The city may be close to reaching an agreement about diesel fuel illegally stored in the Western Union building in Tribeca, but Community Board 1 still has something to say about the matter. The board passed a resolution urging the city not to grant the building’s owners a variance after dozens of neighborhood residents turned out in force to voice their outrage.
“If I were you Richard – and I’m glad I’m not you – I would be on the phone with people,” said Tribeca resident Anne Compoccia, speaking to interim chairperson Richard Kennedy. Compoccia was C.B 1 chairperson for more than a decade until 2000. “If that building goes kapooey, we’re going to have a big problem, that building is in the middle of everything.”
The building, at 60 Hudson St., currently stores as much as 80,000 pounds of diesel fuel for generators and air conditioning units for the telecommunications tenants. The city has been negotiating with the building’s owners, GVA Williams for several years to legalize the fuel that is stored there. Recently, the Department of Buildings indicated that it was close to reaching an agreement with the owners.
The Art Deco building has been at the center of a neighborhood controversy since 2002, when it was first revealed that the fuel was stored there. The closest example of the dangers of diesel fuel is a stone’s throw away, at 7 World Trade Center, where the building ignited from the diesel fuel it stored. The tower burned uncontrolled for hours and eventually collapsed.
“The idea that this fuel could end up being the target of a terrorist attack, that is unacceptable,” said Tribeca resident Hal Bromm.
—Ronda Kaysen
WWW Downtown Express
