rushmore
80 Riverside Boulevard
80 Riverside Boulevard btwn. W. 64th and W. 63rd St/ 900 Riverside Drive South
Riverside South Building I
41/43 stories 485 feet
Costas Kondylis & Partners
Dev-Extell Parcel I, L.P. (Extell Development Corporation)
Residential Condominium
497 units 429,140 Sq. Ft. (DOB: 650,330 Sq. Ft. 289 units) (274 units)
Proposed


60 Riverside Boulevard I
Riverside South Building J1/ Between West 62nd & West 63rd Street
38 stories
Dev-Extell Development Corporation
Residential Condominium
425 units
225 Parking Spaces
Proposed


60 Riverside Boulevard II
Riverside South Building J2/ Between West 62nd & West 63rd Street
28 stories
Dev-Extell Development Corporation
Residential Condominium
247 units 269,800 Sq. Ft.
225 Parking Spaces
Proposed


40 Riverside Boulevard I
Riverside South Building K2/ Between West 61st & West 62nd Street
33 stories
Dev-Extell Development Corporation
Residential Condominiums
354 units 411,400 Sq. Ft.
256 Car Parking Lot


40 Riverside Boulevard II
Btwn West 61st & West 62nd Street/Riverside South Building K2
28 stories
Extell Development Corporation
Residential Condominium
247 units 265,900 sq. ft
Proposed


http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/1559/img0227kf4.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0227kf4.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4724/img0261jd5.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0261jd5.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/3959/img0254su0.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0254su0.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4261/img0232kz9.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0232kz9.jpg)

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7417/img0249pb5.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0249pb5.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2650/img0247lg5.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0247lg5.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/5938/img0219ai6.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0219ai6.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/9335/img0220eb4.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0220eb4.jpg)

[krulltime]

Wow Derek2k3 thanks alot for the update!

So the Rushmore is the tallest of the whole Extel Development. Then it goes down hill (in terms of floors) from there.

[NYguy]

http://static.flickr.com/71/198571332_9ded66a0fa_o.jpg http://static.flickr.com/69/198571330_a4e0eed66d.jpg
Television City (1987)


I remember this one very well (1,670 ft - 1,910 ft antenna). I used to get pictures and renderings from the Trump Organization, including later revised designs. I'm sure Trump will dust off one of his old proposals now that his Chicago tower is going up.

[pianoman11686]

Bring it down to Hudson Yards, and make it mainly commercial/hotel.

[SilentPandaesq]

Oh, I loved that one.... NYguy, anything other than specualtion on Trump dusting off old plans? Dont' give me hope....I have been hurt too many times.

[NYguy]

Oh, I loved that one.... NYguy, anything other than specualtion on Trump dusting off old plans? Dont' give me hope....I have been hurt too many times.

Sorry, nothing concrete. Just the fact that Trump never goes away, and you know he's just waiting to finally get his Manhattan supertall built. It will be his crowning achievement (assuming it gets done of course).

I think if a proposal of that scale does come from Trump, it will again be mostly residential, and be located on the Westside, where zoning will allow him to tune out the NIMBYs (as he did to the eastside NIMBYs with Trump World Tower).

[SilentPandaesq]

^^ True enough. Hudson Yards is turning out to be the place to pin hopes on new supertalls. Not nearly as many rich NIMBYs in the area.

[lofter1]

In Hudson Yards does zoning allow for super-height if a developer puts together the right sized parcel?

[pianoman11686]

I would think so. Many parcels are already prezoned for 60 stories, with a few as high as 80 stories, if memory serves me right. If a 30-story building only uses up half of its air rights, I don't see why a developer wouldn't be able to purchase and transfer those air rights to make his own building 90 stories instead of 60.

[stache]

I think they would be pretty leery of doing that since Nadler was so successful at scaling back the original project.

[ablarc]

^ Nadler the Nimby?

[pianoman11686]

Is Hudson Yards even in Nadler's district? And if it is, do you honestly expect there to be enough opposition to building highrise office towers that they would get scaled down? Anyone who's ever heard of Hudson Yards knows what's planned for the area: an extension of Midtown.

[stache]

What is there now is a scaled down version of the original plan due to intervention by Nadler. Any further construction plans will be closely watched.

[finnman69]

^ Nadler the Nimby?


Best Trump line ever was when he called Nadler a gnat, "a very fat gnat"

[JMGarcia]

Best Trump line ever was when he called Nadler a gnat, "a very fat gnat"

...and because of that line Nadler cut the federal funding to depress the highway through the area so now we have a lovely elevated highway above the park.

