Senior Housing Development Wins Approval On Upper West Side

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A proposal to demolish three Upper West Side parking garages and replace them with a supportive housing development for low-income seniors and families was approved Monday by a community board committee.

A joint committee composed of Community Board 7's land use and housing committees voted in favor of the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing's plan to build a new center on West 108th street between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues.

Committee members voted 19 in favor, none agains and three not eligible to upzone the development site, enact Mandatory Inclusionary Housing provisions on the site and to transfer ownership of the site to the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing. The site is currently owned by the city.

Community board members voiced concerns about the loss of hundreds of parkings spots in the neighborhood, but eventually ruled that creating affordable housing is a greater benefit to the Upper West Side.

Land use committee co-chair Richard Asche said the proposal was "one of the hardest cases" he'd since since joining the community board.

"I come down on the side of affordable housing because it is probably the most crucial need that anyone ever will have or has had," Asche said Monday night.

Some members of the board also had worries about the project's environmental impact. Demolition of the parking garages currently occupying the site may release toxins into the air, which could be harmful to students at nearby Booker T Washington middle school and those using nearby playgrounds. Community board members urged the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing to come to an agreement with the school about construction and to release environmental studies of the site.

The West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing's development on West 108th will add 194 permanently affordable housing units for low-income seniors and families. The project will also add 18 more beds to Valley Lodge — a transitional homeless shelter that WSFSSH currently operates on the block.

"With WSFSSH at West 108, we aim to deliver not only safe, affordable housing for area seniors and families—but community resources and a more active streetscape for Manhattan Valley residents and visitors," WSFSSH executive director Paul Freitag said in a statement. "We are heartened by the Community Board subcommittee’s unanimous vote and the outpouring of support from Manhattan Valley residents, and look forward to continuing this valuable conversation throughout the public review process."

The new development will also feature community spaces such as a health clinic and an ambulance garage for the Central Park Medical Unit. WSFSSH also plans to construct public restrooms for neighboring Anibal Aviles Playground.

The plan's detractors formed a coalition named "Save Manhattan Valley." Many members of the group held up signs asking "where are 725 cars going to go?" and "construction is toxic to children & other living things." The group formed in March 2016 after WSFSSH presented its plan to the community board, according to its website.

The full community board will vote on WSFSSH's application during its December 5 meeting.

Public comment was not permitted at Monday night's board meeting. Community board 7 had previously held two public comment sessions for the development and accepted write-in comments ahead of Monday's meeting.

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