Here’s the crux of the matter: the city says it’s Extell Development Company’s responsibility to maintain the street that fronts Riverside South, and Extell says it’s the city’s job. The Trump Organization, which is the managing agent for many of Riverside South’s condo buildings, has also gotten involved.

(A little background: Riverside Boulevard is a street that was created in front of the luxury condos planned for 59th to 72nd Streets overlooking the Hudson River. More than half of those condo buildings have been built and the last set of buildings are still in the public review process. Riverside Boulevard will eventually stretch from 59th to 72nd and connect with the Henry Hudson Parkway, but now runs from 72nd to 64th.)

One of only 6 stop signs on Riverside Boulevard.

Thomas Pienkos, the vice president of operations for The Trump Organization, spoke out about the traffic problem at a meeting Tuesday night about Extell’s plan to develop the southernmost parcel in Riverside South, known as Riverside Center.

“I am the person who gets the calls about near misses and mishaps,” he said at the meeting. “Traffic devices are a necessity.”

To be sure, Pienkos puts more blame on the city than on Extell. But Riverside South residents, about 700 of whom have signed a petition demanding traffic signals,  are not as discriminating. In a letter they sent to both Extell president Gary Barnett and DOT Manhattan Borough Commissioner Margaret Forgione this week, they basically said that Extell is callously disregarding the safety of their children.

“It is shocking to think that Extell would put such a minimal financial investment over the safety of the community that it itself built (and no doubt profited from handsomely),” the letter reads. “Nevertheless, while our resources pale by comparison to Extell’s, given the fact that lives are at stake, we immediately advised that we would assist in defraying costs associated with installing such traffic safety devices. Extell rejected this proposal as immediately as it was made and, again, without satisfactory explanation.”

Now it looks like the traffic issue could also effect Extell’s plans for Riverside Center, the 2,500-apartment development Extell proposes to build from 59th to 61st Street and the last piece in the Riverside South development puzzle.

“We oppose any development that does not address the existing and future safety of our community. We also oppose any proposal to connect Riverside Boulevard to the south-bound lanes of the Henry Hudson Parkway,” the letter says.

Speaking at the Tuesday night meeting, resident Shai Waisman said that “Riverside Boulevard should at least mirror Riverside Drive.”

City officials have basically told residents their hands are tied, the letter says.

Woodside Preschool.

“While elected and appointed officials have witnessed and acknowledged the dangers posed by the total lack of appropriate traffic safety devices on Riverside Boulevard, they have insisted that their hands are tied by the fact that Extell is the owner of Riverside Boulevard and that the responsibility falls to Extell,” it reads.

Pienkos says they sent a letter to the mayor’s office about a year ago and still haven’t heard back.

For what it’s worth (apparently not much) Community Board 7 demanded earlier this month that the situation be rectified and asked that a traffic cop be placed in front of Woodside Preschool at 67th Street and Riverside Boulevard. Supposedly, the city has agreed to place an officer, but that hasn’t happened yet.

We contacted numerous DOT officials on Wednesday for comment, but haven’t heard back.

Extell spokesman George Arzt sent us this response:

“Extell is aware of the community’s concerns about Riverside Blvd. Riverside was built according to a traffic plan approved by the City Department of Transportation (DOT). Also, Extell cannot, without the approval of the Department of Transportation, make design changes such as the addition of stop signs or traffic signals. And the Boulevard, as a bus lane, is not permitted to have speed bumps. We will continue, however, to work with DOT to address any safety issues that may arise.”

(Photos by Avi)

Extell President Gary Barnett listens to comments.

Extell’s project, the largest being considered in the neighborhood by far, would bring more than 2,500 apartments, 210,000 square feet of retail, a hotel, a movie theater, an underground automobile service center, a new K-8 school, and 3 acres of open space to the neighborhood. The community board’s counter-proposal (pdf) cuts one of the towers out, removes some of the open space in favor of continuing 60th Street through the development, and tries to make the project more cohesive with the surrounding neighborhood. We’ll get to that a little later, and show a side-by-side image of the proposals. But first we want to talk about the public’s response.

During the public comment period at PS 191 on 61st Street, it became clear that a lot of the biggest issues that trouble Upper West Siders are coming to the fore in response to this proposal. Here are those anxieties:

That we’ve ceded the area between 59th and 72nd Streets to rich people living in private enclaves.

Obviously, the area between 59th and 72nd Streets is a diverse neighborhood that has housing projects as well as expensive new condos, but the biggest developments built in recent decades have made it glassier, ritzier and more exclusive. For God’s sake, the residents of 15 Central Park West were essentially able to block a public street last Thanksgiving with the help of the police. That sentiment registered at Tuesday’s meeting. “The newer people in the neighborhood would like to lock out the older people in the neighborhood,” one woman said.

Riverside Center, as the southernmost project in Trump-tastic Riverside South, threatens to reinforce that sense of exclusivity. That’s why the community board wants to make sure 60th Street goes right through the project and that the buildings aren’t elevated above the street. The board has also asked Extell to increase the number of affordable units to at least 20% from 12%. Extell says the community is already getting tons of amenities, and that the project is completely open.

That the Westside Highway should never have been built.

The community board has a dream, and that dream is that the Westside Highway can be submerged beneath the earth (our very own Big Dig!). Chair Mel Wymore acknowledged it’s a long shot, but said the community board would like to submerge the highway, and get Extell to help. One of the people at the hearing who spoke insisted that Extell pay for the job: “They can afford to relocate the highway.”

That my child can’t get into one of the neighborhood’s good schools.

All of the new development on the Upper West Side in the past decade has led to an untenable situation in local public schools. In short, people who live a block away from their neighborhood school are being told their kids can’t go there because there isn’t enough space. Kids go to class in trailers, after their parents decided to pay egregious rent to get them into a good school district. It’s a public policy nightmare, and one the city should have seen coming years ago. The already-built Riverside South developments have sent 163 students to PS 199, which is bursting at the seams. The city had an option to build a new school to accommodate them, but passed.

That’s why the community board wants Extell to build a new school on the site immediately, essentially asking a developer to fill in where the Department of Education has failed abysmally. The city planning commission said that Extell was only obligated to build a large enough school to handle children from Riverside Center, but lots of people in the community want the developer to solve the bigger problem. “Let’s make the developer fund and build 100% of a large new school,” said Mary Hughes, a PS 199 parent who spoke at the meeting. But is it fair to make a developer step in for the city?

That the Upper West Side wasn’t developed like the West Village.

The West Village represents a kind of urban planning utopia for many Jane-Jacobs loving New Yorkers. Active street life, manageable density, and vibrant public spaces combine to make it, well, livable (aside from the rents!).  Upper West Siders literally dream about “shopping at small stores where you know the owner”. Extell wants to bring an auto showroom, a big hotel and other retailers (presumably on the larger side) to the space. Their plans for a Costco-type big box store didn’t make it into the new design, though.

Okay, enough philosophizing.

Here is an image of the board’s proposal next to Extell’s proposal, with the community board’s commentary:

Extell says that the project is not on a podium — at least 70% of it is “at grade.” And let’s just say they take umbrage at the term “undistinguished public space.” The “water scrim” in the center of the project, for instance, would be a place where children could run around with their shoes off. Extell has also touted the project’s economic benefits. Some people at the meeting spoke out in favor of the proposal, including members of unions who would get work through the project, and a few neighbors who liked the amenities.

To read more about the plan, check out Extell’s proposal and site overview, the Community Board’s extensive information on the proposal, the Coalition for a Livable West Side’s page, Riversidecentric (a site set up by an opponent), and our previous stories. It’s clear that this proposal could continue to change, and everything from parking to affordable housing is likely on the table for negotiations. If you care about it one way or the other, now is the time to get involved. In the next six months, this project is going to be signed, sealed and delivered.

Looking down at the site of the proposed development.

Community Board 7 has two months to review Riverside Center, the massive development proposed for 59th to 61st Streets, and it wants as much community input as possible. The board has scheduled five hearings to explain the project and get community input. The first one is Thursday night.

The development, by the Extell Development Company, would sit on a plot of land from 59th to 61st Streets, and West End Avenue to the edge of the West Side Highway. That area has been used primarily as a parking lot. The new development would include at least 2,500 apartments, 210,000 square feet of retail, a hotel, a movie theater, an underground automobile service center, a new K-8 school, and 3 acres of open space complete with a ”water scrim.” Battle lines are already being drawn over affordable housing, parking, density, and other issues.