[pianoman11686]

What is there now is a scaled down version of the original plan due to intervention by Nadler. Any further construction plans will be closely watched.

I know all of that. The new buildings going up in that area are at the most, 400-500 feet tall. I'm talking about Hudson Yards, which is a completely different area 40 blocks to the south. Have you not figured that out yet?

[stache]

Piano I don't understand why you're so crabby lately. Look at the title of this thread and please post about Hudson Yards somewhere else. Thanks.

[pianoman11686]

What is that supposed to mean? Crabby? All I was doing is trying to make sure that you knew what I was talking about. The prospect of a Television City-style, Trump development in Hudson Yards was brought up, and all you're talking about is how Nadler doomed the project in the Upper West Side.

Good job, by the way, at pointing out that the thread isn't about Hudson Yards. I'm sure you never post anything off-topic. And it's not as if I was the only one raising the issue: lofter, SilentPandaesq, and NYGuy all referenced it in some way.

But, as you wish, this will be my last post about Hudson Yards in this thread. You're welcome.

[lofter1]

I take some of the blame for that ^^ as I asked a specific question here about height in Hudson Yards ...

Often cross-informational posts are both beneficial and unavoidable as various areas / buildings do relate to each other.

[ablarc]

Crabby is as crabby does.

[finnman69]

...and because of that line Nadler cut the federal funding to depress the highway through the area so now we have a lovely elevated highway above the park.

too bad he wont ever be voted out

Building 'I' foundation work started. Pile driving mania! Additionally, excavation for the through street connector at 64th street from West end has also begun.

[virtualchoirboy]

Im happy Nadler didnt approve it. The highway was there first.

[finnman69]

http://www.archpaper.com/images/features/feature2006_13/d13_Rushmore.jpg
Location:80 Riverside Boulevard
Developer:Extell Development Corporation
Architect(s):Costas Kondylis and Partners
Consultant(s):Unavailable
Size: 41 floors, 289 units, 657,000 sq. ft
Completion (est.): 2008

Initially part of the massive Trump Place complex along Riverside Boulevard, the Rushmore was sold to Extell, which modified some of the floor plans to create larger units. Rising from a massive, block-long base, the Rushmore’s twin towers echo a popular Upper West Side design motif, seen most recently at the Time Warner Center.

[ablarc]

Another OK addition to Riverside Boulevard, where Costas rises to high-mediocre. Why does this development get such bad reviews on this forum? Is it because the ground floors are sterile? At least they're not bland slabs in a park like their neighbors.

[pianoman11686]

From http://cityrealty.com/new_developments:

Marketing starts for the Rushmore at 80 Riverside Boulevard 19-SEP-06

http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1158683079_rushmoreb.jpg

Marketing has begun for The Rushmore, the 41-story, twin-towered residential condominium development at 80 Riverside Boulevard that occupies the blockfront between 64th and 63rdth Streets.

It is across 64th Street from The Avery, a 30-story condominium development and both are projects of the Extell Development Corporation on land it acquired from Donald Trump, who has developed several residential towers just to the north.

The Rushmore has been designed by Costas Kondylis and Partners, the architectural firm that has also designed the Avery and many of Mr. Trump’s projects.

The Rushmore has a 16-story base with corner windows at the north and south and a setback at the 4th floor in the center of the blockfront. The twin towers are setback and are joined at the lower three floors.

Mr. Kondylis has borrowed a stylistic treatment of the towers from Cesar Pelli’s World Financial Center at Battery Park City where the upper part of the towers have slightly protruding sections with different fenestration patterns.

Mr. Kondylis has kept his towers symmetrical and the protruding sections stop at the 34th story and the top five floors have a banded fenestration pattern reflecting the fact that are “penthouse” units.

A recent advertisement for the building showed the floor plan of the full-floor Penthouse A that is priced at $6,525,000 and it indicated that the apartment has an entrance gallery that leads to a very large living and dining room space with a fireplace and also has four bedrooms and a large family room and kitchen area facing the Hudson River.

The 425-foot-high Rushmore will have 289 one- to five-bedroom apartments priced from $1,000,000 to more than $7,000,000. Completion is planned for 2008.

