CIVITAS in Action

Recycling Program Launches at P.S. 007 

October 29th marked launch day for a major CIVITAS schools recycling initiative at P.S. 007 and Global Tech in East Harlem. As part of its three-pronged recycling initiative, CIVITAS committed to a pilot program in East Harlem through collaboration with another non-profit, Cafeteria Culture (CafCu). This collaboration immersed board members in the CafCu methodology and helped CIVITAS learn the how and why of cafeteria recycling. Board members were directly involved in both the classroom, helping to teach a recycling curriculum, and in the cafeteria, implementing the sorting for recycling methodology alongside students. CIVITAS is using this experience to determine how to push forward in its mission to increase recycling rates in schools in East Harlem. In the process, CIVITAS accumulated the necessary information to write its own guidebook for future school recycling initiatives, and hopes to use this knowledge to move forward in a role that motivates student and administrator involvement in the service of increasing recycling and becoming better wardens of the environment. 

Park Avenue Historic District Extension 

CIVITAS supports the nomination of Park Avenue between 79th and 96th Street to be designated a New York City historic district. Except for a few blocks of Park Avenue located in the Carnegie Hill Historic District, most of this corridor between 79th and 96th Street does not fall within a historic district. CIVITAS supports the work of numerous community groups who have worked for years to achieve landmark protection for the historic Park Avenue corridor. The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has calendared a hearing for February 11, 2014. 

Park Avenue Christian Church 

The LPC calendaring of a hearing for the Park Avenue Historic District suspends any changes to buildings in the proposed district that includes the Park Avenue Christian Church at 1010 Park Avenue, which had been under threat of demolition. The Extell Corporation has filed plans for a 210-foot tower to occupy the portion of the lot where the parish house is currently located and to cantilever over the church building. CIVITAS has written a letter in support of the individual landmark designation of the Park Avenue Christian Church complex, which includes the church and parish house because of its cultural and historical significance. 

Update: East River Esplanade Initiative 

CIVITAS is moving forward to hire a planning and outreach consultant for the East River Esplanade project. The study area for the project is the East River Esplanade between 60th and 125th Streets and the objective is to help CIVITAS bring Upper East Side and East Harlem residents together to plan for improvements of the Esplanade park. We are grateful to the New York Community Trust and other funders for supporting this project. 

This fall, CIVITAS’s Reimagining the Waterfront exhibition was on display at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. Workshops were held with children from the afterschool program and adults from the Senior Center. The workshops taught participants about community based planning and CIVITAS’s Esplanade improvement initiative. 

Students at the Allen-Stevenson School learn about the importance of city planning with CIVITAS’s Environmental Associate Maura Smotrich. 

Additionally, CIVITAS’s Environmental Associate, Maura Smotrich, gave a presentation to second graders at The Allen-Stevenson School on the process of urban planning and led a discussion about the importance of understanding what is needed when building a city. The students are working on a unit in their art class that teaches them to build their own city. CIVITAS’s Reimagining the Waterfront exhibit is on display for public viewing at City Swiggers located at 320 East 86th Street. 

The Dalton School Expansion 

In January, the Board of Standards and Appeal (BSA) approved The Dalton School’s variance request to build a two-story addition atop its main building at 108-114 East 89th Street. CIVITAS had written a letter in opposition to the request for variance to the BSA. The current proposal, the third variance requested by The Dalton School, seeks to further amend the variance by increasing the height from 144 feet to 170 feet. This application proposes a floor area expansion of about 12,200 gross square feet, representing a floor area ratio (FAR) of 9.67, though the area’s R8B zoning allows only a 5.1 FAR for community facilities. 

City Council Votes to Ban Styrofoam 

The New York City Council unanimously voted to ban toxic and polluting styrene foam! This landmark decision is a victory for our environment, health and future. CIVITAS weighed in on the debate with other non-profits pushing for the ban by testifying at the City Council hearing about the environmental dangers of polystyrene products. The collaborative effort yielded a far-reaching environmental win. 

CIVITAS President Felipe Ventegeat and Vice President Gorman Reilly stand with Public Advocate Letitia James in support of the City Council’s vote to ban styrofoam. 

In The Community: NYCHA Land Lease 

In August, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) issued a request for expression of interest (R.F.E.I) for 99-year land leases to build new housing within existing housing sites to potential developers interested in the sites. NYCHA infill plans are for eight of its housing sites including two in Community District 11, Washington and Carver Houses. The Housing Authority believes this controversial plan is the best way to provide necessary funding for tens of millions of dollars’ worth of building repairs across the city. Proposals were due in November and developers have yet to be selected. It is still unclear whether Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has been highly critical of the initiative, but has not voiced total opposition to a land use program, will take action to stop or modify the plan. 

