Hell's Kitchen Online 4/27/98

[Hellskitchen]

Hell's Kitchen Online                                    4/27/98
                 "All the News the Times Won't Print"
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In this issue...

* Zoning Forum: The Next Step, City Hall
* West Side Stormy: B'way Rezoning Rapped (Backstage 4/24)
* Manhattan Borough Board Opposes Eighth Avenue Rezoning (Playbill 4/17)
* With Many Qualifications, Fields Supports 8th Ave. Zoning Plan (Playbill
4/23)
* Senator Leichter Announces Retirement

=================================================================

--==:: I M P O R T A N T ::==--

Clinton/Hell's Kitchen Zoning Forum
The Next Step: City Hall

Hear from your elected officials about the next steps
in the fight to save Clinton/Hell's Kitchen from
8th Avenue Air Rights and overdevelopment. The 
Community Boards have spoken. Clinton residents 
must turn out for City Planning and City Council 
hearings and votes.

Scheduled to appear:

Tom Duane, NYC Council
Franz Leichter, NYS Senate
Richard N. Gottfried, NYS Assembly
Scott Stringer, NYS Assembly

Wednesday, April 29
at 7:00 p.m.
St. Clare's Hospital Auditorium
426 West 52 St. (between 9/10 Aves.)

* What Happens Next?
* Who are the Key Players?
* Will other boroughs oppose it?
* What should you do?

Coming up:
City Planning Public Hearing
Wed., May 6 at 10 a.m., City Hall

=================================================================

West Side Stormy: B'way Rezoning Rapped 
Theatre Air-Rights Plan Receives a Third Rabbit Punch 
By Murdoch McBride
Backstage, April 24, 1998

Unless the NYC's Department of City Planning (DCP) can totally re-market
itself to residents of Clinton and Hell's Kitchen within the next month or
two, its beleaguered proposal to rezone the theatre district's western
border probably won't get past the full City Council.

This is the conventional wisdom surrounding the prospects for this
controversial plan, which proposes the liberal sale and geographic transfer
of air rights in a rezoned and slightly expanded district, with development
planned primarily along Eighth Avenue.

In the first two steps of a lengthy approval process, Community Boards 4
and 5 voted against the plan. A third major blow to the proposal came on
April 15 at the Manhattan Borough Board meeting. There, the Manhattan
delegates to the full City Council supported an advisory resolution
critical of the plan and urged "an approach that addresses the issues
raised by the [borough] board."

Borough President Virginia Fields said, "The proposal, as set forth, is not
acceptable."

Even so, the Manhattan delegates to the City Council joined in negotiations
with the community boards over the language of the resolution. They pushed
for a more conciliatory tone and thus kept the door open for a revised,
more acceptable version of the plan. City Councilwoman Ronnie Eldridge
summed up this sentiment at the meeting when she said that the resolution
marked "the real beginning of the process."

Sending A Clear Signal

The nearly unanimous resolution from the Borough Board was unusual and sent
a clear, strong signal to the full City Council and to other civic groups:
Without major changes in substance, theatre district re-zoning is going
nowhere.

Sources indicate that the city was blind-sided by the degree of opposition
it has encountered.

Proponents of the plan say it gives order to existing Eighth Avenue
development, bolsters the theatre industry, and directly benefits the
Broadway Initiative with a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of air
rights.

The Review Process

The zoning proposal is midway through the standard review process for
rezoning, known as the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). Under
ULURP, zoning and land use proposals proceed chronologically through
community boards, borough boards, the City Planning Commission, the full
City Council, and finally to the Mayor.

If the City Council votes the theatre rezoning proposal down, it will be a
dead issue. This is why the nearly unanimous Manhattan Borough vote, which
included the 10 Manhattan delegates from the City Council, is considered
such an important signal.

The proposal should pass the planning commission, where the Mayor enjoys a
political majority, but should the full City Council vote the proposal
down, it would not go to the Mayor.