The building will have 6 duplex apartments entered on the ground floor. Floors 2 and 3 will have 22 apartments. Floors 4, 5 and 6 will have 18 apartments. Floors 7 through 14 will have 10 apartments. Floors 15 through 17 will have 6 apartments. Floors 18 through 36 in each tower will have 2 apartments. Floors 37 through 41 in each tower will have one apartment.

The building will have a swimming pool, La Palestrina Fitness and Wellness Services, a 185-car garage, a children’s playroom designed by Kidville, NY, a billiards room, Abigail Michaels concierge, a bicycle room, and a theater and entertainment suite.

Residents will be offered a choice of three kitchen designs with fixtures by Sub-Zero, Viking, Miele and bathrooms will have fixtures by Kohler and Waterworks.

[lofter1]

Re: Riverside South Park


The section just south of the last finished section is sort of like that - natural trees and plants, and rocks right down to the water. Is this a future part of the park, anyone? There is nothing but creepy camp sites and litter there now.

The entire southernmost section of Riverside South Park (Phase 4) is now closed off to access and has been cleared of all trees / shrubs. The pathway has been moved inland, now running under the elevated roadway almost all the way down to 59th Street.

New dirt has been loaded into that area and work on the bulkhead / piers has begun.

The plan for Phase 4 ( nycgovparks.org / newsroom (http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/daily_plants/daily_plant_main.php?id=19635) ):

... plans for the fourth phase of the park, which will include the installation of a restored 1940’s Alco S-1 switcher, donated by the New York Cross Harbor Railroad.This part of the park’s new design is slated to begin in late 2006, and will also include the construction of the Maritime Café on the 70th Street plaza and the restoration of the historic West 69th Street transfer bridge into a public pier and ferry landing.

This rail car has been loaded onto the site and is sitting on a short set of track surrounded by a cyclone fence ... painted a deep green ( British Racing Green (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_racing_green) ?) with bright yellow trim, kids of all ages are going to love this.

The US Army version (not the one in the park) of the Alco S-1 switcher:

http://i17.ebayimg.com/01/i/08/8d/13/88_1.JPG

[lofter1]

The Alco S-1 Switcher was donated by New York Cross Harbor Railroad (http://www2pb.ip-soft.net/railinfo/car-floats/new-york-cross-harbor.html)

http://www2pb.ip-soft.net/railinfo/gifs/SBK-NYCH-Slides/NYCH-25-1st.JPEG

http://64.246.11.82/images/d/DSC_0413.JPG.73299.jpg

http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?locomotive=Alco%20S-1

[Derek2k3]

According to their website, Christian de Portzamparc has been commisioned for 1MSF of developement in Riverside South. Christian de Portzamparc has had some tough luck here since LVMH, just check out all their canceled/postponed projects.

Christian de Portzamparc
http://www.chdeportzamparc.com/

[antinimby]

That is good news.

Portzamparc's works are beautiful and eyecatching, something New York lacks but desperately needs more of.

Who did the commissioning btw?

[Citytect]

Interesting. I think one "signature" building could be what this development needs. A focal point. The buildings built so far aren't bad residential buildings, but, as it has been widely noted, the overall appearance of Riverside South seems too uniform.

However, "signature" should be relative to the surroundings. It's not Shanghai. I don't think something really bold would work here. Christian de Portzamparc seems like a good choice.

[TREPYE]

the overall appearance of Riverside South seems too uniform.

Yeah, uniform like NYC housing projects.

[Eugenious]

Yeah, uniform like NYC housing projects.

WHy cant Trump build quality buildings in NY? Because he's a ego obsessed scruge who only cares about looking upscale and has absolutely ZERO taste or any architectural vision. Every time I drive by the riverside development I cringe at the absolute uglyness of this monstrocity.

[TREPYE]

^ Yeah dude, that manure stack is offensive. A typical Trump Dump.

[Citytect]

Luckily he isn't finishing the developement.

[ablarc]

Aw, it's not so bad --certainly not more uniform than West End Avenue. Krulltime lives there, I believe. What do you think of it, krull?

[antinimby]

WHy cant Trump build quality buildings in NY? Because he's a ego obsessed scruge who only cares about looking upscale and has absolutely ZERO taste or any architectural vision. Every time I drive by the riverside development I cringe at the absolute uglyness of this monstrocity.To his defense, he was quoted as saying that his hands were tied as far as design of the Riverside buildings were concerned.

If you remember the early history of this development, you'll recall that NIMBY groups like the Coalition for a Livable Westside were fighting to prevent him from building highrises in the area.