To read the complete Winter 2014 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/

Talking Past and Future for East Harlem

Willa Hutner

 P.S. 109 was discussed at the East Harlem Revitalization and Rezoning panel organized by CIVITAS and the National Academy in December. Artspace and El Barrio’s Operation Fightback are converting the former school at 215 East 99th Street into affordable housing for artists. Photo by El Barrio’s Artspace.on Fightback are converting the former school at 215 East 99th Street into affordable housing for artists. Photo by El Barrio’s Artspace.

The second of a three-part series of lectures  co-organized by CIVITAS and the National Academy took place on December 4th. The series was designed to explore ways in which architects, planners, activists, scientists, and city agencies can work together to improve urban environments. The first discussion, described in CIVITAS’s winter newsletter, focused on the East River Esplanade. This one dealt with urban revitalization and East Harlem rezoning. 

Projects now under way in East Harlem show successful revitalization efforts and point the way forward. The question is whether East Harlem’s problems are so different from those in other neighborhoods that solutions that work there would not be transferable elsewhere. By the end of the discussion it was clear that projects now transforming the face of East Harlem are not only inspiring; they are also applicable elsewhere.

Moderator Karrie Jacobs, Contributing Editor of Metropolis and founding Editor-in- Chief of Dwell, opened the discussion with slides of atypical beauty in American cities. Beauty in an urban environment can include elements beyond our usual vocabulary. In her classes at the School of Visual Arts, she uses these examples to bring her students to an understanding of what is valuable in zoning.

The first panelist, architect Peter Gluck, made a distinction between zoning’s effect on the future and the changes now occurring in East Harlem. The High Line and the surrounding gentrification it has spawned are familiar. So are other dramatic changes to the city skyline.  Less well known are the moderate-cost buildings that not-for-profit institutions have managed to get built, vastly improving their ability to carry out their mission. These institutions are the anchors of any community. The first step in any urban revitalization is to become aware of the city already being built “under the radar”.

Second panelist Gus Rosado is Executive Director of El Barrios’s Operation Fightback, the first organization to bring small homes to first-time buyers in East Harlem. Public School (P.S.) 109, a school that was abandoned for twelve years, is now being renovated into ninety affordable live-and-work space for artists, as well as space available to community groups. 

Third panelist Matthew Washington, Chairman of Community Board 11 and CIVITAS Advisory Board member, argued that zoning is a powerful tool to create positive change in East Harlem where a great number of residents are facing difficult circumstances. The area has the city’s highest density of public housing. The average income is $32,000; the poverty rate exceeds 40%. Two thirds are either overweight or obese. Planners should approach rezoning here differently. They should begin by not considering building height or mass, or preservation vs. redevelopment, or gentrification, though rising land prices make that likely. Any rezoning scheme must support the needs of the community, and should aim toward promoting education, health, employment, affordable housing, and open space. It should find a way to take advantage of the Metro-North viaduct, and to bring industrial zones back to life. Zoning is a tool, and it should be used for a purpose. 

From left, CIVITAS Chairman Genie Rice with panelist Peter Gluck, Matthew Washington, Karrie Jacobs, Gus Rosado, and CIVIVAS Executive Director Lauren O'Toole

CIVITAS and Community Board 11 have jointly developed zoning recommendations to encourage the following goals in the community: affordable housing opportunities, economic development and job creation, new buildings that are contextual in scale with their surroundings and revitalization of Park Avenue. The rezoning study area includes Madison, Park and Lexington Avenues between 115th and 132nd Streets. The area has not been rezoned in its entirety in over 50 years. The next step for the rezoning recommendations is adoption by the NYC Department of City Planning. 

To read the complete Winter 2014 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/

CIVITAS in action: The East River Esplanade

Hunter F. Armstrong 

With the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy approaching on October 29, the Upper East Side and East Harlem waterfront is in regular political discussion. CIVITAS is helping plan for the East River Esplanade’s future, and is responding to citywide policies and institutional plans. We are pushing for a larger plan for this natural and recreational resource. Otherwise, the community will be stuck with a patchwork of different proposals for the park. With so much energy and attention being focused on the East River, with the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station and other proposals, now is the time to plan smartly for the long term, and to prepare for future storms. Below is an overview of factors currently at play in our communities’ waterfront. 

