Reply With QuoteThis is an ugly disaster.
I wonder why they chose black glass here? This location in the theatre district deserves something more vibrant and cheery.
This is an ugly disaster.
Appalling. I was really hoping that Related wouldn't cheap out on this. In a way, I hope this comes back to bite them.
What could be expected from a cheap putz like this?
Originally Posted by buff
a giant letter "L"
42nd street is a bore now. They should have extended it and made it like a long times square style street. Resi towers have doomed any hope of that b/c of noise and light issues.
God damn, it should have been an entertainment street from TS to the river... a continuation of times square... Resi towers have made this area into a highrise suburb. Now there is little potential for real entertainment on this street b/c of apartment dwellers.
If NY were Shanghai or Tokyo, this whole street would have been pedestrianized by now with a tram down the middle -- and it would have been a fun commercial street. There are countless other locations for dull resi towers, especially closer to the yards. This should be a street of cutting edge architecture, hotels, shops, cafes, etc... not a worse version of Mid-Levels Hong Kong. What dull putzes.... zoning isn't planning. Planning is a bore, I'm glad I didn't become a planner if all they do is zone and re-zone and curtail exciting development.... where is the vision, the creativity in the profession?
In Dubai, they plan (i.e, layout, design, etc.). In NY, planning is just left to market forces with no vision. Zoning is a very crude tool IMO, b/c there is no control really over the place-making of an area. It seems you just give a few rough parameters, and then hope for the best depending on the economy, developers, etc...That is not a way to form a city..that is a way to let crap developers who care nothing for the city to ruin the city. Developers should all be required to have some basic training in city building, city planning and design.
I want to see a new NY emerge, a NY that takes Tokyo as a model of beauty.
Last edited by futurecity; June 10th, 2010 at 03:25 PM.
I agree, though I don't think the residents of Manhattan Plaza, the Strand, and Riverbank West would approve.
What bugs me about City Planning is that they usually don't have much of a vision of what an area could be. Rather the goal of most rezonings is to make the new conform with the existing. The results are still usually awful because height/bulk isn't the full issue affecting our ugly/bland new buildings; unfortunately that's all zoning can resolve.
I still don't know what the solution is though. Should a commission review every major project in the city?
I don't think this is going to be as bulky from the south as people think. It's certainly not 1Penn, and it's hardly wider than NYT, although it's a square instead of a plus.
What disappoints me even more than the tower is the base and retail space. It's SO unwelcoming.
440 West 42nd Street from 10th Avenue
Any allure that Manhattan Plaza once held for residents now seems to have been effectively removed.
Not really so for Performing Artists who pay 30% of our income (after expenses) as rent (utilities included.)
That ^ would keep it attractive.
So far how has this new building affected the light / openness inside Manhattan Plaza units?
This week the sun reaches it's highest arc in the sky, so I have plenty of light.
Winter is going to be another story. When the sun is low on the horizon this building will hide it from me for 3 or 4 hours at midday, and instead offer a black hole of glass.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks