Hell's Kitchen Online 7/5/98
Hellskitchen
kitchen@hellskitchen.net
Sun, 05 Jul 1998 15:17:26 -0500
Hell's Kitchen Online 7/5/98
"All the News the Times Won't Print"
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In this issue...
* City Planning Changes to Zoning Plan (virtually nothing)
Web Links on the 8th Avenue/Theater Zoning Plan
* CSDC needs donations and help
* A few letters
* Alert: Federal Bill would allow Developers to Bypass Land Use process
* Municipal Art Society: Whose on First?
* Queens Civic Congress News Release on the Theater Zoning
* Queens Tribune article
* Queens Chronicle article
* Union of Protection (Daily News)
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LINKS ON THE 8TH AVENUE/THEATER ZONING PLAN
Current Events -- Meetings & Hearings
http://hellskitchen.net/csdc/about/about.html
Press Reports and Resolutions
http://hellskitchen.net/develop/index.html
CITY PLANNING MODIFICATIONS TO PLAN 6/3
City Planning Follies (Joe Rose in action)
http://hellskitchen.net/csdc/ulurp/12comm.html
City Planning Follies (list of changes in plan)
http://hellskitchen.net/csdc/ulurp/cpcmods.html
The Infamous Randy Mastro Letter
http://hellskitchen.net/csdc/ulurp/mastro.html
City Planning Report, Full text (released June 22)
http://hellskitchen.net/csdc/ulurp/cpcreport.html
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CSDC NEEDS YOUR HELP
As the City Council hearings and vote come up, we are in full gear. We need to get out flyers,
mailings and other things. You can help with:
* Donations -- we need cash for copying, postage, paper and caps. Whatever you can give will be
appreciated (especially if you're independently wealthy), and unfortunately, is not tax
deductable. We're out of buttons, but are getting painter caps for the City Council hearing. If
you can make a donation, please send it to:
Clinton Special District Coalition
c/o Gladys Foustedt
441 West 51st Street
New York, NY 10019
* Volunteer -- we need help manning the tables, passing out flyers, getting letters out in
buildings and mailing, and maybe even a demonstration or two. Call 977-4684 and leave a message.
* Silkscreen on Painters Caps -- a local vendor is giving us about 500 painter caps at his cost
(that still runs $250) But these are white with nothing on it and we need a person experienced in
silkscreening who can help us add printing to the caps -- as soon as possible. Call 581-9022 and
leave a message.
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LETTERS
From: LRSpodek@aol.com
Dear HK Online:
I, a HK resident, for one enjoy the restaurant reviews from our local crowd. I love reading
the local news including about resturants.
From: mark@mudman.com
Mark "mudman" Flanders
Hey friends & neighbors,
I'm having a party to celebrate the release of my urban Folk CD at "DRAG" (Ninth Ave & 40th
Street. It's free, and I'm a singer-songwriter/performer based in the Kitchen. ( I live on 47th)
It's on Saturday July 11th at 9pm, in the party room in the back. I'll perform at
10:15, 11:45 & 1:00. Come on down. (CD is available at "Hemp Instead" on Ninth Ave & 47th St.)
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From: sbankoff@hdc.org
Takings Bill alert!!
The Historic Districts Council has been alerted by the National Trust for
Historic Preservation that a takings bill (H.R. 1534) that has already
passed the House of Representatives and the Senate Judiciary Committee may
be voted on for adoption by the full Senate. This legislation, if adopted,
would allow developers to sue cities and counties in federal court before
going through long-established local land use procedures and appeals in
local and state courts. It also threatens the primacy of state and local
land use laws, including, but not limited to, landmarks protection laws.
Specifically this bill will:
1. Undermine local control over land us by allowing developers to bypass
local zoning appeals and state courts by filing Fifth Amendment takings
claims against local governments directly in federal court; and,
2. Result in far more litigation and far less incentive for developers to
work with local planning officials to resolve land use disputes, as they
could sue in federal court without adequately seeking to resolve their
disputes with local officials through local procedures.
Everyone should please contact Senator Alfonse D'Amato to tell him to kill
this bill before it gets to the full Senate. This could very much turn into
a case of foxes set free in the henhouse.
New York Office:
Senator Alfonse D'Amato
7 Penn Plaza
Seventh Avenue, Suite 600
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 947-7390
Washington Office:
Senator Alfonse D'Amato
520 Hart Senate Building
Washington DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6542
Fax: (202) 224-5871 (this is the "official" fax in Washington)
Email: senator_al@damato.senate.gov
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Municipal Art Society leading the debate?
Someone sent us the July/August Newsletter of the Municipal Art Society where they claim they are
"leading" the debate on the Theater Subdistrict/8th Avenue Zoning Proposal. Well, they did testify
at a number of hearings, but so did many others. As the person who sent it remarked... "You might
think that MAS is leading the effort all by itself! What a cheek!"
(Ed. note: There are many many organizations and individuals who are very involved in the zoning
issue, including CSDC. See below what our friends in Queens are doing. Maybe MAS could return a
few phone calls.)
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Kew Gardens Hills News Page
NEWS RELEASE June 5, 1998
http://dijon.nais.com/~qvhca/newspage.htm
QUEENS AIDS MANHATTAN NEIGHBORHOODS
The Queens Civic Congress, an 85+ member coalition of Queens civic groups, is part of a city-wide
effort to defeat the City Planning Commission plan to allow owners of landmarked Manhattan
theaters to sell their development rights to builders who could develop properties at greater than
usual permitted densities and heights in a fifty plus block area in the theater district. Present
zoning regulations permit the transfer of development rights only to adjacent lots. The purpose of
the proposal, according to City Planning, is to allow the theaters to create a fund that will
support the Broadway theater industry.
Congress President Sean Walsh testified at a May City Planning Commission hearing that the
proposal threatens the integrity of the Zoning Resolution and urged the Commission to retain the
existing 1961 provisions of the Resolution. Citing the Congress' contention that the plan would
establish a dangerous precedent, Walsh reminded the Commission that "houses of worship, hospitals
... and other community facilities may seek similar amendments in order to sell their development
rights to raise funds for their programs. Queens cemeteries, rail yards and sports facilities
present a tremendous danger of a massive transfer of rights. Indeed, City Economic Development
Corporation President Charles Millard has identified at least 80 city owned properties, including
schools, whose air rights may be for sale.
The Theater Redistricting Proposal was adopted by the City Planning Commission and is now under
review by the City Council where the Congress will continue to work with the city-wide coalition
for its defeat. The Congress has persuaded several Queens Community boards to oppose the air
rights plan.
For information, call Congress Vice President Pat Dolan at 263-1760.
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QUEENS LEAGUE OF UNITED TENANTS
QLOUT joins other tenant, neighborhood and civic groups throughout the city in opposing the
Theater District Air Rights Proposal. With the continuing assault on NYC rent regulations, it must
be remembered that development and speculation pressures often lead the call to weaken tenant
protections.
When low-to-moderate income neighborhoods become attractive for development, the residents and
small businesses of the target area are often considered expendable.
This proposal creates a precedent for wide Air Rights receiving areas, and within a few years the
pressure to use such techniques will almost certainly find a target in Queens. It won't be
Broadway theaters, but others, feeling entitled, will press for similar Air Rights.
Tenants will be the first at risk, through the loss of affordable housing and the likelihood that
only luxury housing will replace viable neighborhoods. We urge that this proposal be defeated.
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AND IN THE QUEENS LOCAL PAPERS
Boards Battle New City Zoning Plan
Queens Tribune, July 2, 1998
By GARY McLENDON
Five Queens community boards have joined the Queens Civic Congress in opposition of a
precedent-setting City Planning Commission proposal that would bypass zoning rules after the sale
of air rights. Under the plan, property owners can sell their development rights to builders, who
in turn would be permitted to develop properties at far greater-than-usual densities and heights.
The Civic Congress reports that community boards 4, 6, 8, 9, and 11 have adopted strong
resolutions criticizing the proposal.
The plan, known as the Theater Sub-District and 8th Avenue Rezoning Proposal, was endorsed by the
City Planning Commission in June.
It would allow owners of 24 landmark theaters in Manhattan’s theater district to sell the
air-rights over their properties to any property owner within a multi-block vicinity of the
theater district. Present zoning regulations permit the transfer of development rights only to
adjacent lots.
While admitting to have no direct interest in Manhattan’s theater district, the Queens Civic
Congress believes that the plan would set a dangerous precedent because property owners could sell
their air-rights to a developer that is some distance away from the property, and the developer
could build in excess of prior restrictions.
"We believe that it will establish, in Queens and throughout the city, a sense among property
owners that they too are entitled to exploit their property in this way, and we think that’s
dangerous," said Civic Congress spokesperson Patricia Dolan. The Congress is a coalition of more
than 85 of Queens’ major neighborhood civic groups.
