L.E.S. Residents Protest Houston St. Tower By Colin Moynihan

A plan to build a 23-story residential tower on the site of a parking lot on East Houston Street between Essex and Ludlow streets will obscure the skyline and price many residents out of the area, local opponents say. On July 18, the owner of the lot, Edison Properties, requested a zoning variance for the project. Under current zoning rules, only commercial buildings can be built on the lot, and only at a maximum height of 19 stories. A spokesman for Edison Properties, Douglas Sarini, defended the proposed tower. "There is a need for housing, and we think the building we want will improve the area," he said.

But many neighborhood residents view the plan differently. At a meeting of the Ludlow Block Association on Nov. 1, opponents complained that the building, which would be the tallest in a zoning district that covers approximately 45 blocks, would mar the skyline and hasten gentrification. For example, the critics note, the building would have 266 apartments--75% of which would rent for $45 a square foot [or $1,125 a month for a 300-square-foot studio--ed.]. "Most of the people who live in this neighborhood won’t be able to afford to live there," said Clayton Patterson, a longtime resident active in local affairs. "This building doesn’t accommodate the needs of the neighborhood."

A week after the meeting, [Met Council member] Susan Howard outlined many objections to the plan in a letter to the city Board of Standards and Appeals. Among other things, she said, the tower will mean the loss of more than 100 parking spaces, and its shadow "will darken the children’s playground and trees of P.S. 20."

Sarini conceded that parking spaces will be lost, but said the tower will cast shade on the playground only one month a year.

As she leafed through an environmental assessment that had been prepared for Edison Properties, Howard still saw the plan as a bad idea. When hundreds of high-income tenants move into a low-income area, she said, commercial rents, which are unregulated, inevitably rise. "Developments are supposed to improve the neighborhood," she said. "But they often end up leading to the eviction of small businesses in the community."

This article originally appeared in the New York Times. Reprinted with permission of the author.

There will be a second public hearing at the Board of Standards and Appeals (40 Rector St.) on Dec. 19, starting at 2 p.m. The project will go back before Community Board 3 at their next full board meeting, also scheduled for Dec. 19, at 6:30 p.m., at P.S. 20, Essex and Houston streets.