Reply With QuoteOnly in New York.
A Luxury Condo Building With Views of the Skyline, and the Prison Next Door
By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS
Ángel Franco/The New York Times
Ángel Franco/The New York Times
Would You Be O.K. With a Prison as a Neighbor?
If you want to live at 100 11th Avenue, a luxury condominium building in West Chelsea with a fancy architectural pedigree, it will probably cost you a couple of million dollars, or at least $10,000 monthly rent. For your grand fee, you will get wide open vistas of the Manhattan skyline and views of the Hudson River all the way down to the Statue of Liberty.
But many of the apartments in the building have views of something else, too: the roof of the building next door, where women in dark green uniforms can be seen milling about under a protective bubble made of chain-link fence. The residents of the adjacent building have some of the same views as the condos next door — except these people cannot wait to move out.
That is because 100 11th Avenue, a building designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, presses right up against the Bayview Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison for women.
“We called it the naughty girls’ club,” said Holly Parker, a managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman and the director of sales at the Nouvel building. “We never said the p-word.”
Two weeks ago, the last unsold apartment at 100 11th Avenue went into contract, and the price per square foot for the building averaged about $1,850, Ms. Parker said; that is nearly $600 higher than the average per-square-foot price for Chelsea condos in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the appraisal firm Miller Samuel.
So as it turns out, the only thing more surprising than the building’s next-door neighbor is the conclusion that in the end, the “p-word” did not matter much at all.
“The building did not appear to be stigmatized by it,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. The apartments did take several years to sell out, Mr. Miller said — a few are now back on the market, including one asking $16.9 million — and some were heavily discounted from their original asking prices. But that was really a function of the market, he continued, not the neighbors.
“Would they have sold quicker or at a higher price if the prison wasn’t there?” he said. “Yes, there’s potential there, but it’s not a make-or-breakout issue.” He paused to have a chuckle. “Breakout!”
Brokers who did deals at 100 11th Avenue said there were certainly buyers for whom the jumpsuit view was a no-no, but plenty of people were unperturbed, and some even found the grit appealing.
“I show my friends when they come over,” said Joseph Wald, as he walked his two French bulldogs around the block. “There’s the view of the water, there’s the view of the city, and there’s the view of the prison. It’s a great conversation starter.”
One woman, who works for a resident of the building, said that once in a while, she would wave at the inmates. The response, unfortunately, is not always friendly.
“They’ve flipped us off a couple of times,” she said with a smile.
In the suburbs, appraisers said, this might be considered a problem.
But Michael Vargas, co-founder of the Vanderbilt Appraisal Company, said Manhattanites were not terribly interested in what happened next door, so long as the neighbors were not smelly or loud.
“A luxury building like this is an enclosed environment,” Mr. Vargas said. “People are more concerned about the finishes, the quality, the luxury amenities and the view.”
And the prison building, residents pointed out, is discreet (no bars, only very thick screens) and actually rather attractive. The orangeish brick structure, which has some nice prewar detail on the facade, was constructed in 1931 as a Y.M.C.A. for merchant seamen.
Steve Crotch, another resident at the Nouvel building, said that despite the condominium’s fabulous facade — it is made up of hundreds of panes of glass that hang together like a shattered mirror just before the pieces fall to the floor — he felt it was the prisoners who were the victims of the view.
“I feel a bit like we’re rubbing it in,” he said.
A medium-security prison like Bayview houses a range of inmates, including well-behaved violent offenders and nonviolent offenders whose crimes were severe, according to the State Department of Corrections. That could mean people convicted of a variety of crimes, including murder, robbery and selling drugs. Most of the women at Bayview are nearing the end of their sentences or are in work-release programs.
For about five hours during the week and eight hours on weekends, Bayview inmates are permitted out on the roof to take in the air. They can choose between the exercise area, which has sweeping city views, and a smaller deck, lined with gray plastic picnic tables, that has straight-on views of the Hudson River.
There is a third recreation area for inmates who misbehave. It has no view.
River or no river, 11th Avenue was a scary place when Bayview opened in 1974, said Wendy A. Featherstone, the prison superintendent, who has worked at the facility on and off since 1983.