After compromising with Trump, they further pressured him to make the buildings more conservative.

Therefore he went with the safe but boring choice of Kondylis with probably instructions to make them "contextual."

Don't vilify the man too much, at least not here.

[Derek2k3]

That is good news.

Portzamparc's works are beautiful and eyecatching, something New York lacks but desperately needs more of.

Who did the commissioning btw?
The developers, Extell.
They're becoming one of my favorite residential developers, they hire a range of decent architects.
Here's the clipping from Portzamparc's website.

[ablarc]

The developers, Extell.
They're becoming one of my favorite residential developers, they hire a range of decent architects.
They didn't exactly cover themselves with glory at Atlantic Yards, however. And what do you think of Ariel West and East?

[Derek2k3]

Yea, all thier new buildings so far have been somewhat mediocre. I like them because they don't hire Kondylis or SLCE, whose stuff is so repetitive. If we're going to build cheap and ugly, have it packaged by different people. 75+ percent of residential high-rises built in the last 10 years were designed by those hacks.

[Eugenious]

To his defense, he was quoted as saying that his hands were tied as far as design of the Riverside buildings were concerned.

If you remember the early history of this development, you'll recall that NIMBY groups like the Coalition for a Livable Westside were fighting to prevent him from building highrises in the area.

After compromising with Trump, they further pressured him to make the buildings more conservative.

Therefore he went with the safe but boring choice of Kondylis with probably instructions to make them "contextual."

Don't vilify the man too much, at least not here.

Phoeiy, a great developer needs to have a VISION. Architecture requires responsibility. A client may seek to economise but not see the implications - the architect's job includes ensuring that the client does not compromise the success of his own building. If a building has a specific purpose, then it must fulfill that purpose properly. If it does not, then the architect has not merely failed, but the purpose of their involvement in the project is open to question. The same problem can be seen in the relationship of a particular building to its urban surroundings.

[antinimby]

Why do you not believe it?

I am telling you that's what happened. There was a time when Trump had a rep for doing over-the-top buildings (at least according to NIMBY tastes) and the community groups were fearful of that. At a certain point, Trump wanted to get the place built so he conceded that (and reduction in height) to them so he can get started with construction.

If I remember right, some very powerful New York Representative got involved on behalf of the community as well, I think it was Nadler.

Kondylis is not very good to begin with and when instructed to tone it down, you can see what we got.

[ablarc]

the architect's job includes ensuring that the client does not compromise the success of his own building.
I wish I had you to tell that to my clients. ;)

(In truth, the best 10% actually know this.)

[finnman69]

Interesting. I think one "signature" building could be what this development needs. A focal point. The buildings built so far aren't bad residential buildings, but, as it has been widely noted, the overall appearance of Riverside South seems too uniform.

However, "signature" should be relative to the surroundings. It's not Shanghai. I don't think something really bold would work here. Christian de Portzamparc seems like a good choice.


the area is currently a crappy expansive parking lot backed up against the blah Brodsky towers, bordered to the west by the Henry hudson freeway, and to the South by the Con ed plant.

[antinimby]

This wouldn't be the parking lot just across from (west of) 10 West End Ave. (http://www.10wea.com/), would it?

[londonlawyer]

According to their website, Christian de Portzamparc has been commisioned for 1MSF of developement in Riverside South. Christian de Portzamparc has had some tough luck here since LVMH, just check out all their canceled/postponed projects.

Christian de Portzamparc
http://www.chdeportzamparc.com/

I hope that 398 Park Ave. South is not listed as cancelled. Is it? I couldn't access the site.

[krulltime]

Manhattan Tunnel Structure Is Built for the Long Term


http://enr.construction.com/images2/2006/11/061113-17.jpg
Tunnel being built now may someday replace
viaduct but it will be years.


By Aileen Cho
11/13/06

Wedged up against high-end, unfinished buildings on New York City’s west side, crews are building the northern half of a “tunnel to nowhere.” But private advocates are betting that by building the 0.8- mile-long box structure now, the city will benefit in the long run.

The goal of this tunnel, which represents the 15-year-old efforts of the Riverside South Planning Corp., is to someday replace the Miller Highway viaduct along the Hudson River. Along this stretch of waterfront, private developers Extell Development Co. and the Carlyle Group are constructing a 77-acre complex of office buildings and condominiums. They acquired the land from Donald Trump and his Hong Kong partners last year. Two buildings are under construction and eight are completed.

