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/

CIVITAS in the News & Discount for Lecture at the Museum of the City of NY

CIVITAS in the News

Read about CIVITAS' efforts to improve newsrack box enforcement throughout New York City in the following July 2011 media coverage:

The 1,200 Learning Annex boxes that have been empty—and in violation—for much of summer 2011:
“Group Blasts Learning Annex Boxes as a Sidewalk Blight” - DNAinfo

Columnist Ralph Gardner's humorous take on the campaign:
“Much Ado About boxes” - Wall Street Journal and CIVITAS’ Letter to the Editor of the Wall Street Journal

And efforts on the Upper West Side to improve neighborhood streetscapes:
"Upper West Siders Fight to Rid Streets of Dirty Newspaper Boxes" National Public Radio WFUV

“Upper West Siders Join Battle Against Grimy Newspaper Boxes” - DNAinfo

Please sign and circulate our online petition urging NYC Council Transportation Committee chair James Vacca to schedule an oversight hearing to address the current legislation and improve regulations for newsrack placement and maintenance: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/newsracks/

Learn more at www.civitasnyc.org/newsrack-enforcement

CIVITAS Initiatives in the News

Air Quality
Read about the co-op 910 Park Avenue's decision to convert their No. 6 heating boiler to a dual burner that uses cleaner burning No. 2 heating oil or natural gas in the July 22, 2011 New York Times article: "Going Green in New York: One Co-op’s Story"

In April 2011, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection passed a rule that will require many buildings that burn air pollutant No. 6 heating oil to convert to a less polluting heating oil by 2015. Learn more about the legislation updates at http://www.edf.org/pressrelease.cfm?ContentID=11722 and about CIVITAS' advocacy towards cleaner air on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem at http://civitasnyc.org/heatingoil/

East River Esplanade
The New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger writes about the newly opened Esplanade park near Wall Street in his piece "On the East River Waterfront Esplanade" from July 22, 2011.

CIVITAS applauds this positive step towards an improved waterfront park and looks forward to similar public space enhancements along Upper East Side and East Harlem section of the East River Esplanade. Stay tuned for exciting news about CIVITAS' upcoming design-ideas competition to reimagine the waterfront.

Upcoming Community Events

Friends of CIVITAS are invited to this upcoming Museum of the City of New York lecture. Mention "CIVITAS" when ordering your ticket and receive a discount.

Whose Park Is It? Financing and Administering New York's New Parks
Tuesday, August 9 at 6:30 PM
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue

In the past 20 years New York City has added over 20,000 acres of parkland to its acclaimed public park system. Recent additions, such as the Hudson River Park, the Highline, and Brooklyn Bridge Park represent a new generation of park design as well as financing and administration. In an era of budget cuts and declining revenues, how is the city paying for its new parks? How does new park administration differ from the past? What role does private funding play in the administration of the city's parks? What makes a successful park in today's New York? Parks commissioner Adrian Benepe; Alexander Garvin, professor of urban planning, Yale University; and Catherine Nagel, Executive Director of the City Parks Alliance, discuss the past, present, and future of New York's public parks.

Presented as part of the ongoing Urban Forum series New York Infrastructure. Co-sponsored by the Central Park Conservancy, the City Parks Foundation, CIVITAS, Friends of the Hudson River Park, Friends of the Upper East Side, Hudson River Park and the Prospect Park Alliance.

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
To receive the Museum Member rate of $6, enter CVTS0809 when purchasing tickets on-line https://boxoffice.mcny.org/public/default.asp (https://boxoffice.mcny.org/public/default.asp) or mention CIVITAS when ordering by phone at 917-492-3395. *A two dollar surcharge applies for unreserved, walk-in participants.

Clearing the Air on the Upper East Side: No.6 Heating Oil Pollutes East Side Air

By Sharon E. Pope

Prepared for the CIVITAS Fall 2010 Newsletter

In an effort to improve air quality on the Upper East Side and East Harlem, CIVITAS launched an initiative to educate building owners, managers and residents about the air quality dangers of burning “dirty” fuel oil No. 4 and No. 6, and the benefits of converting to either No. 2 fuel oil, natural gas, or steam. Recent studies have documented how burning No. 4 and No. 6 heating oil adversely impacts New York’s air quality, contributing more to soot air pollution than all the combined cars and trucks on city roads. Although buildings burning No. 4 and No. 6 heating oil are scattered throughout the five boroughs, the Upper East Side is home to the highest concentration of sludge burning (No. 4 and No. 6) buildings. Burning “dirty” heating oil releases soot, heavy metals (such as nickel) and other particulate matter into the air. The Upper East Side has earned the troubling distinction of having the worst air quality in New York City.

To proactively address these concerns, CIVITAS organized “Clearing the Air on the Upper East Side,” a panel discussion targeted to co-op board officers and building managers. During his opening remarks, Hunter Armstrong, CIVITAS Executive Director, outlined a specific two-fold framework for the discussion: to present relevant and timely information; and to enable those who want to convert from No. 4 or No. 6 to meet and discuss the experiences of those who have already converted. The evening’s panelists included: Isabelle Silverman, Attorney, Environmental Defense Fund; Lewis M. Kwit, President, Energy Investment Systems, Inc.; Sean Wade, Certified Multi-Family Building Operator and Analyst; and Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Policy Advisor on Air Quality, Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability.

