The local paper for the Upper er East Side ROAD TESTS FOR TAXIS? < OP-ED, P.15
UNITING TO SAVE A CARNEGIE HILL CHURCH BY MEGAN BUNGEROTH
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2015
OURTOWNNY.COM
OurTownEastSide O @OurTownNYC
CRACKDOWN ON BUILDING-PERMIT BRIBES
Community rallies to keep a 1870 structure from the wrecking ball
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12-18 In Brief
NEWS
First Step to Landmark St. Thomas More Churchgoers and preservation activists are rallying around a common cause in Carnegie Hill - to save the Church of St. Thomas More, both from the wrecking ball and the auction block. On Monday, the Upper East Side community board’s landmark committee voted to approve an application to landmark the historic Gothic revival church complex, which was built in 1870. The process, though, is unusual in that the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has yet to schedule the property, which is on East 89th Street between Madison and Park avenues, for a hearing to consider it for landmark status. The current application, drafted by the Carnegie Hill Neighbors preservation group, is formally a request for the LPC to evaluate whether it’s appropriate to calendar that hearing and start the process. This distinction is crucial as the applicants are racing against the rumored impending sale of the church by the Roman Catholic diocese, which is weighing whether or not to merge
WEEK OF FEBRUARY
A PLAN FOR THE ESPLANADE NEWS Community group focuses on traffic and water erosion BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
Civitas and a local architecture firm released a plan for the future of the East River Esplanade, which is facing a host of environmental and infrastructure issues even as that part of Manhattan suffers from a lack of green and public space. Civitas is a neighborhood advocacy group focused on sustainable urban planning on the Upper East Side and East Harlem. This time last year, they teamed up with consultants from Matthew Nielsen Landscape Architects on a study of the esplanade with an eye towards repairs and improvements. The study area encompasses 65 city blocks, over 3.5
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miles, from East 60th Street to East 125th Street. Civitas held a series of meetings last year to get input from the public on their experience and suggestions for improvements to the esplanade. “The current esplanade is narrow, congested with bicyclists and pedestrians, noisy, and feels disconnected from the rest of the city,” according to the report. “More programming is desired, as are improved connections to the water, opportunities for gardening, ecological enhancements, and great access to recreational boating.” In 2013, the city’s parks department conducted an underwater investigation that found the esplanade needs significant improvements in the next decade. While Civitas’ study looked into what the community wants the esplanade to be, it also examined
the environmental forces arrayed against the existing walkway. For instance, it was found that over time the tributaries and streams that fed the East and Harlem rivers were slowly filled in and formed what is now the edge of the esplanade. “The esplanade will continue to change in the face of numerous environmental factors,” said the report. For instance, “Improvements in water quality have ironically increased the rate of deterioration to its existing structures.” The report also touched on how the esplanade formed over the years, harking back to the Lenape Indians who fished the river in the centuries prior to 1900 when the esplanade as it’s known today began to emerge. The report notes that approximately 150,000 cars currently use the FDR
In a scene reminiscent of 1970s New York, dozens of building inspectors and private landlords -- some suspected of mob affiliations -- were taken into custody on Tuesday on bribery charges. The Manhattan D.A.’s office and the city Department of Investigation said more than 50 people had been arrested, hauled before cameras in lower Manhattan. The defendants were accused of accepting bribes in exchanging for granting building permits. Some of the buildings were given a pass, investigators said, even though they continued to have serious code violations. The sting, first reported by the Daily News, snagged eight building inspectors, two Buildings Department supervisors, an employee of the Department of Small Business Services, as well as other owners and managers. Investigators said the bribetaking has implicated more than 100 buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and could lead to reinspections across the city. While full details of the scams aren’t yet available, inspectors say they no doubt were fed by a building boom in the city, and a rush to speed up city approval processes. In the last year alone, demand for new building permits has risen 35%, according to city records. That pace will likely only increase as a plan by Mayor Bill de Blasio to amp up the city’s housing stock takes effect.
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