MCNY Panel Calls for West Side Development Oversight, Funding Transparency

At a panel discussion at the Museum of the City of New York last night, planners and community advocates criticized the lack of coordination going into the planning for the West Side. The sheer mass of public and private development planned for the West Side (between 14th and 42nd Street, West of 8th Avenue) is staggering.   Besides the Rail Yards themselves, current [...]

News Roundup January 7-14, 2008

The Times reports that ad firm Ogilvy-Mather plans to take over a building at 11th Avenue & 47th Street, making them pioneers on the Far West side. Though, it must be noted, their building is not really all *that* close to the Rail Yards site. Andrew Berman (he of many community activist organizations) takes out [...]

Open letter to the MTA from Hudson Yards Community Advisory Committee

HYCAC, an official community coalition made up of members of Community Board 4, local electeds and community organizations, has written a letter to MTA CEO Lee Sander with its reaction to the five proposals. The letter also brings up community concerns about the planning process at large, including the lack of infrastructure and affordable housing planning, the [...]

The Fate of the Far West Side at MCNY, January 29

Museum of the City of New York and the Regional Plan Association are co-sponsoring a panel discussion between some of the key players in the Far West Side’s redevelopment. From the MCNY Web site: James Stewart Polshek, FAIA, will moderate the evening’s discussion with participants Anna Hayes Levin, Chair of Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen Land Use Committee of Community Board 4; [...]

CB4 and HYCAC’s Discussion Document

Manhattan Community Board 4 and HYCAC developed this document to synthesize information about the MTA’s guidelines for the rail yards site, as well as overviews of the five proposals. It was intended for discussion at the December 10 public forum, but serves as a good reference for comparing the plans side-by-side. Download the PDF (Be [...]

Update on Community Forum Breakout Sessions

  As promised, here’s a quick discussion of the break-out sessions moderated (in some cases) by members of Friends of the High Liine at the community forum presented by Community Board 4 on Monday. The graph above represents some of the main concerns expressed by the various groups (there were 13 groups in all, so [...]

Plans Aired to the Community at the Hudson Guild

On Monday night, over 200 interested members of the community (as well as political figures such as New York State Senator Tom Duane) gathered at the Hudson Guild at an event sponsored by Community Board 4 and the Hudson Yards Community Advocacy Coalition that included presentations from the five developers who have submitted plans for [...]