Engineering Study 
In June, the NYC Parks Department and consultants presented their engineering evaluation of the wooden piles that support the Esplanade between 60th and 125th Streets. Marine borers have gradually chewed away the piles and destabilized the platform. Most potholes that resulted and pocked the Esplanade have been filled, but the overall study was critical to determine where future holes may occur. The Parks Department study stated the piles will need to be replaced by concrete piers and determined this will cost approximately $110 million over a 10-year period to maintain the Esplanade in its current, narrow footprint. If the city defers maintenance and piles are not replaced this decade, the Parks Department consultants estimated costs will balloon to exceed $400 million. 

Mayor Bloomberg’s Special Initiative for Resiliency and Rebuilding 
The Mayor created this initiative after the devastation Sandy reaped on New York. Released in June, much of the 400-page report understandably focused on neighborhoods devastated by the storm. That said, it does have major implications for our community. The plan proposes a “deployable floodwall” between 90th and 125th Street, where the storm surge gushed as far upland as Second Avenue. CIVITAS has met with the Mayor’s staff to discuss the proposal’s feasibility in a future administration, and how the community can help shape the plan. 

A rendering of the “deployable floodwall” system proposed for the waterfront between East 90th Street and East 125th Street. Rendering from the Mayor’s Resiliency Plan.

Rockefeller University 
Farther south, Rockefeller University is planning to expand with a four-block platform over the FDR Drive between 64th and 68th Streets. CIVITAS, the community board and neighbors have met with university officials and their designers to determine implications of this major expansion, which will fill in the only remaining gap over the FDR between 61st and 71st Streets. The two-story building will be over 150,000 square feet. As part of the plan, which went into the official city land use review process in September, the university proposes upgrading four Esplanade blocks with new plantings and trees, irrigation, new seating and separate areas for cyclists, walkers and benches. The redesign will keep the 1930s-era metal railing and asphalt pavers that are used throughout our city’s waterfront. CIVITAS and neighbors raised concerns about the impact on Esplanade users due to increased traffic noise and exhaust fumes that will result from capping over the highway. We also asked for better access to the waterfront via the gated campus and for additional information about the platform’s impact on the Esplanade’s underlying infrastructure. 

The proposed Rockefeller University expansion. Rendering by Rafael Vinoly Architects. 

Other Projects 
With no comprehensive community waterfront plan, smaller projects continue to occur in a piecemeal way. To mitigate impacts of their 1 million square foot facility between East 73rd and East 74th Streets, Memorial Sloan Kettering and Hunter College-CUNY will invest the funds needed to replace the deteriorated piles at Andrew Haswell Green Park, over a half-mile away. CIVITAS and other groups objected to the distance between the park improvements and the 450-foot building’s 8,500 daily visitors. CIVITAS also recently learned that sections of the Con Ed property near 73rd Street will be partially opened and returned to park land. Unfortunately, the building will remain in place mere feet from the FDR and maintain a narrow, dangerous pinchpoint for Esplanade users. 


Next Steps for Reimagining the Waterfront 
In addition to work cited in this article and keeping the community informed, CIVITAS is also keeping our award-winning 2012 exhibition from the Museum of the City of New York on public view. In September, CIVITAS installed the exhibition at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and is working with their staff and the museum to create programming for Lenox Hill’s many daily visitors. We are also developing more programs to educate park users and neighbors. The Esplanade was the first topic in our public panel series with the National Academy, which is discussed on Page 1. We feel strongly that more funding and attention is needed to address our densely built neighborhood’s park-space deficits, and we will continue to work toward improving the Esplanade. Threats like future storm surges have focused more attention on preparing for the catastrophic while planning for day to day enjoyment. 

To read the complete fall 2013 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/

Designing Healthy Neighborhoods from the Sidewalk Up

Tali Cantor

Pedestrian plaza at Madison Square, part of the Broadway Boulevard Project. 

Photo by NYC Department of Transportation.

Although New York City is considered an active city compared to places with greater car use, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) estimates that 80% of adults living in the city are still not maintaining the recommended 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 days a week. In fact, in NYC alone over half of adults are either obese or overweight. However you feel about the new blue additions to the city’s streets and sidewalks, CitiBike bicycle share is only one example of city efforts to improve New Yorkers’ health through physical activity.

Solutions to get New Yorkers moving, like the bicycle infrastructure, can be found through active design for the built environment. The DOHMH, and the Departments of Design and Construction, Transportation, and City Planning have promoted and implemented active design by encouraging physical activity indoors and in public spaces. 

