Looking back, looking ahead
Hard to believe, but another year has come and gone. Once again, it’s time to reflect on the major events of this past year with an eye towards the one to come….
A huge victory was the landmarking of the Gansevoort Market, more familiarly known as the Meat Market. However, still threatened and in need of landmarking are the South Village and the Far West Village and waterfront, the so-called “Maritime Mile.”
Another major issue was the preservation of Mitchell-Lama affordable housing, including the West Village Houses. It was encouraging to see the mayor say he would support legislation in Albany to save Mitchell-Lamas; but there is skepticism on whether this is an effective approach.
On housing on the East Side, the Bloomberg administration offered a plan for the remaining Seward Park Urban Renewal Area sites, a big step in the right direction. Yet, the heated reaction by some to the plan’s low-income housing component shows the long-vacant sites remain contentious.
Hudson River Park, as always, was an important story for Villagers. This year saw completion of the 5-mile-long park’s first segment — the Greenwich Village section — and it is truly a huge plus to the Village and the city’s waterfront. However, there was also controversy surrounding the Hudson River Park Trust, including the failure to pick a developer for Pier 40, the ice-skating rink fiasco and complaints the Trust’s process is closed and that it needs to make its finances more transparent. Now comes news a lawsuit has been filed over the Pier 40 process. Here we go again….
We have high hopes for Connie Fishman, the Trust’s new president as of Jan. 1, and we encourage her to keep the community involved in major decisions — and minor ones, too — affecting the park.
A similar process is just starting on redeveloping the Lower East Side waterfront. Things are in the brainstorming stages; it’s clear what’s needed is usable public space.
Also on parks, it’s been a banner year for the Washington Sq. Arch, the renovation of which will soon be complete. And signs are encouraging that a planned renovation of the park is starting to move ahead as a Parks Department priority.
Speaking of Washington Sq., forever impacted by the recent construction of New York University’s Kimmel Center and new Law School building, raises the issue of the ongoing effort to modify the city’s community-facilities zoning bonus. Clearly, this bonus is inappropriate in the historic, low-scale Village, yet has been used repeatedly by N.Y.U., to the eternal detriment of the square. We call on N.Y.U. President John Sexton to do the right thing for the community in his second, not yet scheduled, community town hall meeting: forego and forswear future use of the community-facilities zoning bonus in critical parts of the Village.
The mayor showed guts in passing a landmark anti-smoking law, making bars, restaurants and small offices pleasanter and healthier. And his administration is taking on tough quality of life issues, such as reforming the cabaret law and the city’s noise code.
All in all, it was a year of progress. Let’s hope it continues. It’s time to open the door to ’04.