Thursday, June 3, 6:30 PM (Information Session)
American Bible Society, 1865 Broadway (61st Street)

Tuesday, June 15, 6:30 PM (Public Hearing)
PS 191, 210 West 61st Street (Amsterdam Avenue)

Tuesday, June 29, 6:30 PM (Tentative Hearing/Vote Date)
Location Undetermined

Tuesday, July 6, 6:30 PM (Full Board Meeting)
Congregation Rodeph Sholom, 7 West 83rd Street.

Tuesday, July 20, 6:30 PM (Tentative Additional Hearing)
Community Board 7, 250 W. 87th Street

The photo above was taken on a site visit by community board member Hope Cohen. Check out some more pictures of the site and nearby buildings here. And read all our Riverside Center coverage here.

Looking East from the open space in the middle of the project.

Riverside Center, the southernmost development in the Riverside South development that stretches from 72nd to 59th Streets along the Hudson River, is slated to have more than 2,500 apartments and 210,000 square feet of retail. The developers, who are working with the Carlyle Group, also want to build a movie theater, an auto showroom, a K-8 school that could teach as many as 1,300 students, a hotel, and more than 3 acres of open space.

Community activists and political leaders have been debating the proposal for 3 years, and they already got Extell to make some modifications, including lowering the heights of some buildings.

Drawing of Riverside Center, between 59th and 61st Street.

But the stakes will now rise, as the community board has two months to make its recommendation before the project goes back to the planning department and on to the City Council. We wrote about the proposal here when it was first introduced and have tons of pictures of Extell’s plans. On Monday night, parents met at PS 199 to try to persuade Extell to build the proposed school first, to relieve some of the overcrowding in local public schools.

Check out the draft environmental impact statement for the project here. And check back with us as the review process continues. We plan to follow this project closely.

Owners of  41 of the condos at The Rushmore at 80 Riverside Boulevard (64th Street) may have a very big payday coming, at Extell’s expense.

The decision hinged on a detail (we first wrote about it here) in the condo offering plan that the owners now say was a typo — the plan said the sales must close by September 2008, but the owners argue they had meant to say September 2009. Now Cuomo says the 41 buyers should be released from their contracts, and it could cost Extell $13.5 million in down payments, and $95 million worth of apartment sales, according to a lawyer who spoke to Crain’s.

Extell could appeal, but president Gary Barnett hasn’t decided whether he will yet. And he says he isn’t worried about turning the apartments over if it comes to that.

“We are very confident we will be able to resell the units,” he told Crain’s.

(via Curbed)

The station was one of the benefits expected to come to the community when Riverside Center, a massive 2,500-unit development with a movie theater, an auto showroom, and a new school, is built between 59th Street and 61st just off of the West Side Highway. That controversial development is still being reviewed by the city. We first reported the new plans for Riverside Center, along with pictures and models, last week.

The Metro-North station also can’t be built South of the development because of a warehouse there owned by CBS, Brewer said. But Brewer, who “loves Metro-North,” plans to find somewhere on the Upper West Side to put a station, she said. Metro-North trains could take Upper West Siders to and from Upstate New York and other destinations.

It’s still unclear where that could be, though West 72nd Street was one rumored location. We’ll keep our ears open. And let us know if you hear anything or have any opinions about a train station.

Extell modified its original design to change the heights of buildings and space them out more, and it is getting rid of its proposal to include a Costco or other big-box retailer. But more on that later.

Riverside Center would stretch from 59th to 61st Streets, and West End Avenue to the edge of the West Side Highway (in the future a new road called Riverside Boulevard will flank the development to the West). Right now, the space is mostly a parking lot. Extell expects to develop it over the next eight years. Riverside Center would be the southernmost development in “Riverside South”, a set of modern towers that line the Hudson River from 59th to 72nd Streets. Under the new proposal, here’s what Riverside Center would contain:

• 3 million gross square feet.
• A new school on 61st street that could potentially enroll up to 1,300 kids from K-8.
• A 250 room hotel just off of 59th Street.
• A massive underground automobile service center with a street-level showroom.
• A shallow fountain and scrim (1/4-inch deep pool) somewhat similar to the fountain at Millenium Park in Chicago that children and adults could walk into.
• More than 3 acres of public space.
• 12% of the units set aside for affordable housing.

