W.V. Houses demo is a no-go WVH continued from p. 9
board cannot proceed with its sale at this moment. (Only about 80 percent of shareholders actually voted.) The garage is valued at around $63 million. Only nine West Village Houses members currently park there. The co-op has an operator run the garage and collects revenue from it. Meanwhile, city residents are increasingly forgoing the use of personal cars for Ubers, Lyfts and Vias. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s office has been keeping abreast of all the developments. “We want to be supportive of people at West Village Houses,” said Erik Bottcher, Johnson’s chief of staff. “There’s a lot going on internally. There have been some proposals put out there. We stand ready to assist if people need us.”
G.V.S.H.P. concerned
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Not surprisingly, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation had some serious concerns about the Madison Equities plan. “The West Village Houses are the only realized design in which Jane Jacobs had a direct hand,” said Andrew Berman, G.V.S.H.P.’s executive director. “They reflect an important era of New York City’s development when West Village residents rose up and stopped Robert Moses’ demolition and ‘urban renewal’ plans and replaced them with contextual, infill design. “While the ultimate West Village Houses design was a greatly modified and simplified version of what was originally planned, they nevertheless
represent an important moment and turning point in the history of our city and urban design. “Among our concerns,” Berman said, “are protecting the [West Village Houses] design and ensuring that the contextual neighborhood zoning that we fought for and secured for much of the Far West Village, including almost all of the West Village Houses, remains intact. “We recognize that there are other issues that need to be considered, like the financial viability and affordability of the development, its resiliency and its accessibility. We are hopeful that all these issues can be addressed as the tax break for the development expires and the challenges it faces changes.”
Board 2 discussion Sandy Russo, a member of Community Board 2 who lives near the West Village Houses, raised the alarm at the end of last month’s C.B. 2 full-board meeting that something needed to be done to stop the Madison rebuilding plan. During a brief board discussion that followed, one past chairperson of the board, David Gruber, urged that C.B. 2 stay out of the whole matter. But another past chairperson, Tobi Bergman, said they should get involved, citing the housing complex’s history and the involvement of Jacobs in its creation. Current C.B. 2 Chairperson Terri Cude told Russo she thought it would be a good idea to hold a town hall at which information and views on the issue could be shared, though the board would not necessarily be looking to weigh in with an official posi-
tion at this point. As for Russo, she thinks West Village Houses should stay affordable. “It was a pretty rough neighborhood before,” the longtime Village resident told The Villager. “But that was the deal they got — inexpensive with the idea this would remain an affordable-income project and not some Lotto ticket — it’s like, ‘Wee!’ Now we can make a killing!’”
‘Going up’ vs. uprooting But one West Village Houses board member, speaking off the record, said, in some ways, the complex is no longer particularly well-suited for those living there. For example, some elevators would be nice, she noted. “At West Village Houses the average age is 63,” she said. “In another 20 years, they’re going to be 83 in a fourth-floor walk-up. Many people here are self-employed, government workers, families with children. They haven’t been able to save buckets of money. If they want to sell at a price that helps them the next 20 or 30 years. … Other people want to stay. “‘Make a killing’ — that’s pretty rough,” she said, referring to Russo’s comment. “Jane Jacobs was about the people. To us, that means the people who live there.” However, Lester said elevators, for one, could be added without having to do a megadevelopment project. “You can put in capital improvements without knocking the whole thing down,” he said. “A 63-year-old person may want elevators — but they don’t want to be uprooted for five years.”
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March 15, 2018
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