In 2010, these agencies released a report called Active Design Guidelines. This report provides an extensive resource for designers, property developers and owners, public officials, and community members to understand design strategies focused on increasing physical activity, as well as access to transportation, open space, and fresh food.

At the building level, active design recommends architecture that integrates physical activity into daily routines, particularly through stairwell design and pedestrian circulation. Improving the stairway experience may be as basic as adding color, light, or signage. Since 2008 the NYC “Burn Calories not Electricity” campaign has provided signs with this slogan on stairwell doorways to encourage stair rather than elevator use, and Mayor Bloomberg further promoted this message by announcing a series of legislative policies to require buildings to increase stairway visibility and 

accessibility. 

In the public realm, New York City has seen design interventions and programs to increase opportunities for active recreation outdoors. Street improvements providing protected bicycle lanes, such as those on First, Second and Columbus Avenues, and the CitiBike bicycle share program encourage a healthy and efficient alternative transit. In addition, parks and open spaces with recreational facilities such as basketball courts, walking tracks, or even fitness stations offer outdoor amenities to get in shape without a gym pass. In 2011, the Make NYC Your Gym campaign included free public fitness classes and activities in city parks and public spaces to further increase opportunities for physical activity, and this summer’s “ G o P a r k ” c a m p a i g n advertised passive and active r e c r e a t i o n opportunities in these spaces as well. 

Providing access to the recommended “apple-a-day” has also been a priority for active designers. In the long term, active design sets out to fill “food deserts” with full-service grocery stores, or to use open spaces for greenmarkets and farm stands.  

The active design tools that will have the greatest impact on New Yorkers, however, are those that foster a safe and pleasant environment at the streetscape level. In summer 2013, the agencies behind the Active Design Guidelines released a follow-up report called Active Design: Shaping the Sidewalk Experience, a resource for understanding policies and programs that enhance an active, lively, and pedestrian-friendly sidewalk. 

The report is written for designers, policy makers, students, and community members who want to impact urban design for the public realm. It looks at the sidewalk as a physical space that not only protects pedestrians from vehicular traffic, but also stimulates economic development and social interactions between neighbors and friends. It identifies the “sidewalk room” as the space containing the ground plane, building wall, roadside plane, and the canopy, each of which is governed by zoning regulations that determine building scale, street furniture, lighting, trees, and curbside parking, to name just a few design elements, and create an environment that is visually interesting, connected within the street network, and safe. 

The sidewalk environments on the Upper East Side and East Harlem can be evaluated on the interactive website www.walkscore.com, which quantifies neighborhood “walkability” based on factors such as population, public transportation, and proximity to local retail and amenities. Of the 256 neighborhoods identified in NYC, the Upper East Side is ranked 20th with a high walk score of 98 out of 100 and East Harlem is ranked 43rd with a score of 93. Within these neighborhoods, however, there exist significant physical obstacles that impede pedestrian accessibility, such as the FDR Drive that acts as a barrier between the residential neighborhoods to its west and the waterfront parks along the East River Esplanade. North of 97th Street, the MetroNorth train tracks along Park Avenue physically divide East Harlem and either prevent or limit access from one side of the avenue to the other. Where the tracks rise to allow pedestrian connections below, the amount of underutilized and vacant space detracts from a lively sidewalk. 

The report includes a companion guide, which provides tools and resources to measure sidewalk success through qualitative and quantitative survey analysis, and an appendix of policies that are applicable to sidewalk design and function. For those non-designers, the city provides resources for community members to take ownership of the “sidewalk room.” This could be as easy as calling 311 to report hazardous sidewalk conditions or poorly maintained street furniture, to request street trees or benches, or else becoming more involved with the local Community Board or community-based organizations to raise concerns with like-minded neighbors. 

Creating an optimal pedestrian environment is just one way to realize active design, and it facilitates the most basic and inexpensive type of exercise - using your own two feet. So this fall, get off the train a subway stop early or aim for that extra flight of stairs, and take advantage of all the opportunities to stay healthy that are built right into the city surrounding you. 