One thing (among many) it wouldn’t contain that was originally proposed: a Costco. The community balked at a big box store on the site, so it was taken out.

Community Board member examines Extell's model. But where are all of the tiny people?

The proposal has already inspired a lot of controversy, both because of its sheer size and its design, which some originally likened to Battery Park City. Community Board 7 and other watchdog groups like the Coalition for a Livable West Side have raised numerous concerns with the proposal, and groups have proposed alternative plans for the site. One architect hired by the coalition even compared sections of the old plan to a housing project. Neighbors have also voiced concerns about the towers casting long shadows.

Extell addressed many of these concerns in its new proposal, leaving more room between buildings and modifying the open space in ways that the architects say will encourage people to walk through and lounge around. Three of the buildings — the ones closest to the river — were shrunk, two of them by about 30%. The two buildings in back, meanwhile, gained some height.

Despite these changes, the project will invariably cause quite a bit of controversy, and the next few months will be filled with negotiations. The company needs various permissions from the city to build so many apartments, because under a restrictive declaration it would have only been able to build 572 units, an Extell representative said at the meeting.

The battle lines were already being drawn on Wednesday as community members got their first look at the project. Here were some of the issues brought up by Community Board members and City Councilwoman Gale Brewer:

• An auto showroom and service center could spew tons of exhaust into the air nearby; some want the showroom and service center cut from the proposal entirely. An Extell rep said an auto showroom was one of the few businesses that could make the project profitable.
• The sheer size of the project is still a concern.
• Environmental issues abound, including questions about whether the buildings will be LEED-certified.
• 12% affordable housing may not be enough.
• Gale Brewer, for one, thinks the movie theater should be below ground.
• The buildings should be able to generate their own power through a process called co-generation, Brewer says.
• For some, the project has too many curb cuts — places where people or automobiles enter and leave — and that hurts pedestrian access to the site.

“It’s an improvement, but it’s not a big improvement,” Brewer told us. Among other things, “the environmental issues have not really been answered,” she added.

These issues will be hashed out over the next few months. An Extell rep put it like this at the meeting: “You have a lot of asks. We have a lot of asks. Ultimately that gets worked out.”

Craig Berberian, who lives a block away from the proposed Riverside Center, doesn’t like the auto dealership and is worried about wind tunnels created by the development. “I’m excited for a unique development in the area, but it has to be done properly. I don’t want it to turn into Battery Park City.”

Next month, the City Planning Commission is expected to certify Extell’s plans, which means Community Board 7 gets a whack at it. It will then be considered again by the planning board and the City Council. If you live near there or have any opinions about this project, let us know. It is, quite literally, the biggest thing coming to the Upper West Side in quite some time. Check out pictures of Extell’s plans below (click to enlarge). And check out our previous Riverside Center coverage here.

By Peggy Truong
Anxiety is building over the Extell Development Company’s plan to build five high-rises on the site of a parking lot overlooking the West Side Highway between 59th and 61st streets. Residents who live across from the site of the proposed Riverside Center worry that if the developers get their way the buildings will send long dark shadows into their living rooms.

The shadows and sheer density of the project – 2,500 apartments could be built on the site – were two of the biggest concerns expressed by 70 or so neighbors who gathered at The Annex to the Church of St. Paul the Apostle on West 59th Street Thursday night.

The proposed Riverside Center buildings are on the right. From Extell rendering.

Organizers, including Anne Weisberg and Community Board 7 members Helen Rosenthal and Ethel Sheffer, had an open dialogue with the crowd, half of whom were residents at 10 West End Ave.

The site, as originally proposed, would include thousands of apartments, retail stores, a movie theater, an underground parking garage, and a hotel the size of the Mandarin. A new pre-K through 5th grade public school is also being considered for the site, and a Metro-North train station could be built there too.

The project includes 3.2 acres of privately-owned publicly accessible open space that the company has touted as a major public benefit, but which some community members doubt will be bring much pleasure to the public.

The Riverside project is still being reviewed by the city planning department and needs to be certified before it comes back to the community board for comment. That could happen as early as November or December. In the meantime, local residents want to start to air their concerns. A few alternative proposals for the site have also been presented, including plans from the Coalition for a Livable West Side and the Riverside South Planning Corporation.

