City's Union Sq. Plan Could Ruin Village Character, Residents Say

UNION SQUARE, MANHATTAN — A city plan aimed at making sure newly-built hotels fit in with the neighborhood could actually speed up the development of large office towers that are destroying the Village's residential character, residents said this week.

About a dozen residents, activists and local community board members showed up to a public hearing Wednesday to blast a Department of City Planning proposal that would require hotels built in a section below Union Square get a special permit from the city.

The group argued that the plan — which city planners contend would prevent out-of-place hotels — could actually speed up overdevelopment in the area because it doesn't include protections for historic, small-scale buildings that are at risk of being torn down.

"The proposed hotel special permit plan offers virtually no protections for Greenwich Village and East Village neighborhoods south of Union Square they are facing a flood of demolitions and out-of-scale, out-of-character development," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

The city's proposal would extend an existing district that requires hotels get special permits several blocks south, creating a subsection from East 14th Street down to East 9th and 10th streets between Third and Fifth avenues.

Berman and others argued that under the plan, while hotels would face an extra hurdle to get approved in the area, other commercial buildings like office towers of the same size would still be able to go up in their place.

"What's the difference between riding by a large-scale hotel and a large-scale office building?" one resident said. "Ripping down residential buildings that are characteristic of the area is a huge mistake."

The proposal, they said, should have included protections for the neighborhood's largely residential, low-rise buildings, many of which are historic. Activists with the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative also suggested extending the East Village Historic District as a means to protect the area.

GVSHP and other organizations have long advocated for a long list of buildings in the area to be landmarked so that they would be protected from demolition.

Wednesday's hearing, in front of the City Planning Commission, was the latest pushback on the Union Square proposal.

The plan already was turned down by both community boards that oversee the area.

Frederica Sigel, a land use chair with Community Board 2, told the commission that the board supports contextual rezoning in the area, but would like to see provisions made for more affordable housing and landmarking of certain sites first.

"Community Board 2 recommends denial until the city has implemented zoning changes for this area that will protect its predominantly residential character and its historic buildings," she said.

After the planning commission votes on the proposal, it will head to City Council.