Opponents of theatre district rezoning, many of whom live in the
Clinton/Hell's Kitchen area north of 40th street and west of Eighth Avenue,
have enjoyed affordable rents and a neighborhood lifestyle characterized by
the zoning protections in place for 25 years. They fear that the impact of
big development along Eighth Avenue would overburden an already dense area.
They also fear that because air rights would be transferred "as-of-right,"
development would take place without any meaningful public review. They
have also successfully defined the debate, making it less of a "save
Broadway" issue and more of a citizen effort to safeguard the reviews
established with ULURP.

Zoning laws typically strive for a balance of burdens and benefits, with
transferred rights going to nearby buildings in an effort to stabilize
neighborhoods and provide predictability.

However, the proposed plan calls for air rights to go to designated
"receiving sites" along the west side of Eighth Avenue which borders Hell's
Kitchen and the Clinton Special District--often far away from the
originating site. Critics said this skewed the balance of benefits and
burdens in zoning.

A day before the Borough Board vote, during a seminar on theatre rezoning
sponsored by the Women's City Club of New York, Community Board 5 member
Kevin Finnegan opined the plan to be "fundamentally flawed. It's a proposal
designed to help a small class of property owners and whenever you look to
zoning to generate revenue, you are selling your patrimony--the air and
light of our urban landscape.

=================================================================

Manhattan Borough Board Opposes Eighth Avenue Rezoning
Playbill, April 17, 1998
by Robert Simonson

The Manhattan Borough Board voted April 16 to oppose New York City Planning
Department's controversial proposal to rezone a Midtown stretch of Eighth
Avenue in the midst of the Broadway theatre district, and Borough President
C. Virginia Fields will most likely follow suit.

Ellen Ryan of The Broadway Theater Institute, which hosted an open forum on
the subject April 15, said the board voted down the proposal, which would
allow developers to building beyond current Eighth Avenue zoning
restrictions by purchasing the air rights over Broadway theatres. The
board, which includes all Manhattan City Council members, voted 11-1 on
April 16 to reject the plan, and urged a rethinking of the proposal. Board
members were unhappy that the west side of the Eighth Avenue -- officially
part of the Clinton community, which lies just west of the Theatre District
-- would be included under the zoning change. The body also expressed a
desire that theatre owners who participate in the sale of air rights be
made to pledge their buildings to theatre use for more than the suggested
25 years.

Manhattan Borough Board C. Virginia Fields may follow up the board's
rejection of the proposal with a no vote of her own. Fields did not vote
along with the board, but her spokesman, Michael DeMarzo, said that she
would be issuing her own recommendation in the next three or four days.
DeMarzo said that Fields' stance would most likely mirror that of the board.

"I think what really happened [at the board vote] was the borough president
was able to pull the board into a consensus around the issue," said
DeMarzo. "The idea was that the borough board wasn't rejecting the idea of
transferring air rights , but wanted to see it done in a way that addressed
the communities that would be affected. The resolution was an attempt to
build a framework in which the proposal could be shaped."

DeMarzo said that Fields largely agreed with the vote. "In tone, that is
where she stands on the issue," he said.

Earlier this year, both Community Board 4, which represents Clinton, and
Community Board 5, which speaks for the Theatre District, rejected it. If
Fields, too, opposes it, her vote, along with those of the community boards
and the borough board, would constitute what is known as a "triple no."
Such opposition can only be overcome by a two-thirds "super-majority" of
the City Council. Usually, a proposal requires only a majority vote for
passage.

The plan now goes to the City Planning Commission for a vote next month.
Planning Commissioner Joseph B. Rose reaction to the vote was vociferous.
He branded the body "a forum that plays to the most reactionary and
obstructionist elements of the Manhattan political spectrum." He allowed,
however, that the plan might be revised before reaching the City Council in
June.

