Gulcrapek
September 12th, 2004, 02:46 PM
From Shalom Riverdale, reprinted from the Riverdale Press:
Tower to Rise to 17 Stories
By Alejandro Lazo
The Riverdale Press
06/02/04
Plans for the condominium tower next door to St. Gabriel’s Church that touched off a firestorm of criticism and controversy earlier this year now call for a 17-story tower on the L-shaped lot between Arlington and Netherland avenues, the contractor who will build the apartment, William L. Friedlich, of Hudson View Construction, Inc., said last week.
News that the building would rise so high, dwarfing the surrounding six- and seven-story apartments, drew renewed criticism from nearby residents.
Developer Shmuel Jonas “is turning around and saying, ‘I don’t care about you, I don’t care about your community, I care about money,’” said Pat Boyle, who lives at
The new building will be marketed toward Riverdale’s Orthodox Jewish community, Mr. Friedlich said. It will have a Sabbath elevator programmed to stop at every floor, so residents can ride without pushing a button. The building will also have a swimming pool, a doorman and other amenities.
Mr. Friedlich expects the apartments to be priced slightly higher than the Promenade East Condominiums at
He described a tapering tower, with a 17,000 square-foot base housing a parking garage and offices for doctors, dentists and non-profit organizations.
The first five stories of the residential portion of the building will be built on a 6,000 square-foot footprint, with three apartments per floor. The remaining 10 stories of the building will be built on a 3,000 square-foot footprint, offering duplexes with three apartments every two floors, Mr. Friedlich said. In all there will be 33 or 34 apartments.
Shmuel Jonas and his father, billionaire telecommunications entrepreneur Howard Jonas, initially said they hoped to build a 30-story building by purchasing air rights to St. Gabriel’s parking lot, but the church rebuffed their $3.7 million offer.
For weeks the Jonases have refused to say more about their revised plans than that they still planned a large building, leaving neighbors to speculate about its size and politicians to try to figure out how to accelerate action on a zoning change recommended by Community Board 8 four years ago and still making its way through the city’s planning bureaucracy.
Mr. Boyle said Monday evening that he planned to put up flyers in nearby buildings on Tuesday, asking people to call local politicians to protest the building. He described the move as a “last-ditch” effort, but admitted that he felt little could be done now.
The Department of City Planning is likely to certify a rezoning plan on June 21 that would limit the height of a building on the Jonas lot to 70 feet, but that would only be the first step of a public review process that could take up to seven months.
Mr. Friedlich said that plans for the building would probably be filed this week and construction would begin immediately once the Department of Buildings issues permits.
Norman Danzig, another Arlington Avenue resident who helped organize an ad hoc committee that collected 1,200 signatures opposing the condo, said there has been an aura of secrecy surrounding plans for the building, and was angry at Shmuel Jonas for not doing more to keep the community informed.
“It’s an outrageous project,” Mr. Danzig said. “They’re just beating the clock and it just stinks.”
Anticipating such a reaction, Mr. Friedlich said on Friday that the building’s current design was in fact much better for the neighborhood then the shorter, squatter building that would be required under new zoning regulations.
“What I say is that density is a cause for concern, the stress on the parking, the stress on the services, etc. But this building has very low density,” Mr. Friedlich said.
“I’m sorry that some people are upset with a tall building,” he continued. “But I don’t think they understand that if I build it lower and wider, it’s just going to block out more light, and be visually stronger and heavier.”
“I just want our neighborhood to stay basically the same as it is,” Mr. Boyle retorted. “We don’t need a needle,” he said. “I hate to have a building sticking out like the World Trade Center did ... we don’t need that.”
Tower to Rise to 17 Stories
By Alejandro Lazo
The Riverdale Press
06/02/04
Plans for the condominium tower next door to St. Gabriel’s Church that touched off a firestorm of criticism and controversy earlier this year now call for a 17-story tower on the L-shaped lot between Arlington and Netherland avenues, the contractor who will build the apartment, William L. Friedlich, of Hudson View Construction, Inc., said last week.
News that the building would rise so high, dwarfing the surrounding six- and seven-story apartments, drew renewed criticism from nearby residents.
Developer Shmuel Jonas “is turning around and saying, ‘I don’t care about you, I don’t care about your community, I care about money,’” said Pat Boyle, who lives at
The new building will be marketed toward Riverdale’s Orthodox Jewish community, Mr. Friedlich said. It will have a Sabbath elevator programmed to stop at every floor, so residents can ride without pushing a button. The building will also have a swimming pool, a doorman and other amenities.
Mr. Friedlich expects the apartments to be priced slightly higher than the Promenade East Condominiums at
He described a tapering tower, with a 17,000 square-foot base housing a parking garage and offices for doctors, dentists and non-profit organizations.
The first five stories of the residential portion of the building will be built on a 6,000 square-foot footprint, with three apartments per floor. The remaining 10 stories of the building will be built on a 3,000 square-foot footprint, offering duplexes with three apartments every two floors, Mr. Friedlich said. In all there will be 33 or 34 apartments.
Shmuel Jonas and his father, billionaire telecommunications entrepreneur Howard Jonas, initially said they hoped to build a 30-story building by purchasing air rights to St. Gabriel’s parking lot, but the church rebuffed their $3.7 million offer.
For weeks the Jonases have refused to say more about their revised plans than that they still planned a large building, leaving neighbors to speculate about its size and politicians to try to figure out how to accelerate action on a zoning change recommended by Community Board 8 four years ago and still making its way through the city’s planning bureaucracy.
Mr. Boyle said Monday evening that he planned to put up flyers in nearby buildings on Tuesday, asking people to call local politicians to protest the building. He described the move as a “last-ditch” effort, but admitted that he felt little could be done now.
The Department of City Planning is likely to certify a rezoning plan on June 21 that would limit the height of a building on the Jonas lot to 70 feet, but that would only be the first step of a public review process that could take up to seven months.
Mr. Friedlich said that plans for the building would probably be filed this week and construction would begin immediately once the Department of Buildings issues permits.
Norman Danzig, another Arlington Avenue resident who helped organize an ad hoc committee that collected 1,200 signatures opposing the condo, said there has been an aura of secrecy surrounding plans for the building, and was angry at Shmuel Jonas for not doing more to keep the community informed.
“It’s an outrageous project,” Mr. Danzig said. “They’re just beating the clock and it just stinks.”
Anticipating such a reaction, Mr. Friedlich said on Friday that the building’s current design was in fact much better for the neighborhood then the shorter, squatter building that would be required under new zoning regulations.
“What I say is that density is a cause for concern, the stress on the parking, the stress on the services, etc. But this building has very low density,” Mr. Friedlich said.
“I’m sorry that some people are upset with a tall building,” he continued. “But I don’t think they understand that if I build it lower and wider, it’s just going to block out more light, and be visually stronger and heavier.”
“I just want our neighborhood to stay basically the same as it is,” Mr. Boyle retorted. “We don’t need a needle,” he said. “I hate to have a building sticking out like the World Trade Center did ... we don’t need that.”