Opponents seek to end a bungee-jumping venue, citing environmental and safety concerns. The City Council is now exploring those arguments.
As if you needed another reason to try and get away from high-rise, concrete towers, a couple of New York skyscrapers are now the subject of protest. But this time, the building’s construction has drawn ire rather than support.
A proposed $1.75 billion project to convert old warehouses in Queens into the country’s biggest high-rise building failed in December, after a year of lobbying by local residents and environmentalists.
Now, opponents are seeking to scrap the building altogether. They argue the project would be environmentally dangerous; would destroy an iconic piece of New York history; and would bring more traffic to the streets.
In the meantime, a new proposal is being considered by the City Council to move the skyscraper, and the one in Brooklyn, closer to ground level in order to preserve the historic facades. Environmental groups are pushing back hard.
The debate over whether to rip up a landmark high-rise, designed by German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is now entering its third year, with new plans in the works for its replacement.
It is now more than a year and a half since the City Council approved a $4.4 billion proposal to replace the two 50-story buildings. The City Comptroller’s Office has completed an audit, which found the project was not a financial disaster, and that the replacement buildings (to be built on top of the original) are more affordable. A number of the project’s opponents have now endorsed the report.
The Council is now considering new options, including moving the buildings forward.
City Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who was not involved in the original review, is looking to replace the buildings with eight towers rising from the street, rather than three.
The issue is being raised in the same way it was during the original review, when a number of residents complained that the skyscraper would destroy a landmark.
They argue that one tower would be the only way to build a new Manhattan building that would include everything from its views to its access to public transport.
But DiNapoli’s office is looking at other