The zoning proposal has been a source of conflict since it came to light in
1997. The idea was born of a study of the theatre industry commissioned by
The Broadway Initiative, a coalition of theatrical labor and management
forces. The New York City Planning Department's rezoning plan is a key
tenet of the Initiative's plan to pump even more life into the Times Square
theatre industry. Under the plan, theatre owners who benefit from the sale
of air rights to Eighth Avenue developers would be required to deposit a
percentage of that windfall into a Theatre Fund. That fund would then be
used by the Initiative to maintain and inspect Broadway theatres and
develop new plays and small musicals for the Great White Way.

The Broadway Theatre Institute, along with The Municipal Art Society and
The Women's City Club, preceded the borough board vote with a forum on the
zoning plan, held at New York City's Urban Center. Ryan said the event was
attended by 125-140 people, and that talk was "spirited. The audience was
dominated by people who are skeptical about the proposal." Jerald Kayden, a
Harvard professor specializing in land use and development, moderated.

=================================================================

With Many Qualifications, Fields Supports 8th Ave. Zoning Plan
Playbill, April 23, 1998
by Robert Simonson

Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has endorsed the city's
Eighth Avenue Zoning Proposal, albeit with so many provisos that her
support is not likely to greatly cheer the plan's supporters. Fields'
stance, officially an approval of the controversial plan, includes such
recommendations as the exemption of much of the west side of the street
from the plan and the requirement that any air rights transfer require a
special permit.

If adopted by the New York City Council, the proposal would greatly benefit
owners of Broadway theatres, and thereby, it is argued, the entire NY
theatre industry.

Still, Fields' was the most positive reaction the proposed rezoning has yet
elicited. In recent weeks, the proposal has been strongly, and, in some
cases, unanimously rejected, first by Community Boards 4 and 5 (which
encompass Clinton and the Theatre District) and then the Manhattan Borough
Board. Put forth as a cure for the ailing Broadway industry, the Department
of Planning's proposal would allow theatre owners to sell the air rights to
their landmarked buildings to developers who wished to build along Eighth
Avenue between 40th and 57th streets in excess of current zoning laws. A
portion of the money theatre owners would cull from such a windfall,
meanwhile, would be deposited into a Theatre Fund, intended for the upkeep
of landmark theatres and the development of new plays and used by the
Broadway Initiative Working Group -- a coalition of theatrical management
and union groups.

Broadway interests have argued that the plan would be beneficial to the
city's billion-dollar theatre industry and necessary for its continued
health and survival. Community groups, meanwhile, characterize the plan as
a land grab, which would aid the theatre little, enrich developers and
theatre owners much, and potentially hurt the character of the surrounding
community.

Fields seemed to give a nod to the forces opposing the plan. She
recommended that the west side of Eighth Avenue -- the side that marks the
beginning of the Clinton neighborhood -- be eliminated from any rezoning
plan, with the exception of the blocks between 45th and 42nd streets, which
border the west-of-Eighth Martin Beck Theatre.

She also urged that any transfer of air rights be accomplished only by
special permit, a process which would involve review and approval under the
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. This mirrors a demand previously made by
the Community Boards.

Fields additionally proposed that the chairs of Boards 4 and 5, as well as
representatives of her office and local elected officials, be given a place
on the Broadway Initiative's board. Also, under the present plan, theatre
owners who sell development rights must pledge their building to legitimate
use for 25 years. Fields asked that the time limit be extended to "the life
of the related development."

While Clinton officials blasted Field's stand as a betrayal of the
community, the Initiative saw in it a glimmer of hope for its plans.
"Obviously, she felt an obligation to check one of the boxes marked do not
recommend," said Ethan Geto, spokesman for the Broadway Initiative. "But,
considering the reaction to the issues to date, we consider this a huge
shot in the arm."

Asked how he felt about welcoming the heads of the Community Boards into
the Initiative fold, Geto said he was "Not prepared to comment. We are very
open in general to having a significant community presence on the board."

Geto said the Initiative is participating in ongoing discussions with the
City Planning Commission and the City Council about possible alterations to
the plan, and is hopeful about its eventual passage. Many officials on both
sides of the issue, however, feel it is doubtful that the zoning plan will
pass City Council in anything resembling its present form.