“We can’t make recommendations as a vacuum, you all have to live with these buildings across the street,” said Rosenthal, who took part in one of her last public events as chairperson of Community Board 7. “We are using this early opportunity to jumpstart our knowledge space.”

Daniel Kassell of the 315 West Tenants’ Association said there’s not much to see outside his apartment window except for a parking lot.

The view from the middle of the open space. From Extell rendering.

“There is no view left from West End Ave. to the Hudson River,” said Kassell, a three-year resident at 315 W. 61st Street. He said the Extell plan also needs to consider the limited availability of sunlight once the buildings are up. “We don’t live there just in June, people getting vitamin D is more important,” said Kassell.

Bruce Muller of 10 West End Ave. said his biggest concern is the gigantic wind tunnel that will eventually be created by the current development plan. The wind, said Muller, would be strong enough to pop all the windows at 10 West End Ave. The construction phase, in comparison, was secondary.

“I’m looking forward to watching it being built. I even bought an air purifier,” said Muller.

Also speaking on behalf of 10 West End Ave was Marta Block, who said she felt betrayed by the Riverside Center website and its ocean sound effects. “How is this all going to take place in a two block place? It’s obscene,” she said. Block suggested the addition of more schools, police precincts and other community essentials to the Extell plan.

Sheffer confirmed that the Extell project is currently in a “free-certification” stage, meaning discussions like the one held Thursday night will be considered for reports sent to the planning department.

“Here we are developing our concerns in an interactive process with you,” said Sheffer.

The Extell plan, which extends from West End Avenue to the West Side Drive between 59th and 61st on a site that is being used now as a parking lot, has already been criticized by Coalition for a Livable West Side, the Riverside South Planning Corporation, and Community Board 7 for density and other concerns. It would add five buildings with thousands of new residences, as well as a new public school and underground auto dealership. Community members have been debating what to do with this plot (a former railroad yard) since at least 1992, when the plan was to turn it into a 1.8 million square foot television studio with a smaller area for residences.

Taking a page out of the Jane Jacobs playbook, Whitaker said at a meeting Thursday night that the open space in the Extell’s 3.1 million square foot development proposal won’t entice anyone because it appears more private than public. Just like in some housing projects, the building’s back doors will likely open out onto the park area, making the space uninviting, Whitaker said. He presented his own plan, which would include a park between a series of buildings and add some more streets (imagine a public version of Gramercy Park). A group of Extell reps sitting in back didn’t respond — they said they were at the meeting to listen — but the company has promoted the open space on its website as an important community gathering space. Among other amenities, it will have a “water scrim,” which looks like a shallow pool. On the project website, the company says that 39% of the development will be open space, the same percentage as Battery Park City.

Extell, run by former diamond merchant Gary Barnett, is among the city’s most prolific and powerful developers, though the company has experienced some controversy with one recent Upper West Side development. In 2005, the company purchased the land between 59th street and 65th on the water and has begun building on it, already completing the Avery on 65th Street and the Rushmore on 64th.

The Riverside Center proposal still needs to be certified by the city’s planning department, but then the Community Board will get another crack at it.

(images via Extell’s Riverside Center website)

A New York Times article details the controversy, which pits 23 buyers against the owners, the Extell Development Company and the Carlyle Group. Since the market turned, buyers who entered contracts shortly before the housing bubble popped have been trying to get their 15% deposits back or renegotiate the prices. Now someone has found an error in the condo offering plan that could help the buyers get out.

The offering plan gave buyers an opportunity to back out if no units closed before Sept. 1, 2008 (the first unit closed in February 2009, the Times says). The problem is that the lawyers should have written Sept. 1, 2009, Extell says, and the mistake — replacing the 9 in 2009 with an 8 — is basically a clerical error that shouldn’t allow the buyers to get out of their contracts. Nonetheless, a lawyer for the buyers is asking the state Attorney General to let them out. Lawyers interviewed by the Times had mixed opinions of which side is most likely to win.

Interested in buying into the “resort-like lifestyle” at the Rushmore? There are still units available, from a $1 million one-bedroom to a $7.45 million five bedroom. (photo via Corcoran)

Attack of the Fine Print (New York Times)