Submitted by Scott Baker, Jan 28, 2008 13:22

We in the community have come a long way in persuading Sheldon Solow to take our concerns seriously. He has literally rotated the buildings 90 degrees to provide more light from the river into the interior neighborhood, he has shortened the buildings significantly, he has pushed for and gotten a badly needed school on the site (though a bigger one would be better). I think we should reconsider asking for the street grid. The fact is, super-block communities are often the most desirable places to live. Examples include nearby Tudor City, Styvescent Town and East Midtown Plaza. Also, if we are serious about curtailing traffic, the surest way to do that is to cut down on the number of streets cars can drive on. Finally, passing through 40th street (where I live) gets you nothing more than an unappealing look up at the FDR overpass. There is no realistic way to access a rebuilt Con Ed pier (assuming the city undertakes this; by no means guaranteed) from the west side of the access road at street level. As the developers have pointed out, it would be better to be up high to build an overpass to the other side, as their proposal intends. The MTA will need to start a new route that, perhaps, loops at 42 street and goes down the FDR access road - currently being rebuilt - into Avenue C and ultimately to the financial district, as well as perform other traffic mitigation measures. We must discourage driving whereever possible.

Yes, the developer still needs to shorten the tallest buildings, especially those that cast the longest shadows, but let's be careful that we do not become the community that only says NO. New York must not become the city where no large projects can be built either, or we will not be able to compete with the other regions in the area.

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