"We want the whole thing eliminated," said John Fisher, head of The Clinton
Special District Coalition, "Because the crux of this issue is the transfer
of air rights, which we think is inherently wrong." Many community leaders,
including Fisher and officials from other boroughs, believe the Eighth
Avenue plan would set a precedent which would open the door to the liberal
transfer of air rights citywide.

The rezoning plan is due to go before City Council in June.

=================================================================

SENATOR LEICHTER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM LEGISLATURE
April 20 (Press Release)

Senator Franz S. Leichter (D/L, Manhattan/Bronx) announced today that he
will not seek reelection to the New York State Senate and will end his 30
years of service in the State Legislature.  First elected to the Assembly
in 1968, Leichter entered the Senate in 1975 and is presently concluding
his twelfth term.  He represents the 30th Senatorial District that runs
along the Hudson River from Chelsea to the Northwest Bronx and includes
most of Manhattan's West Side.

In announcing his retirement, Leichter said:

"I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to serve in the Legislature for the
past 30 years.  It is now time to move on and find new ways to provide
public service."

Leichter is known for his many reports analyzing State and City tax
abatements and business subsidy programs, how the Legislature conducts its
affairs, campaign fund-raising abuses and the high cost of banking
services.

Reflecting on his legislative career, Leichter stated:

"In my years in Albany, I have fought to make the Legislature more
democratic and more responsive to the needs of New Yorkers.  While some
progress has been made, much more needs to be done.  Sadly, as seen by its
output, the sum is less than its parts.  The powerful leadership system in
the Legislature stifles initiative and productivity."

Leichter continued:

"Over the years, I have documented abuses in the campaign finance system. 
I believe my reports and advocacy have helped to establish New York City's
public campaign finance system.  But, in Albany, I have seen how big money
dictates more than ever what legislation will pass or fail.  Campaign
finance abuses are a cancer threatening out democracy."

Among Leichter's major accomplishments are:

* Introducing the nation's first bill to legalize abortions (Cook-Leichter),
which became law in 1970.

* Introducing and having passed the nation's first law requiring banks to
give depositors early availability to their monies deposited by check.

* Exposing the return of sweatshops in New York in reports he issued in the
early 1980s.

* Spurring adoption of the City's public campaign finance system through
reports issued on fund-raising by members of the Board of Estimate.

* Issuing reports of the State's waste of over one billion dollars on the
so-called "Job Incentive Program," which led Governor Cuomo to abolish the
program in 1983.

* Sponsoring the law protecting nursing home patients and others by
requiring health professionals to report incidents of patient abuse.

* Being a prime mover in the effort to create a greenbelt along the Hudson
River shore.  He succeeded in securing funding for Riverbank State Park
(135th to 145th Streets) and getting New York City to be a part of the
Hudson River Valley Greenway, and he is the prime sponsor of the bill to
create a park and limit commercial development along the Hudson River
waterfront from Battery Park City to 59th Street.

* Leading the effort to pass the State's Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to
combat "redlining" and discrimination by banks.

* Initiating passage of the warranty of habitability law to protect tenants
from unsafe housing conditions.

* Issuing for the past 13 years an annual rating of banks and a guide to
consumers on how to reduce banking costs.

* Sponsoring the "pooper scooper law" requiring dog owners in New York City
to clean up after their pets, which served as a model for other cities to
do likewise.

Leichter entered politics upon graduating from law school.  He joined the
budding reform movement, which was then led by Eleanor Roosevelt and former
Governor Herbert Lehman, in challenging Tammany Hall.  He worked in the
campaign to elect William F. Ryan to Congress and succeeded him as
Democratic District Leader in Morningside Heights in 1961.  He held that
position until elected to the Assembly in 1968.  Twice reapportioned out of
his district in an effort by Republicans to drive him out of the 
Legislature, Leichter in 1974 defeated the Minority Leader of the Senate to
win his Senate seat.

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