The following resolution was passed by the board of the Turtle Bay Association against the proposed Sutton Place "Megatower" at East 58th Street. Sign the petition.
TURTLE BAY ASSOCIATION
224 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017
MAY 4, 2015 RESOLUTION RE: COALITION TO STOP THE BAUHOUSE TOWER. 426-432 EAST 58TH STREET
WHEREAS, the Bauhouse Group has announced that it will build a 900 foot high condominium at 426-432 East 58th Street. It will contain 95 apartments in 268,000 square feet of gross floor area. 58,000 square feet will be inclusionary housing.
WHEREAS, the zoning is R-10, with a floor area ratio (FAR) of 10.0 bonus-ed to 12.0 by providing inclusionary affordable housing.
WHEREAS, the zoning on the side streets in the Sutton community, as well in the southern parts of Turtle Bay, is R-1O with no height limits. On the other hand, on 1st and 2nd avenues, while the zoning is R-10 equivalent, tower on base rules limit building heights to 28-32 stories. The result are buildings on narrow side streets taller than those on the avenues, an anomaly in City residential planning where the tradition is to build high on the wide avenues and low on narrow side streets. That needs to be corrected.
WHEREAS, Bauhouse has acquired the walk-ups at 426-432 East 58th Street; when razed, the community will lose their 22 affordable housing units. They occupy an 8,000 square foot site area which, at FAR 12.00, yields 96,000 square feet of zoning floor area which translates, approximately, to 110,000 square feet of built gross floor area, about 40% of the 268,000 square foot tower. That suggests that the Bauhaus group has, or will have, acquired the remaining 60% via air rights transferred from other existing, adjoining sites, increasing the effective FAR to 19.2.
WHEREAS, the proposed 900 foot tower is out of scale to the surrounding community, overwhelming every other neighboring building, especially the fine townhouses on Sutton Place and Square. It will cast elongated shadows on the small parks facing the East River. 58th Street itself is a narrow, residential street that serves an access to the FDR Drive and York Avenue. It will become choked with traffic, not only that coming and leaving the Bauhouse project, and creating pollution from idling cars and trucks and delaying emergency vehicles.
WHEREAS a neighborhood coalition has been formed. It is Stop the Bauhouse; it includes Councilmember Ben Kallos and SAC.
NOW THEREFORE, the Turtle Bay Association desires to make common cause with and join the Stop the Bauhouse coalition.
It recommends that the entire Sutton area side streets be zoned R-8 or when appropriate, R-8B. It further recommends that air rights transfers in residential districts be limited to a floor area increase not to exceed 25%.
IN FAVOR 12 OPPOSED 0 ABSTAINING 0 .
TURTLE BAY ASSOCIATION May 4. 2015
William B. Curtis, President Bruce A. Silberblatt,
Vice President/Zoning-Land Use Chairman
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