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WEEK OF SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER
‘PICTURE OF THE YEAR’
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2016
RESIDENTS HAMMER BUILDING BOOM Lower Manhattan residents voice concerns at CB1 construction forum BY NICOLE LOCKWOOD
There’s too much building going on. Such was the prevailing sentiment of downtown residents and elected officials during a forum addressing the ongoing construction boom within Community Board 1’s boundaries. “There’s 90 projects within one community, and that is just a lot,” said Manhattan Borough President and event sponsor Gale Brewer. “Maybe it’s legal, but it’s hell.” Brewer’s comments were largely reflective of the attitudes of residents at the Sept. 22 forum, held at Borough of
Photo: Billie Grace Ward, via flickr
GARDEN TO BECOME HOUSING SITE Glick: plan is ‘height of arrogance’ BY DIAMOND NAGA SIU
Dogs pull on their leashes to reach various patches of nature that hug the Elizabeth Street Garden. Two children park their scooters against a stone wall to explore the different flowers and grass. Elderly residents sit and watch everything unfold before them. It’s an early fall day, and a moment in the life of a garden. But change may come to this one, because the Elizabeth
Street Garden lot is now designated space for affordable housing. The plan is to slice the garden into 5,000 square feet, compared to its original 20,000. Assembly Member Deborah Glick said that shutting down the garden was decided during the Community Board 3 rezoning plan, even though the Elizabeth Street Garden falls under Community Board 2. She said this decision was made without the community knowing or consenting. “They’re not listening,” Glick said. “The city is a people. We’re going to do whatev-
sheds never seem to go away with no evidence of any work getting done for months and months.” “Try years and years” said one attendee under her breath. In response, members of the New York City Department of Transportation and Department of Buildings several times said that although the sheds may be inconvenient and bothersome, they are necessary for pedestrian and traffic safety. “We’re very much familiar with this concern,” a DOT representative said. “The sheds are certainly in place for longer than necessary.” Residents argued that they force pedestrians to walk in streets and create spaces that
Manhattan Community College. Attendees raised questions about noise disturbances, health concerns, pedestrian safety, lack of regulation and the unsightliness of the projects. But one of the most pressing concerns is the seeming ubiquity of temporary scaffoldings and sheds on lower Manhattan streets. Though put in place to keep passers-by safe from the debris and materials resulting from the construction, the fixtures are often kept in place for longer than necessary, some said. “There is a longstanding frustration in this community board with scaffoldings that don’t seem to disappear ever,” said state Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, a cosponsor of the forum. “These
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er of the people, by the people and for the people. Not for real estate developers.” Glick said that a broad range of people enjoy the garden, since this is one of the few green spots within the Nolita and Little Italy areas. So to try dissuading the city government from converting it to affordable housing, the community searched for and found a different area to build the unit—with five times more space – at a Hudson and Clarkson water tunnel site. Whenever new affordable housing is built, 50 percent of the space is saved for community members within
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Assembly Member Deborah Glick speaks to protect the park at a Sept. 21 rally. Photo: Diamond Naga Siu Downtowner
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WEEK OF APRIL
SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12
FOR HIM, SETTLING SMALL CLAIMS IS A BIG DEAL presided over Arbitration Man has three decades. for informal hearings about it He’s now blogging BY RICHARD KHAVKINE
is the common Arbitration Man their jurist. least folks’ hero. Or at Man has For 30 years, Arbitration court office of the civil few sat in a satellite Centre St. every building at 111 New Yorkers’ weeks and absorbed dry cleaning, burned lost accountings of fender benders, lousy paint jobs, and the like. And security deposits then he’s decided. Arbitration Man, About a year ago, so to not afwho requested anonymity started docuhe fect future proceedings, two dozen of what menting about compelling cases considers his most blog. in an eponymous about it because “I decided to write the stories but in a I was interested about it not from wanted to write from view but rather lawyer’s point of said Arbitration view,” of a lay point lawyer since 1961. Man, a practicing what’s at issue He first writes about post, renders and then, in a separatehow he arrived his decision, detailing blog the to Visitors at his conclusion. their opinions. often weigh in with get a rap going. I to “I really want whether they unreally want to know and why I did it,” I did derstood what don’t know how to he said. “Most people ... I’d like my cases the judge thinks. and also my trereflect my personalitythe law.” for mendous respect 80, went into indiMan, Arbitration suc in 1985, settling vidual practice
