Land Use

Also in attendance Tuesday was City Councilmember Ben Kallos, who said his chief concern remained the three to four hours of new afternoon shadows that the Blood Center tower would cast over St. Catherine's Park, which sits across the street.

Kallos, whose position could be influential once the City Council considers the proposal, has not taken a formal stance on the project but has strongly hinted that he opposes it.

Kallos said the Blood Center should move forward instead with an alternate proposal it has included in planning documents: a modest, five-story building that would achieve its stated goals of creating new lab space and replacing its current, 91-year-old home.

"It seems that the as-of-right development could accommodate the Blood Center's needs," Kallos said.

Another point of contention is the Blood Center’s plan to construct a larger lab which processes microbes that are “indigenous or exotic, and they can cause serious or potentially lethal disease through respiratory transmission,” according to the CDC.

The neighborhood group leading the opposition, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, claims the organization and Longfellow have not been transparent about bringing such a facility to the site, or how the lab will be used. (Council member Ben Kallos, who represents the area, told the Post, “I hate to think of what they’re cooking up in there.”) The Blood Center contends that it’s always had such a lab on site.

City Councilman Ben Kallos, who represents the area, said the Blood Center has not been transparent about the lab.

“I hate to think of what they’re cooking up in there,” he said.

The Blood Center told The Post the lab will be for its use only and “is a necessary component for the research and development of new antivirals and vaccines.” It said it has used the lab for hepatitis and HIV research in the past.

The Blood Center has tried unsuccessfully for a rezoning and expansion several times, Kallos said.

New York, NY—The opposition to the New York Blood Center’s proposal to build a massive 16-story, 600,000-square foot campus on the Upper East Side is growing, as the Zoning and Development Committee of Community Board 8 voted yesterday by a margin of 16-1 to oppose the project.

First the committee heard presentations from several speakers before they voted. First up was Marty Bell, who during a Zoom meeting with Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) last week made quite clear that he is opposed to the project. He believes that the Blood Center can easily build a new building within its existing footprint compared to building a new 16-story tower whereby it will only occupy the first five floors.

After presenting the two options to neighborhood groups including the East River 50s Alliance and Sutton Area Community, Kallos said that residents' preference was clear.

"What I will say is, people love Trader Joe's," Kallos said.

Trader Joe's will be committing to the space through June 2026, with an option to renew until 2036, according to a copy of the lease which was shared with Patch.

After Tishman's death, the city hired additional inspectors, increased fines and in January, mandated that another 220 buildings put up sheds.

“That was a reaction to someone losing their life, and in that regard, I think we should pull out every measure that we can to make people safe," said Brooklyn City Councilman Robert Cornegy Jr., "but there’s another measure that can be even more effective and efficient.”

The Democrat sponsored legislation requiring the city to explore allowing building owners to use drones to complete required facade inspections. Quicker inspections could reduce the need for sidewalk sheds. His bill is awaiting the mayor's approval.

“We actually need building owners and landlords to take care of their buildings," said Manhattan City Councilman Ben Kallos. "Right now, what happens is, they look at the side of the building, they see a loose brick and then just they put up the scaffolding, and it stays there for years.”

For example, a sidewalk shed on 115th Street in East Harlem has been up for more than 11 years.

“They haven’t done nothing. It’s still like now the same,” a neighbor told NY1.

Soon after the shock ruling, City Council member Ben Kallos called for Gamma Real Estate’s 847-foot condo tower at 3 Sutton Place to be shortened by more than half, since Gamma used a similar tactic to win approval.

NEW YORK - After a New York State Supreme Court judge ordered 20 stories or more be removed off the top of the largest residential skyscraper on the Upper West Side, developers fear the ruling could set a dangerous precedent.

"This was a bad ruling—with hundreds of millions of dollars spent, thousands of jobs on the line," said Paiman Lodhi, a senior vice president with the Real Estate Board of New York.

But Eddie Small, a reporter for The Real Deal, said this was a special case.

"It's an extremely unique case on an extremely unique zoning lot," he said. "And this ruling won't necessarily impact very many other big projects in New York City."

Small said the community groups currently have no plans of using their victory as a basis for litigation against other projects. But others are.

Councilman Ben Kallos is seeking to have a 847-foot skyscraper on the Upper East Side cut down by almost half the footage and plans to file a motion based on this case.