The MoMA Monster has officially been decapitated. The City Council's Land Use Committee approved (by a 12-2 vote) the City Planning Commission's height reduction of the building earlier today. Now the Jean Nouvel designed Monster Hines Tower set to be raised next to MoMA, will drop down from the iconic height of 1,250-feet, to 1,050-feet. That's 200 feet below the Empire State Building, and the exact height of the Chrysler Building.
Lee Rosenbaum was in attendance and happened to sit next to Michael Sillerman, attorney for the project, who told him that the project would still go on even with the cut. Earlier this week Nouvel & Co. scoffed at the idea of the moving forward under the new terms, noting that it would take away 16 stories.
Sigh, the NIMBYs win again. Will a new iconic skyscraper ever be raised in this city again?