More information on the Active Design Guidelines can be found at the website of the Department of City Planning nyc.gov/planning 

NYC Recreational and Fitness Parks 

One of the various forms of exercise 

on the East River Esplanade 

Asphalt Green 

From East 90 Street between York Avenue and FDR Drive 
FE, P 

John Jay Park 
From East 76 to East 78th Streets at Cherokee Place 
BC, FE, HB, OP, P 

St. Catherine’s Park 
From East 67th Street to East 68th Streets at 1st Avenue 
BC, FE, HB, P, RT 

Thomas Jefferson Park 
Between 1st Avenue and FDR Drive From East 111th to East 114th Streets 
BB, BF, FE, HB, OP, P, RC, RT, SF 




BC - Basketball Courts 
BF - Baseball Fields 
FE - Fitness Equipment 
HB - Handball Courts 
OP - Outdoor Pools 
P - Playgrounds 
RC - Recreation Center 
RT - Running Tracks 
SF - Soccer Fields v

To read the complete fall 2013 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/

CIVITAS Launches Discussion Series with East River Waterfront Panel

Michael Storm 

The East River Esplanade looking south from East 71st Street. Courtesy of Anton Brookes. 

This fall marks the inaugural series of CIVITAS’s panel and lecture programs entitled Art, Design, and the Urban Environment. It will address issues important to the quality of life on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem. The series, co-sponsored by CIVITAS and the National Academy, is an inter-disciplinary exploration of neighborhood issues that intertwines CIVITAS’s mission to improve the quality of urban life with the mission of the National Academy to sustain the visual arts. 

Pier 15 along the East River, Courtesy of SHoP.

The first panel, held on October 2nd, brought together panelists from a variety of backgrounds to explore how art and design could transform the East River Waterfront. The panelists were Cecilia Alemani, Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Curator and Director of High Line Art; Al Appleton, former Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection; Michael Marrella, Director of Waterfront and Open Space for the New York City Department of City Planning; and Charles Birnbaum, Founder and President of The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Subsequent panels this winter will address Urban Revitalization and East Harlem Rezoning as well as Transportation and the Second Avenue Subway. 

In advance of the first event, CIVITAS spoke with the panel’s moderator, architect Gregg Pasquarelli, to learn about his work designing the southern section of the East River Waterfront. His firm, SHoP, redesigned the waterfront underneath the FDR overpass, connecting the Battery Maritime Center to East River Park, just south of the Williamsburg Bridge, bringing the prospect of a continuous waterfront along the East Side one step closer to reality. Pasquarelli’s important role in this process has given him a unique vision for how and why the waterfront should serve our community. 

In August, CIVITAS spoke to Gregg Pasquarelli about his work on the East River waterfront. 

Gregg Pasquarelli. 

Courtesy of SHoP 

CIVITAS: In your work along the southern portion of the East River waterfront, what options did you explore in redeveloping the area? 

Gregg: When we first did the original masterplan we looked at literally dozens of different strategies from burying the FDR Drive, leaving it as a bridge, floating it as an island, building an actual barrier to raise the FDR for storm protection, putting in muscle reefs, putting in barrier islands. We looked at dozens and dozens of things that could be done:

C: The FDR Drive replaced what used to be heavy industry, so you are dealing with New York City’s post-industrial waterfront with the city contained by a freeway. 

G: Exactly. It was a kind of park or esplanade that was nestled among the infrastructure of the city. By bringing cultural, community, and recreation uses into a series of pavilions, you brought the city out onto the waterfront. And by opening up these view corridors, you brought the waterfront into the city, and you allow these cross-grain connections to bring you there. 

C: What potential do you see waterfronts bringing to the East Side? How did you see your work fulfilling this potential? 

G: In a city that’s desperate for open space, here’s a place where you can get out, you can look a mile or two up and down the river and get sunlight. Just opening it up where people feel safe and can walk there and ride their bikes there—it’s huge—the value that that brings to the quality of life of everyone that lives down in that very dense part of town. 

C: What has been the process with the city in developing the waterfront? Who is your client? 

G: Our client is the Economic Development Corporation and the NYC Department of Design and Construction. We worked quite a bit on the logistics of getting it built with the EDC but really on a lot of the design issues with the DDC. They were great clients. I think I did 114 meetings with the city over only the first two years. 

C: How did your meetings with the community affect the design and construction process when you were developing the East River waterfront? 

G: We really talked about how things were working, what was working in the area and what wasn’t working in the area. What were things that could be improved? What were things that community desired? Then we put up this whole overall idea we had and made it work so that it solved some of the community issues. 

C: The panel that you are moderating at the National Academy brings together a very diverse group of professionals to speak about the uptown stretch of the East River waterfront. How do you believe this kind of conversation can improve the area? 