Because of RSPC’s successful arguments, the city asked Extell in 2004 to take advantage of existing excavation for tower foundations to build the tunnel structure’s northbound half. The original plan had been to build a support structure for a future 28-acre park and new Riverside Boulevard. But by building the box structure instead, builders won’t have to rip up the park atop it later in order to relocate the highway. Michael Bradley, RSPC’s executive director, says this will save at least $25 million. The viaduct would have had to be rehabilitated again someday, but by building the tunnel box now, the city can reroute traffic to it when that day comes, he points out.

Highway relocation had not been a top priority for the developer or city. The city spent $89 million in the early 1990s to rehabilitate the viaduct. “It was an example of making an investment without foresight,” says Alex Garvin, former New York City Planning Commissioner. “If in the future, money is available to rebuild the highway, it can go underground and the money will have been spent well. The quality of life will be enormously improved.”

Samson Construction Co., Hicksville, N.Y., is working on the $12-million first phase of the northbound box structure, about 250 ft long, 45 ft wide and with a 30-ft elevation.

Samson will complete the job by spring 2007, says Joe Montano, Extell’s director of construction. It required steel piles to be driven as deep as 60 ft into bedrock, says Montano. The concrete walls, up to 3 ft thick, were built to two-thirds the total elevation. Samson now is building customized formwork to pour the top third of the walls and the ceiling monolithically, says Joe Cursio, Samson’s chief operating officer.

Crews have only 20 ft between the tunnel wall and new buildings to work with as they relocate scores of utilities, including a 20-in. water main, a 48-in. storm sewer and future conduits for future buildings. Because of work done to build tower foundations, Samson only had to excavate about 10 ft for the box.

Before the end of this year, Extell will begin soliciting bids for the rest of the northbound tunnel, to be done in phases. One block-long segment will be done in late 2007, the next by late 2008 and the last in 2009. The total cost of the northbound half is estimated at $30 million.

The state Dept. of Transportation, using $15 million in federal earmarks, will build the southbound half once Extell is done. However, it is still awaiting federal approval of the financial plan and does not know when that will occur, due to the possible reactivation of a 2002 lawsuit contesting the environmental impact statement for the tunnel project, says a state DOT spokesperson.


http://enr.construction.com/images2/2006/11/061113-18A.jpg
http://enr.construction.com/images2/2006/11/061113-18B.jpg
Advocates hope viaduct along Hudosn will be replaced by tunnel built underneath park.


© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

[BrooklynRider]

Wait a minute! The article above implies foresight. How dare they! <<implied sarcasm>>

It's kind of subversive, yet we all know the plans had to be submitted. But, it allows stromger arguments to be made for funding the larger project going forward. NY Congressional leaders chair important committees for the next two years. Maybe we'll see some major transportation and urban funding allow these common-sense, pedestrian/mass transit projects to go forward.

[pianoman11686]

November 24, 2006

Breaking Ground

The Rushmore

By NICK KAYE

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/11/23/realestate/greathomes/24break_large.jpg
An artist's rendering of The Rushmore, a building with
two 43-story towers, which is expected to open in
Manhattan in winter 2008.

WHAT Residential building.

WHERE New York.

AMENITIES A swimming pool, a playground and a spa and fitness center, among others.

PRICES One- to five-bedroom units range from about $1 million to $7 million.

STATUS Construction is under way, and the building is expected to open in winter 2008.

DEVELOPER Extell Development Company.

CONTACT (212) 496-1400 or www.therushmoreriverside.com.

DETAILS In Manhattan at the western end of 64th Street, this project consists of a building with two 43-story towers rising from a 16-story base. It will have 289 units ranging from 717 to 3,072 square feet. Some of the properties will have large terraces. The project borders Riverside Park, which has biking and walking paths. The building will have a landscaped deck as well as a garden atrium with a library. The swimming pool will be 50 feet long and indoors. There will also be a billiards room and doorman and concierge services. Additionally, access will be granted to a nearby children’s club that will design the playground at the development.

[TREPYE]

November 24, 2006

Breaking Ground

The Rushmore

By NICK KAYE

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/11/23/realestate/greathomes/24break_large.jpg
An artist's rendering of The Rushmore, a building with
two 43-story towers, which is expected to open in
Manhattan in winter 2008.



The bland flatness of the TWC' twins wasn't good enough? They had to come up with a cheap imitation no less.

