Results tagged “andrewberman”

Later today, the city will discuss whether the I.M. Pei-designed Silver Towers should be landmarked. The Observer reported that NYU announced its support today, a reversal from an earlier position over three years ago.

When William Gottlieb died in 1999, he left behind an estate worth hundreds of millions (if not near a billion) that included over a hundred buildings, many in Greenwich Village and the Meatpacking district. His sister Mollie Bender was the sole beneficiary of his will, and with her recent death, her daughter is now fighting with her brother for control of the estate.

We guess the power of Donald Trump can thwart even ghosts of people buried in the lot where he wants to build a yooge condo-hotel. Trump's Soho project was finally approved by the city yesterday afternoon. The Daily Intelligencer calls it the "last huff of Soho's industrial grit," and spoke to the Trump Soho critic, Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation, who had fighting words: "This is a case of the city not enforcing its own laws, and that makes them vulnerable to a lawsuit."

Last fall, preservationists failed to prevent the planned demolition of the Dakota Stables on West 77th And Amsterdam Avenue. Though preservationists were trying to have the Dakota Stables landmarked, the Landmarks Preservation Committee denied it landmark status because some of its facade was stripped by the developer - while it was being considered for landmark status! Talk about gaming the system.

The Villager is reporting that the Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation last week submitted a report calling for the creation of a South Village Historic District. Comprised of 38 blocks and about 800 buildings, it would be the city’s first tenement-based district.

That Donald Trump. Just last week, there was all this attention about his hotel planned for Soho hitting a snag - well, actually many, many human remains - when a graveyard was found. The Department of Buildings issued a stop-work order and community groups criticizing the 45-floor Trump Soho Hotel rejoiced for the moment. And then Tara Conner happened.

After The Real Deal reported that skeletal remains were found on the Trump Soho site Monday night, the Department of Buildings issued a stop work order on the building. Naturally the developers were surprised. The Post spoke to Julius Schwarz from developer Bayrock Group, who said, "Despite the fact that our counsel has advised us that there is no authority to issue this order, we are fully cooperating with the Department of Buildings and we'll be discussing the matter with them [this] morning." Dude, bones were found! We think you stop work! Schwarz added that the area where the bones were found will eventually be a landscaped plaza, not where the 45-story building will be built (so investors and future hotel guests, do not freak out!).

It looks like Donald Trump will get to build his 45-story Trump SoHo Hotel Condominium at 246 Spring Street. Though the city hasn't officially issued construction permits, the Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation heard from city officials that the hotel would be allowed, and made its grievances known.

Heckling (followed by civility) was alive and well at last night's Community Board 3 meeting at Cooper Union. Wearing "Please IMPROVE the Plan!" stickers, East Village and Lower East Side residents interrupted Department of City Planning Commissioner representatives as they presented a plan for the area's first rezoning since 1961 ("Define affordable," shouted one audience member - $56,000 for a family of four, in case you're wondering, and, no, they didn't have numbers for individuals).

The hoopla over the new NYU dorm rising above St. Ann's Church we moaned about last week looks to be heating up. After the Villager reported on the 242-foot-tall dormitory NYU associate vice president of government and community affairs Alicia Hurley has started fighting back by defending the plans. She contacted us about the story in an e-mail:

Last week's "news" of our new residence hall hit the bandwith [sic] and airwaves with very little accuracy and was orchestrated by a local group whom I can only guess feels they have been left out of the process. But the group's executive director has taken on NYU in an effort to build his own political profile and career, and frankly it has come at the expense of open dialogue between NYU and the community. At this point we have decided that we need to find a mechanism for outreach and communication that might not call on that group or its executive director as a middle point. The story you are reporting comes from the agitation of that decision.

Seems that Donald Trump is heading into some real community problems with his attempt to build his 45-story Trump International Hotel & Tower on Spring Street. Though Trump claims he's got proper zoning to build his newest behemoth (the project will be overseen by Trump spawn Don Jr. and Ivanka along with winner Sean Yazbeck) local activists say "nuh-uh."

“NYU is the largest private university in the United States and they are growing,” Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, told Community Board 2 Thursday night. “They are growing at a much faster pace than our neighborhood is. NYU has always been here. It should always be here. I don't think the Village would be the Village if NYU wasn't here. But I don't think the Village can stay the Village if it is predominantly NYU”