G: If designers aren’t engaged in explaining that to people who do not know enough about design, I think we get horrible spaces and a waste of money. I think architects tend to be a little insular in general so the more broadly you can learn about things, the richer your designs become. It’s always inspiring to look at other kinds of professions. I’m always interested in looking at other professions, their models, how they solve problems. 

C: This panel is a part of CIVITAS’s initiative called Reimagining the Waterfront that has been leading discussions with community members about their experiences with the waterfront. How do you see community-based initiatives affecting the quality of life for these areas? 

G: Getting buy-in [from the community,] getting people to understand what design is and what it does, and how it’s performative, and what it can accomplish, is important for making any space successful. If we’re going to live in dense cities, we have got to have great public space and making great public space requires people to come together and invest in that space and invest in the understandings of how it works and what its effects are. These are extremely important things. 

To read the complete fall 2013 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/

Upcoming Environmental Activities on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem

July 16: "Green" Meeting at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House

Attend an information session with the NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development in partnership with Council Member Jessica Lappin. Topics include: green financing, water & energy conservation, recycling, weatherization, and utility incentives.

Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
331 East 70th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues), 1st Floor Auditorium

July 20: City Of Water Day Festival  

Saturday, July 20

10 am - 4 pm 

Locations include:

Harlem River Park at East 135th Street. For the activity schedule, click here

Liberty State Park, New Jersey

Governor's Island

Sponsored by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance

All details are available at: www.cityofwaterday.org

July 14: Paper SHRED-A-THON at the 92nd St Greenmarket

Sunday, July 14

10 am - 2 pm 

First Avenue (between 92 & 93rd Streets)

Shred documents for free at the 92nd St Greenmarket. Other items to recycle include: eyeglasses, corks, batteries, Britta filters, DVDs/CDs, jewel cases, cell phones and cords.

Updated Information on Neighborhood Greenmarkets

Summer is here and our community's greenmarkets are thriving. Go early for the best produce!  Read the recent CIVITAS newsletter piece and updated details provided by Upper Green Side on the CIVITAS blog. Visit one of the following greenmarket locations:

East 67th Street Market at P.S. 183
East 67th Street (between First & York Avenues)

East 82nd Street, St. Stephen’s
East 82nd Street (between First & York Avenues)

East 92nd Street Market
First Avenue (between 92nd & 93rd Streets)

Mt. Sinai Greenmarket
99th Street (between Madison & Park Avenues)

Harvest Home East Harlem Market
East 104th Street at Third Avenue

Harvest Home Metropolitan Market
99th Street at Third Avenue

• Many of the markets offer merchandise and services beyond farm-grown food.

Click here for more details about locations, hours and services.

CIVITAS In Action

Memorial Sloan-Kettering - CUNY Hunter College East 74th Street Project 

At numerous community meetings, CIVITAS has testified for open space improvements to be part of a proposed 450-foot-tall complex by the City University of New York Hunter College (CUNY) and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). The location is between East 73rd and East 74th Streets and York Avenue and the FDR Drive. The million square-foot project’s application has entered the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which includes recommendations to the NYC Department of City Planning from the Community Board and the Manhattan Borough President. 

CIVITAS is strongly in favor of improvements to the nearby East River Esplanade and feels that additional open space needs to be created and improved on the development site or very close by to accommodate the thousands of daily visitors. 

The project consists of an ambulatory cancer care hospital and nursing school and is currently a city-owned site, zoned for manufacturing (M3-2). The applicant is seeking a zoning change to a commercial (C1-9) lot, which allows for a 10 Floor Area Ratio (FAR). The applicant is also requesting a zoning text amendment for additional development rights (2 FAR), which could exceed 130,000 square feet. 

CIVITAS has urged open space improvements that are immediately proximate to the development site to handle its negative impacts, high automobile and pedestrian traffic and building density. We insist on improvements that are commensurate with the extremely valuable development increases being considered. 

Expansion of City Recycling Program 

New York City recently announced the biggest expansion of its recycling program in 25 years which it states will lead to more than 50,000 tons of waste diverted from landfills. The biggest change is that New Yorkers can now recycle hard plastics, including: 

• plastic bottles, jugs & jars 

• plastic caps & lids 

• plastic food containers (yogurt, deli, hummus, dairy tubs, cookie tray inserts, “clamshell” containers, other plastic take-out containers) 

• plastic packaging (“blister-pak” and “clamshell” consumer packaging, acetate boxes) 

• plastic housewares (flower pots, mixing bowls, plastic appliances, etc.) 