[stache]

Could use a couple of spires -

[ablarc]

The bland flatness of the TWC' twins wasn't good enough? They had to come up with a cheap imitation no less.
The stuff Kondylis designed for Trump was better, because more deco. Now he's going flatter and more modernist. Influence of the client, probably. Kondylis is a tabula rasa.

[TREPYE]

The stuff Kondylis designed for Trump was better

I prefer the term "less uglier".

[aprokos]

Here's a shot of Trump's West Side towers as seen from the Hudson River. (http://andrewprokos.com/photos/cityscapes-skylines/manhattan-west-trump-view/) I think they could be a lot worse actually

[macreator]

It's still pretty depressing.

[ablarc]

I think they could be a lot worse actually
Agreed.

[antinimby]

Riverside South Goes French


Posted by The Real Estate on March 15, 2007 (http://therealestate.observer.com/2007/03/riverside-south-goes-french.html) 6:09 PM

After years in which one architect--Costas Kondylis--has dominated the 13-block-long Riverside South development, the new kid in town, Gary Barnett (Extell Development), has commissioned the Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Christian de Portzamparc to design the next three buildings, according to George Arzt, a spokesman for the developer.

Monsieur de Portzamparc's Web site says the program consists of three buildings with 3.2 million square feet of office, hotel and residential space between 59th Street and 61st Street. Well, that's the proposal. Mr. Arzt says a rezoning proposal will go to the Department of City Planning in a few weeks--and it doesn't sound like it will be the easiest rezoning.

According to figures from the Coalition for a Livable West Side, that amount would represent about 35 percent more built space than that envisioned under the original Riverside South master plan.

- Matthew Schuerman

copyright © 2006 the new york observer, L.P.

[Fahzee]

oh la la!

[krulltime]

Sounds good to me.

[antinimby]

Yes, let's hope "the Coalition" doesn't squash this proposal nor demand a contextual design or else we'll end up seeing more of this instead:

http://i.pbase.com/o4/55/435155/1/56319805.IMG_7552.jpg

[lofter1]

What's that one with the, uh ... interesting color combo of brick ^^^ called?

Poo-n-Doo???

[ablarc]

Gauche.

[Scraperfannyc]

Riverside South Goes French


Posted by The Real Estate on March 15, 2007 (http://therealestate.observer.com/2007/03/riverside-south-goes-french.html) 6:09 PM

After years in which one architect--Costas Kondylis--has dominated the 13-block-long Riverside South development, the new kid in town, Gary Barnett (Extell Development), has commissioned the Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Christian de Portzamparc to design the next three buildings, according to George Arzt, a spokesman for the developer.

Monsieur de Portzamparc's Web site says the program consists of three buildings with 3.2 million square feet of office, hotel and residential space between 59th Street and 61st Street. Well, that's the proposal. Mr. Arzt says a rezoning proposal will go to the Department of City Planning in a few weeks--and it doesn't sound like it will be the easiest rezoning.

According to figures from the Coalition for a Livable West Side, that amount would represent about 35 percent more built space than that envisioned under the original Riverside South master plan.

- Matthew Schuerman

copyright © 2006 the new york observer, L.P.

Great news! I think this strip on the West Side can use a little French arhitecture to add some eye appeal. There is one building (the shortest one) which is so ugly. I really wish they would demolish it.

[antinimby]

I wouldn't get too excited just yet. In this city, good news like that are almost always followed by bad news.

Don't be surprised to hear not too far from now when they present this plan to the Community Board that it is rejected.

I can just see a public meeting with people shouting down the developers saying how the size would overwhelm the area and how Portzamparc's designs would be totally inappropriate to the surrounding and on and on...

:rolleyes:

[lofter1]

That ^^^ would be more than ironic in this area -- which aside from the new buildings at Riverside South and other new residential buildings near WEA / 59th has very few residential buildings within a few blocks as it was a manufacturing / industrial zone.

I might just have to go to one of those CB meetings, just in case -- and if folks start doing that "too tall" song and dance" tell them to stuff it and join the 21st Century ;)

[finnman69]

'What?! More people using OUR services and transportation. More than the Trump plan?! FU, we were here first.'

That's about how that will go. That area is a blankslate, referenced by nothing else. It really requires something creative unlike the stodgy SOM masterplan.

[Tall Guy]

Riverside South Goes French


Posted by The Real Estate on March 15, 2007 (http://therealestate.observer.com/2007/03/riverside-south-goes-french.html) 6:09 PM

After years in which one architect--Costas Kondylis--has dominated the 13-block-long Riverside South development, the new kid in town, Gary Barnett (Extell Development), has commissioned the Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Christian de Portzamparc to design the next three buildings, according to George Arzt, a spokesman for the developer.