Panelist Isabelle Silverman led the discussion as she displayed a vial in each hand. One vial contained No. 2 heating oil, an amber, almost transparent oil. In contrast, the other vial contained No. 6 heating oil, or “residual fuel.” The No. 6 heating oil was dark, dense and seemingly impenetrable and comprised of the dregs of the refining process. Silverman, referring to the recent EDF report and the New York City Community Air Survey, noted that 1% of New York City’s buildings produce approximately 85% of the city’s heating oil soot air pollution. In particular, the Upper East Side 10021 zip code contains the most buildings burning “dirty” heating oil, No. 4 or No. 6. These “dirty” buildings contribute to unhealthy air quality by producing “air pollutants such as particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and sulfur oxides.”

As Silverman stated, the recent EDF report on the issue outlines the strategy including: policy recommendations to the city for banning heating oil, guidance for converting buildings to cleaner fuels and guidelines for proper maintenance and efficiency measures to help reduce heating fuel expenses.

With extensive experience converting boilers from No. 4 and No. 6 heating oil, Lewis M. Kwit addressed the practical issues and cost of boiler conversions. He discussed the importance of obtaining a building-wide energy audit which must include roofs, windows, lighting, electrical services, and elevators. When considering a boiler conversion Kwit recommends starting with hiring an energy consultant. To take advantage of price fluctuations, he advises utilizing a dual boiler system capable of burning No. 2 heating oil and natural gas. He notes that natural gas is domestically produced, lower in cost (at this time), has a lower carbon footprint and also has lower levels of pollutants.

“Energy, we all need it. We use it. You can never eliminate it,” Sean Wade said as he began his presentation. Wade expertly walked through a detailed step-by-step cost analysis of various fuels, including electricity, natural gas and No. 2 and No. 6 heating oil. He used BTUs (a method of measuring heat) as a benchmark to average out and compare each energy options. He debunked the widely-held rationale that using No. 6 heating oil was less costly. Wade provided analysis showing that No. 6 heating oil was not cheaper to burn and required on-going maintenance. Additionally, burning No. 6 produced more carbon dioxide than natural gas or No. 2. Wade noted that many Upper East Side buildings are cooled using cooling towers which burn more No. 6 oil during the summer than the winter. Not only is No. 6 burned for heating, more is burned for cooling. He encouraged everyone to “insulate it tight, ventilate right” noting that fifty percent of energy is wasted within the distribution process.

Kizzy Charles-Guzman observed that the City bears the burden of poor air quality. “Every kid, elderly person, every vulnerable population, in the City shoulders” this problem imposed on us by 1% of NYC buildings. The Mayor’s Office of Sustainability has embarked on a comprehensive energy strategy that includes utilizing biodiesel, lowering the sulfur level of No. 4 heating oil, gradually phasing out No. 4 and No. 6 fuel oil and increasing use of No. 2 heating oil. NYC Housing Authority buildings have converted to No. 2 and report fuel savings and efficiency gains.

Addressing the problem will take a multi-year effort and coordinated approach of community-based organizations like CIVITAS, legislators and homeowners. We look forward to working with neighborhood partners to educate the community and with elected officials to push for additional strong legislation.

Photo by Isabelle Silverman, Environmental Defense Fund

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Do you live in a

dirty building?

Almost 8,000 buildings in New York City burn No. 4 or No. 6 heating oil. To read EDF’s report The Bottom of the Barrel: How the Dirtiest Heating Oil Pollutes Our Air and Harms Our Health, and see if your building is on the “dirty buildings” list, visit: www.dirtybuildings.org.

For additional resources and details from the July 21 forum visit the “Clearing the Air on the Upper East Side” event page: www.civitasnyc.org/live/heatingoil.

TURN IT OFF - Idling in New York City is illegal

By Marcia Fowle

According to New York City laws that have been in place since 1971, it is illegal to idle a vehicle for more than three minutes while parking, standing, or stopping. Since 2009, it is illegal in a school zone (streets that border both public and private schools) to idle for more than one minute. Agencies that can issue tickets for violations include NYPD Traffic Enforcement, NYC Department of Sanitation, and NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. Fines range from $100 to thousands of dollars for repeat offenders.

Idling an engine for more than 10-15 seconds uses more fuel and causes more wear and tear than turning off the engine and restarting it.

Each year in New York City, idling vehicles produce tons of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, soot, and carbon monoxide according to the Environmental Defense Fund. These pollutants cause asthma, contribute to ozone depletion, and play a part in climate change.

Community Board 11 has worked on the problem of idling MTA buses in East Harlem with Manhattan Borough President Stringer’s Go Green initiative, which is aimed breaking the pattern of hazardous environmental condition. East Harlem is home to a multiple bus garages and bus route turn-arounds where vehicles are sometimes put in a “sleep” or idling mode.

Here’s what to do:

-Report offenders—trucks, buses, and cars—to 311, Mayor Bloomberg’s hotline
-Do not hesitate to rap on the window of an idling car and inform the driver of NYC’s idling laws
-Turn your own car’s motor off when sitting for more than a minute or two

With a simple switch off of the ignition, you can improve New York City’s air quality.