BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | As the sale of the air rights above Old Chelsea Station moves forward with an anticipated bid process in January, the battle over community input continues.
After successful efforts by the community to save Old Chelsea Station, the facility may once again be in danger.
Longtime customers and elected officials have spent the past two years attempting to ensure that the post office (at 217 W. 18th St., btw. Seventh & Eighth Aves.) not be closed down entirely, be built upon or have parts of its historically significant lobby closed off to the public.
After the United States Postal Service (USPS) alerted that there might be a possible air rights sale with a Nov. 26 notice in the post office’s lobby, the first missive was sent Dec. 11, with several elected officials asking for an extension of the public comment.
The public comment was to last for 15 days and end Dec. 11. The officials asked that it be extended until Dec. 31.
US Congressmember Jerrold Nadler, US Representative Carolyn Maloney,
State Senator Brad Hoylman, Councilmember Corey Johnson and Assemblymembers Richard Gottfried and Deborah Glick signed the letter.
The USPS denied the request, according to a Dec. 18 letter in response. However, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Borough President Gale Brewer and Community Board 4 (CB4) have 60 days to comment, ending Jan. 25. Comments from the community can be included with their responses.
In the Dec. 18 letter, the USPS states that it “anticipates distributing in January a request for proposals (RFP).” It also states that the zoning would allow “the selected bidder to develop the air rights into a eight-story residential tower, not exceeding 83 feet above the existing roof deck.” It further states that the “the postal service’s preliminary design criteria call for the tower to be set back from the front of the building to preserve the visual aesthetics of the existing facade.”
The postal service was also asked to send a representative to CB4’s Chelsea Land Use Committee meeting on Dec. 15, but denied the request. It was then asked to send a representative to the upcoming full board meeting on Jan. 7, and as of now, the USPS will not be there.
Chelsea Now asked a USPS spokesperson about representation at the meetings, but did not receive an answer.
Connie Chirichello, USPS Corporate Communications representative for New York City and Long Island, did say in an Dec. 31 email that “Postal officials have been pretty busy with the holiday mailing season and the review process continues. At this time, no discussion is on the table. Once the review reconvenes USPS officials will keep public elects apprised and a public notice would be posted in the lobby.”
In a draft letter posted on CB4’s website, the board stated that it “is extremely disturbed by USPS’s the lack of community outreach about this proposal which would result in a significant development.”
CB4 also requested an extension of public comment as well as “inclusion in the RFP of ongoing community participation and oversight in project development,” according to the draft letter.
“Community input is a crucial part of any development at the Old Chelsea Post Office and USPS must include community feedback in their planning,” said Nadler in an email. “We will continue to work to ensure that community voices are heard and neighborhood needs are met as USPS moves forward. At a minimum, any plan must maintain retail postal services on the ground floor.”
The Old Chelsea Station is a National Register listed building and under the National Historic Preservation Act, specifically Section 106 and the regulations that detail its implementation, the USPS must evaluate the effect of any proposed project — in this case the air rights — might have on the historic property and whether those effects would be adverse. The USPS has determined there would be no adverse effect.
The State Historic Preservation Office disagrees with that assessment, having stated in a Sept. 17 letter to the USPS that the “proposal will have an adverse effect on the National Register listed building.”
As the two agencies can’t agree, the Advisory Council of Historic Preservation (ACHP) was asked to make an evaluation, said Caroline Hall, assistant director, federal property management section for ACHP, in a phone interview.
In a Dec. 5 letter to the postal service, ACHP states that “the USPS finding of no adverse effect is based on an insufficient assessment…is not supported by the covenant as presently written.”
Hall said that the covenant has to ensure for the long-term preservation of the property and “right now, the way that covenant is worded, it does not do that in our opinion.”
The next monthly full board meeting of CB4 is Wed., Jan. 7, 6:30 p.m., at Fulton Center Auditorium (119 Ninth Ave., btw. 17th & 18th Sts.). Arrive early to sign up for participation in the Public Comment section of the meeting — where members of the public can make their opinions known on Old Chelsea Station (and any other topic). Call 212-736-4536, visit nyc.gov/mcb4 or email them at info@manhattancb4.org.