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MANHATTAN'S APARTMENT BOOM, > PROPERTY, P.20
2015
In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS
The effort to help small seems to businesses in the city be gathering steam. Two city councilmembers, Robert Margaret Chin and Cornegy, have introduced create legislation that wouldSmall a new “Office of the within Business Advocate” of Small the city’s Department Business Services. Chin The new post, which have up told us she’d like to would and running this year, for serve as an ombudsman city small businesses within them clear government, helping to get through the bureaucracy things done. Perhaps even more also importantly, the ombudsman and number will tally the type small business of complaints by taken in owners, the actions policy response, and somefor ways to recommendations If done well, begin to fix things. report would the ombudsman’s give us the first quantitative with taste of what’s wrong the city, an small businesses in towards important first step fixing the problem. of for deTo really make a difference, is a mere formality will have to the work process looking to complete their advocate are the chances course, velopers precinct, but rising rents, -- thanks to a find a way to tackle business’ is being done legally of after-hours projects quickly. their own hours,” which remain many While Chin “They pick out boom in the number throughout who lives on most vexing problem. said Mildred Angelo,of the Ruppert construction permits gauge what Buildings one said it’s too early tocould have the 19th floor in The Department of the city. number three years, the Houses on 92nd Street between role the advocate She Over the past on the is handing out a record work perThird avenues. permits, there, more information of Second and an ongoing all-hours number of after-hours bad thing. of after-hours work the city’s Dept. problem can’t be a said there’s with the mits granted by nearby where according to new data jumped 30 percent, This step, combinedBorough construction project noise Buildings has data provided in workers constantly make efforts by Manhattan to mediate BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS according to DOB of Informacement from trucks. President Gale Brewer offer response to a Freedom classifies transferring they want. They knows the the rent renewal process, request. The city They 6 “They do whatever signs Every New Yorker clang, tion Act go as they please. work between some early, tangible small any construction on the weekend, can come and sound: the metal-on-metal or the piercing of progress. For many have no respect.” p.m. and 7 a.m., can’t come of these that the hollow boom, issuance reverse. owners, in business moving The increased beeps of a truck has generto a correspond and you as after-hours. soon enough. variances has led at the alarm clock The surge in permits
SLEEPS, THANKS TO THE CITY THAT NEVER UCTION A BOOM IN LATE-NIGHT CONSTR NEWS
A glance it: it’s the middle can hardly believe yet construction of the night, and carries on full-tilt. your local police or You can call 311
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In Brief CITY’S SOLAR OUTPUT FLARES Solar capacity has roughly quadrupled in two years, and city officials are poised to issue permits for more than 3,000 solar panel installations this year alone, according to the de Blasio administration. The pending installations will bring the citywide total to more than 8,000 installations this year, up from 1,819 installations two years ago. The growth puts the city on track to meet its OneNYC goal of installing 100 megawatts of solar power on public buildings, as well as 250 megawatts on private buildings by 2025. The administration also announced an expansion of a 2025 commitment to remove barriers of solar adoption to make room for over 1,000 MW of citywide solar capacity by 2030. 1,000 MW of solar capacity can power over 250,000 households. The city’s first energy storage deployment target is another administration goal. Expanding to 100 megawatt-hours by 2020 will ensure the renewable energy is consistently available, and will allow a variety of energy sources, such as solar panels, a release from the mayor’s office said. One megawatt-hour is the amount produced by a one megawatt power source. The administration said that the expansion of existing targets will create high-paying local jobs, as well as solidify the city’s position as leading solar job market in the northeast. “Two years ago, New York City became the largest city on the planet to commit to meeting an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” Daniel Zarrilli, the city’s senior director for climate policy, said.
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