Monsieur de Portzamparc's Web site says the program consists of three buildings with 3.2 million square feet of office, hotel and residential space between 59th Street and 61st Street. Well, that's the proposal. Mr. Arzt says a rezoning proposal will go to the Department of City Planning in a few weeks--and it doesn't sound like it will be the easiest rezoning.

According to figures from the Coalition for a Livable West Side, that amount would represent about 35 percent more built space than that envisioned under the original Riverside South master plan.

- Matthew Schuerman

copyright © 2006 the new york observer, L.P.

I know that this is self-serving, but having just signed a contract to buy in the Avery, I cannot help but to wonder what the impact will be on the value of my new place, IF (a big if) this were to happen:rolleyes:

[lofter1]

'What?! More people using OUR services and transportation.

Ha ha -- what transportation way over there :confused: :p

[NYguy]

NY1

Manhattan, Then & Now: 15 Years Later, Trump Place Still Faces Opposition On West Side

April 25, 2007

It took Donald Trump years to win approval to build Trump Place on Manhattan's West Side. As NY1’s week-long series Manhattan, Then & Now continues, Rebecca Spitz talks to Trump about how the project changed the community and the opposition he is still facing.


In the early '90's, boaters on the west side of Manhattan saw nothing but the derelict Penn Rail Yards.

Back then, a string of luxury buildings was little more than a glimmer in Donald Trump's eye, but it wasn't long before that idea started its slow march to reality.

“The community loves what we've done,” says Trump. “In 1992, that's when it all came together, because that's when government gave us the approvals to go forward.”

But building on prime waterfront access was an uphill battle, even though developers didn't have to move anyone or really, anything.

Neighborhood residents railed against everything from the size of the proposed project to Trump's uncertain fiscal future.

Community opposition delayed construction until 1997, but today there are more than a dozen apartment buildings stretching from 59th Street to 72nd Street, collectively called – Trump Place.

“It was a big job,” says Trump. “It was a very, very powerful job from the standpoint of what it represented to the community, and I'm so happy to say that people who opposed the job initially ultimately joined with us and they really supported the job."

But just because Trump thinks the opposition has disappeared doesn't mean it that it has. Neighborhood resident and former City Councilwoman Ronnie Eldridge says she’s been against the project for 15 years.

“He doesn't really care,” says Eldridge. “He sees large buildings, and he likes that because it matches his ego.”

Eldridge was part of a coalition of opposition made up of area residents, civic groups and politicians, including Congressman Jerrold Nadler and former Mayor Ed Koch.

One of the things that Eldridge is still bothered by is the apparent separation between Trump Place and the rest of the west side.

“This is a wall. It's more than just views. It's more than one building,” she says. “It's the whole stream of buildings, and it's taking the whole waterfront and moving it further west.”

But what's an issue for some doesn't really matter to others.

“We love the location,” says a resident. “It's far enough west to where it's really quiet, not too much going on."

Trump fought for and lost a battle to close an exit off the West Side Highway at 72nd Street, and he has yet to find a friendly ear to go along with his wishes to sink that highway and give the development access to the water. And he admits, with just one bus line – the M72 – transportation there could be improved but overall, he's still pleased with the project.

And typical Trump, he has to have the last word.

“New York City can't be stagnant, we can never let that happen,” he says. “If that happens, you might as well give it up and move, go someplace else."

- Rebecca Spitz

[Adyton]

Extell's development using Christian de Portzamparc is GREAT news!!! de Portzamparc is one of THE best "underated" starchitects in the world today!

Any development on a LARGE scale, using Christian, will definitely INCREASE values of all other properties nearby. ANYONE would be lucky to live or work in or near one or more of his buildings.:D

[NYguy]

Extell's development using Christian de Portzamparc is GREAT news!!! de Portzamparc is one of THE best "underated" starchitects in the world today!

Any development on a LARGE scale, using Christian, will definitely INCREASE values of all other properties nearby. ANYONE would be lucky to live or work in or near one or more of his buildings.:D

Another one I would love to have a rendering of.

[krulltime]

I found this on the rushmore website. An Idea of what the rest will look like. Well what can you expect...


http://www.pbase.com/image/80049725.jpg

http://www.therushmoreriverside.com/

[sfenn1117]

^Hopefully those were the plans before Extell brought Potzamparc in.

The UWS nimby's are prepared to go all out on it too, since Extell is asking for an increase in square footage.

[krulltime]

Yeah you are probably right that those are old renderings. I dont think they have the new ones available so fast and place them on the Rushmore website.

[Derek2k3]

Extell Eyeing Costco For Giant Upper West Side Development
by Eliot Brown | July 25, 2008 |

http://www.observer.com/2008/real-estate/extell-eyeing-costco-base-giant-upper-west-side-development%20

Extell Development is in talks with discount bulk retailer Costco to occupy a large underground store as part of a new 3.3 million-square-foot development of mostly residential buildings on the Upper West Side.

Extell, led by Gary Barnett, is seeking to move forward on developing the last parcels of Riverside South, the 55-acre swath of Upper West Side land known as Trump City when Donald Trump first started planning the complex in the 1980s. The company's plans for the final parcels between 59th and 61st streets would need approval of the City Council and City Planning Commission, as the firm is seeking to change the initial restrictions to allow for more density and different uses (the original development planned for a commercial tower for NBC at the site).

As a national big-box retailer with no stores in Manhattan, the prospect of a Costco at the development--which would take up about 150,000 square feet--seems prone to controversy, and indeed it was discussed at length at a meeting between Extell (and a string of consultants and lobbyists) and members of the local community board Wednesday night. Extell also wanted 2,300 parking spaces in the complex.

"The community will be greatly affected by a placement of a Costco," said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who represents the area. "I'm afraid it's going to bring a lot of increased vehicular traffic."

And while Ms. Rosenthal said she had yet to take a firm position on the prospect of a big-box retailer, another area elected official was more direct:

"I certainly do not support the Costco or anything like it," said Councilwoman Gale Brewer in a phone message.

A spokesman for Extell, George Arzt, said that the plan for the site was still "a work in progress. "We want to work with the community board and the neighborhood," he said.

The planned Christian de Portzamparc-designed development will likely heat up in coming months as Extell hopes to start early stages of the public review in the fall. For now, the developer has been meeting occasionally with a community board committee on the topic.

Though, at least for the meeting Wednesday, the community board--which holds public meetings, many of which are subject to the Open Meetings Law--did not announce the event on its Web site or to the public. This lack of a notice drew ire from the elected officials representing the area, who found out about the meeting at the last minute.

"Basically, I expect all the meetings the community board would hold to be on the Web site," Ms. Rosenthal said. "All of these kinds of bodies' meetings are open to the public, so if the public doesn't know abut them, they can't attend."

Community Board 7 chairwoman Helen Rosenthal (no relation), who co-chairs the committee on Riverside South, said that the meetings now are generally aimed at informing members of the community board about the project before the public review begins in the fall.

"The purpose of the meeting was for the working group, that is just trying to understand what the issues are, to wrap our arms around that," she said. "We will be having public hearings about this in the fall, and we're anxious to hear from the community as to what their feelings are."

[antinimby]

Don't care for a Costco, a suburban big box store in Manhattan, underground or not.

Anyway, let's see how these people will screw up the Portzamparc project. Screw up odds is high with that Gale Brewer and the CB involved.

[stache]

Speaking for myself, I think this would be a great location for a Costco. It's extremely out of the way, yet close to midtown.

[antinimby]

Since when did having a Costco close to Midtown a necessity?

[stache]

More people would shop there.

[londonlawyer]

I don't know who that could afford a multi-million dollar apartment would shop at Costco.

[lofter1]

Come 2009 / 2010 when they start paying off that mortgage Costco might be the wisest choice.

[stache]

Or their assistants would do the shopping online.

[BrooklynLove]

I don't know who that could afford a multi-million dollar apartment would shop at Costco.

I know plenty in NYC who do. Many Park Slope families who've dropped 3+ on a brownstone frequent the Costco at 3rd Ave.

[brianac]

Remember Trump City?

Koch era battle over that mega-plan may be nothing compared to one looming on the same land

by Eliot Brown (http://www.observer.com/2007/author/eliot-brown) | August 5, 2008
This article was published in the August 11, 2008, edition of The New York Observer.

http://www.observer.com/files/imagecache/article/files/browntrumpcity.jpg Michael Nagle
Gary Barnett.

It’s been 23 years since the Upper West Side first gasped at Donald Trump’s plans for a series of soaring towers that would co