But today, the neighborhood is a parade of art galleries and suede loafers, and the juxtaposition of the Nouvel design, with Chelsea Piers across the street and the prison up the block, is a lot like the architectural equivalent of riding the subway.
“The person you’re sitting next to might be the wealthiest person, but they’ve chosen to take the train,” Ms. Featherstone said. “It’s New York life.”
In recent years, rumors have been circulating that Bayview is soon to close, but the Department of Corrections said there was no truth to them. And if the wisdom of a one famous New Yorker is to be believed, that should be no cause for concern.
“There’s an old George Carlin joke about how the safest place to live is right next to a prison,” said Jonathan Berkowitz, a dog walker who has a client in 100 11th Avenue.
“If someone escapes, what do you think they’re going to do? Stick around?” he continued in a perfect Carlin rasp. “No! They’re going to run like hell!”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/ny...er=rss&emc=rss
Only in New York.
Womens prison yard down below = endless entertainment
why? Community Looks to Preserve Women's Prison .........
http://www.dnainfo.com/20110223/chel...prison-chelsea
well, preserving that handsome building with those terrific maritime images on the brickwork, that much I get: but, the "woman's prison" on prime riverfront NYC property - that seems like a foolish decision.
Last edited by infoshare; March 15th, 2012 at 07:36 PM.
looks like the answer to that was made abundantly clear in the article...?why?
"It's a handsome building," said Edward Kirkland, co-chair of Community Board 4's landmarks committee, citing the structure's brick and stone façade and maritime motifs. "God knows what they could put on top of it."But it does not possess landmarks status, a point that has some neighborhood leaders concerned the cash-strapped state might sell it to the highest bidder....she worried the prison, located on prime real estate across from Chelsea Piers, could turn into another mega-development.The worst case scenario, in the view of neighborhood leaders, would be either total demolition of the structure, or sale to a luxury developer who would alter the exterior.
OK, but I still think a location like that is being 'underutilized'. I also have the same opinion about the plans for the new sanitation department facility on the waterfront about a mile down the road from this building.
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/50512...elsea-new-york
Last edited by infoshare; March 15th, 2012 at 07:37 PM.
It wasn't "prime riverfront NYC property" when the building became a prison.River or no river, 11th Avenue was a scary place when Bayview opened in 1974...
Needs landmarking.
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showth...l=1#post353491
https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.c...onal-facility/
http://www.prisonprofiler.com/?q=node/536
Landmarking is a serious move, there are very few buildings that are IMHO worthy of the designation - this one does surely qualify. I am thinking of something like the landmarked base building on the Hearst Tower in terms of 'best utilization' of the property; a gut renovation, preserved facade - all of which is topped-off with a new tower above which would have great commanding views of the Hudson River and New Jersey. Those 'ship motif' ceramic inlays on the facade are ver nice: and all too often overlooked - thanks for those close up photos.
Speaking of beautiful facades; here some architectural detail graphics on the curtain wall design at 100 11th Avenue. http://hanartus.com/site/feature-pro...enue-new-york/
Great shot, Zippy.
Not sure which is worse, the backside of the Beekman (New York by Gehry) or the Vision Machine.
Unlike the Gehry building, I like what Nouvel did here.
I think it would have been too much if the street facade was wrapped around the entire building. One problem with Spruce St is that the flat wall faces the street; also it approximates the other elevations in a diminished way, and looks like what it is - cost cutting.
Here, it's almost like negative-space, and in silhouette seems to celebrate the backyard lot-line view, a common thing in New York.
It also helps that 100 11th isn't a skyscraper.
just because one has money doesn't mean one has taste...
Someone has installed these really garishly (tacky) neon light tubes
around their windows- they slowly change colours and really stick out.
Practically a deliberate defacement of an iconic work of Architecture. Some of the most striking photos of that building have been taken during the twilight or nighttime hours: these neon boxes just ruins the whole affect. Very disappointing.
Schmuck.....Originally Posted by scumonkey
just because one has money doesn't mean one has taste...
Someone has installed these really garishly (tacky) neon light tubes
around their windows- they slowly change colours and really stick out.
(likely overpaid and undereducated)
That prison is the Cadillac of prisons.
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