• bulk plastic (crates, buckets, pails, furniture, large toys & appliances, etc.) 

You can find a full list of what you can and cannot recycle on the Department of Sanitation’s website: on.nyc.gov/16CqDQF 

Apartment Building Recycling Honor Roll 

Congratulations to the following building for their participation in the Apartment Building Recycling Initiative: 

• 1192 Park Avenue 

• 410 East 57th Street 

• 1070 Park Avenue 

Join the Honor Roll! Contact CIVITAS at 212.996.0745 or visit: bit.ly/V76M7G 

City & Suburban and First Avenue Estates Model Tenements 

CIVITAS wishes City & Suburban Houses a happy 100th anniversary. We joined many neighbors in May to commemorate this milestone and the long fight to make this historic East 79th Street complex a NYC landmark. Betty Cooper Wallerstein, Andrew Dolkart, Tony Wood and many veterans of the preservation battle gathered at Temple Sharaay Tefila to celebrate. 

At deadline, the fate of another model tenement, First Avenue Estates, remains in limbo and is up for public hearing in June at the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The owner, Stahl Development, has made a hardship claim against landmark status. CIVITAS has testified in support of keeping the historic designation and commends Friends of the UES Historic Districts for leading the charge to uphold the landmarks law. Both tenement complexes were granted landmark status for their role in the Progressive Era housing movement. 

East Harlem Rezoning Update and Park Avenue Vision Session 

In spring 2013, Community Board 11 submitted zoning recommendations to the NYC Department of City Planning (DCP) for the Madison, Park and Lexington Avenue corridors. Developed in partnership with CIVITAS and described in detail in the winter 2013 newsletter, the study included suggestions for rezoning this area between 115th and 132nd Street. The full text of the zoning study is available on civitasnyc.org. We look forward to swift action by the DCP to bring much-demanded, up-to-date zoning to East Harlem. 

As part of a focus on revitalizing and improving the Park Avenue corridor, CIVITAS joined many stakeholders at a May visioning workshop sponsored by the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Much of the discussion focused on the Harlem-125th Street Metro North Rail Station, the nearby abandoned comfort station and the open space below the viaduct. Many East Harlem neighbors who were part of CIVITAS’s rezoning meetings in 2012 consider new uses (not parking lots) and better design under the viaduct to be key changes to revitalizing this corridor. Do you have suggestions to improve the rail station, comfort station or viaduct near 125th Street? If so, pass along your ideas to CIVITAS and we will share them with EDC. The agency is working with WXY Architecture + Urban Design and Philip Habib & Associates and expects to share their plans later in 2013. 

CIVITAS Events 

In winter 2013, Syracuse University’s Lubin House exhibited Reimagining the Waterfront’s first place designs by Joseph Wood, an architecture graduate student. Syracuse Dean Randall Korman spoke at the February opening reception. Pictured: Sarah Henry (Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Museum of the City of New York), Hunter Armstrong, CIVITAS Director Lucienne Bloch & Claude Bloch, a Syracuse alumnus.

In February, Joan K. Davidson, honorary chair of the 2013 Annual Benefit, played host to a cocktail party celebrating the August Heckscher awardees. Pictured: Honorary Chair Dan Brodsky, CIVITAS Chairman Genie Rice, Honorary Chair Joan K. Davidson, Honoree Edie Kean and CIVITAS President Felipe Ventegeat. 

In May, Hunter Armstrong and architectural historian John Kriskiewicz presented “East of Eden” at House of the Redeemer. The lecture was a detailed, illustrated history of East 96th Street and how policy, preservation and advocacy have influenced its diverse development. More than 80 guests attended the jointly-sponsored lecture and reception in the House’s historic library. Pictured: Janet Robertson, a House trustee, and John Kriskiewicz.

In April, CIVITAS was honored with the Visionary Award by Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts. The award was for the Reimagining the Waterfront Esplanade project and presented by Kent Barwick (pictured right) at the Park Avenue Armory. Also pictured are Bill Bateson, Neville Epstein, Hunter Armstrong and Felipe Ventegeat. Photo courtesy of Friends. 

In May, CIVITAS and Trees New York co-sponsored a tree stewardship workshop at East 120th Street and Paladino Avenue. Volunteers cleaned and planted in tree beds recently installed by Trees New York to absorb stormwater runoff. The service project also coincided with the Great Saunter, a 32 mile walk along Manhattan’s shore, and volunteers cheered on participants as they walked the Esplanade. 

