An Exploration of the Past and Present State of the East River Waterfront

Join CIVITAS for an in-depth, illustrated discussion of the East River waterfront with John Kriskiewicz, architectural historian, and Signe Nielsen, principal of Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects. The lecture will explore the history of our waterfront and the current state of the East River Esplanade in the historic library of the former Fabbri Mansion, now House of the Redeemer. Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 pm House of the Redeemer 7 East 95th Street (between Fifth and Madison Avenues) A reception and refreshments will follow the lecture. Suggested donation: $10 Registration is requested. RSVP to House of the Redeemer at (212) 289-0399 or email info@houseoftheredeemer.org. A NYC landmark, House of the Redeemer was designed by acclaimed architect Grosvenor Atterbury and constructed for the Fabbri family between 1914-1916. Read more about House of the Redeemer historic landmark.

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/

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/

Statement before the Landmarks Committee of Community Board 8

in Support of Proposed Designation of the Park Avenue Historic District

Between 79th and 96th Street

June 14, 2010

CIVITAS supports the nomination of Park Avenue between 79th and 96th Street to be designated a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places and as a New York City local historic district.

Park Avenue is one of the world’s most famous thoroughfares and is well regarded for its central median, lined by stately apartment buildings, low-rise nineteenth century buildings and houses of worship. Yet almost half of the avenue on the Upper East Side is not protected by landmark status. 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 New York City historic district.

Park Avenue is best known as a twentieth century streetscape as it rose to prominence in the 1910s and 1920s. Yet it has a significant nineteenth century layer as well, including several buildings that pre-date “Park Avenue” itself and were constructed when this thoroughfare was known as Fourth Avenue, before the railroad tracks were covered. The avenue’s predominant scale – 12-17 story apartment buildings that follow a uniform street wall—is mostly protected under the Park Improvement special zoning district. But this offers no protection to the nineteenth century layer, which is increasingly threatened. At least two of these structures have been demolished in recent years.

The architectural character of Park Avenue is not just about scale. The architects who designed many of the proposed district’s greatest buildings—George and Edward Blum, Rosario Candela, J.E.R. Carpenter, and others—followed a relatively uniform bulk in designing the luxury apartment houses. Much of the designers’ individual expression is articulated through architectural details, such as windows, decorative medallions and door surrounds. The structures present a wonderfully eclectic face to the avenue, evoking Renaissance Revival, Art Deco and Georgian references. Designation of Park Avenue as a New York City historic district will protect those details for future generations to enjoy.

As part of our support, CIVITAS raises the following issues for consideration by the United States Department of the Interior, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

First is the historical condition of the Park Avenue median. When the railroad tracks were covered in the 1880s and the landscaped median was created in the 1910s, it was a wide park with seating and meandering paths located in the middle of the avenue. Over the course of the twentieth century, the median has been whittled down to its current width, a “park” meant to be looked at but not entered and enjoyed. As the current movement in New York City continues to reclaim green space and public space in previously overlooked spaces, we would like to see additional thought given to restoring Park Avenue to its historical plan and configuration with a public park in its center. Designation as a National Register or New York City historic district should call special attention to the avenue’s original plan and not act as an impediment to possible restoration of the median.

Further, there is much discussion on the local and national level devoted to incorporating energy efficient components into historic structures. Preserving the “embedded energy” expended in constructing the historic buildings on Park Avenue represent the greenest approach there is, but we would like to see continued dialogue between the preservation and environmental communities to support eco-friendly upgrades that respect the aesthetics and historic integrity of Park Avenue’s buildings.

We encourage the United States Department of the Interior, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to move quickly in designating the Park Avenue corridor between 79th and 96th Street.