The City Council will weigh in next week on a controversial proposal to transform part of the Tribeca waterfront.
The Jack Parker Corp. has proposed rezoning a four-block swath of North Tribeca to allow for large, residential high-rises along the waterfront. Parker would rezone four blocks bounded by West, Washington, Watts and Hubert Sts., although the company only owns one of the blocks bounded by West, Washington, Watts and Desbrosses Sts.
Local residents balked at the proposal, insisting it is out of scale with the sleepy area, which is home to several small one- and two-story garages and will wall off the rest of neighborhood from the water. Community Board 1 and the borough president both rejected the application, which is in the midst of a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. The City Planning Commission, however, approved it with modifications last month, sending the application to the City Council for a final vote.
The council’s Zoning and Franchises, a Land Use Sub-committee, will vote on the application first. The hearing, where the public can testify, will be held at 9:30 a.m. in the Committee Room in City Hall on Aug. 14. At 10 a.m. the following day, the Land Use Committee will vote on the application in the Committee Room at City Hall. And on Wed., Aug. 16, the City Council will vote at 1 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall.
The City Council vote is the final step in the ULURP process and City Councilmember Alan Gerson has indicated he will not support the application in its current form. Typically, councilmembers vote in accordance with the local member. The mayor is unlikely to veto the plan if it passes, since it has already been approved by his appointees to City Planning.
—Ronda Kaysen