 

In May, CIVITAS joined Upper Green Side, East River C.R.E.W. and Friends of the Esplanade for It’s My Park Day, a citywide park cleanup event. Volunteers planted rose and butterfly bushes in the planter at East 96th Street and the FDR Drive. The daffodils and tulips that we planted along the Esplanade during last fall’s park clean up event survived the brackish floodwaters of Superstorm Sandy and bloomed this spring.

Air Quality and Recycling Workshop 

To celebrate Earth Day, CIVITAS sponsored an Air Quality and Recycling Workshop at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House on April 22. Topics included the NYC Clean Heat Program and alternatives to the polluting No. 6 oil, as well as the NYC Department of Sanitation Apartment Building Recycling Initiative. 

Harlem Earth Day Panel Discussion 

As part of the Harlem Earth Day 2013, Executive Director Hunter Armstrong participated in a panel discussion on environmental justice at My Image Studios. The event was sponsored by Harlem Park to Park and fellow panelists included environmental activist Peggy Shepard with West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT), Donnel Baird with Echo Green, and Tony Hillery from Harlem Grown. 

To read the complete spring 2013 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/

The Future of Bicycles on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem

Michael Storm 

Since the days of protests against unruly bike messengers to today’s debates about food deliverymen, bikes have remained a controversial addition to New York City’s streets. But with city government now embracing cycling in new ways and with ridership on the rise, it’s time to take a look at some of the prospects for bicycles on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem. 

One of the most visible changes to our neighborhood has been the addition of protected bicycle lanes to First and Second Avenues north of 59th Street. The lanes were proposed in 2011 with construction beginning in 2012. Currently, the lanes are about 50% complete and extend northward along First Avenue from 59th Street to 96th Street and southward along Second Avenue from 125th Street to 104th Street. The alteration of the previous design is relatively simple: instead of running between the line of parked cars on the curb and vehicular traffic, the new lanes take the curb and parking protects cyclists from traffic. 

Even when an unprotected bike lane offers space for one UPS truck to double-park, the other one chooses to double-park in the street. This causes congestion for both cyclists and vehicles. 

The new lanes offer benefits to all residents while also raising issues that deserve attention. New curb extensions included in the protected bike lane design— which include planters for additional street trees—shorten the distance from one side of the street to another and give pedestrians additional protection while crossing the street. Residents, such as the elderly and children, will have less distance to cover while crossing the street. 

The new lanes also address an oft-voiced complaint about bicyclists’ lack of attention to traffic laws. Because the new lanes concentrate cyclists in a narrow corridor between the curb and parked cars, it is much more dangerous for them to ride excessively fast. With increased numbers of cyclists using the lanes, it will also be more difficult for bicyclists to ride in the wrong direction. 

The NYC Council has also become more proactive in addressing the legal violations of bicycle deliverymen. Two recent pieces of legislation by local Council Members Melissa Mark-Viverito and Jessica Lappin increase enforcement of prohibitions against electric bicycles and raise the fine for those using them. With rules requiring helmets, vests with restaurant identification, and other related materials, the Council has also increased enforcement of regulations for bicycle deliverymen. The intent is to make restaurants more responsible for the safety and behavior of their employees. 

This delivery cyclist from Upper East Side restaurant China Fun is sporting a regulation visibility vest with restaurant identification number, license plate, and helmet.

A more pressing concern for cyclists and drivers alike is double parking, which has become more of an issue as protected bike lanes take up more road space. While delivery trucks could once park in an unprotected bike lane and allow for adequate flow of vehicular traffic at the expense of cyclists, they now sit in one of only three vehicular lanes. 

To argue against protected bike lanes because they remove space for double-parking ignores the reality that double-parking is dangerous and difficult regardless of bike lanes. As the DOT completes bike lanes along First and Second Avenues, increased awareness of double-parking should prompt us to advocate for new solutions to improve our streets. 

Sitting in the wings is the new CitiBike share program that was just launched in May. While we await an extension of the program to the Upper East Side and East Harlem, the successes and failures of the program that now covers Manhattan below 59th Street and western Brooklyn will shape when and how the program is extended north. More importantly, CitiBike marks a new era for cycling in New York City and a new look for our streets. As things continue to progress, we can look forward to new ways to improve our streets and our neighborhood. 

A CitiBike rack ready for installation on NYC streets. Photo by Daily News. 

To learn more about cycling, visit: www.nyc.gov/bikes and to learn more about the CitiBike share program visit: www.citibikenyc.com 

To read the complete spring 2013 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/