Under the plan, purchasers of air space will gain a zoning waiver of 20 to 44 percent in maximum
density and height to develop the space. The zoning waiver comes with no public review, because it
is included in the sale.
Richard Barth, director of the Department of City Planning’s Manhattan office, confirmed that
property transfers within the theater district will allow increased scope of property development,
but said that the city has many districts with special zoning regulations. By allowing the wider
transfer of air-rights and having more theaters preserved as theater use, he said, the restored
theaters will benefit both the theater district and the public.
"This is one of the most significant areas of the city, in terms of culture, in terms of
attracting tourists to the city," Barth said. "There are only five theaters that are required to
maintain as theater use, out of 45 theaters."
Barth said that the goals of the special district are the preservation of legitimate Broadway
theater and the orderly growth and development of 8th Avenue. And he added that the plan provides
design controls that will expand the number of newly-renovated, operational theaters within the
district. The plan also calls for coordinated building designs both inside and outside the
district.
The Civic Congress believes the regulations have wider implications.
"If you were a developer in the city of New York you would be salivating over it," said Dolan.
"Because you would effectively be buying the zoning."
The Queens Civic Congress plans to bring their concerns before the City Council, which will hold
hearings on the proposal in mid-July.
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Can Air Rights Transfers Proposal Hurt Queens? Yes, Warn Civics
By Betty Cooney
Queens Chronicle, July 2, 1998
What began as a modest plan to raise support for the Broadway theater industry in Manhattan has
now become a serious concern to Queens civics.
Civics warn that the transfer of air rights to builders (aside from adjacent lots which is allowed
by law) must be stopped to preserve the integrity of zoning and the borough's quality of life.
Fighting the plan proposed by the City Planning Commission is the Queens Civic Congress, a
coalition representing more than 85 Queens civic groups.
If passed, owners of landmarked Manhattan theaters would be allowed to sell their undeveloped air
rights to builders to use on other properties within a 50-plus block area at greater than the
densities and heights permitted by the existing zoning regulations.
Under the current zoning regulations, the transfer of development rights is only permitted for
adjacent lots. City Planning devised the plan to provide funding for the ailing Broadway theater
industry.
During a City Planning Commission hearing in May, Sean Walsh, the president of the Queens Civic
Congress, testified that the plan "threatens the integrity of the Zoning Resolution." He urged the
commission to retain the existing 1961 provisions of the resolution.
Walsh warned that the change would "establish a dangerous precedent, one that could harm other
communities outside of Manhattan.
He said other facilities, such as houses of worship, hospitals, cemeteries, etc. could possibly
seek other amendments to sell their development rights in an effort to raise funding for their
organizations.
He said Queens was especially vulnerable to such action based on the number of cemeteries rail
yards and support facilities existing in the borough.
The fears expressed by the Civic Congress were heightened when city Economic Development
Corporation President Charles Millard identified close to 80 city-owned properties, including
schools, as possible for sale sites for air rights transfers.
City Planning adopted the theater proposal and it is currently under review by the City Council.
The Council is expected to begin hearings on air right transfers in July.
Pat Dolan, vice president of the Congress said, "They want us to believe there is no precedent
being set. Ha. If they allow it in Manhattan you can be sure in a couple of years they'll try to
do it in Queens. They'll identify publicly owned sites to sell."
Dolan said the plan will "become the painless way of changing zoning. You buy the air rights to
something on the west side and then you use it 20 blocks away on another site."
The Civic Congress, adamantly opposed to the plan, is raising the issue before the local community
boards in Queens.
Last week Barbara Stuchinski introduced a "radical" resolution against air rights transfers before
Community Board 6 in Forest Hills.
While the board didn't adopt the resolution in its entirety, it did pass what Dolan calls "a
watered down version in a 29 to 0 vote." Other boards are following suit, she said.
Community Boards 4, 8, 9 and 11 have already "adopted strong resolutions criticizing the
proposal," Dolan noted. And, three other boards are in the process of considering the issue.
=================================================================
A Union Of Protection
Daily News, July 5, 1998
By TOM ROBBINS
The nonunion contractor at the center of last week's massive labor rally has turned to a minority
construction coalition with a reputation for violence for security help.
New Jersey-based Roy Kay Inc. hired members of Akbar's Community Service, a Brooklyn construction
workers' group, to supply security guards for its embattled West Side construction project.
Akbar's has long been one of the most active of the so-called "coalitions" that target
construction sites demanding jobs. The group has been cited for violence in numerous past
incidents; several years ago, its members were involved in two shootings.
Group leader Akbar Allah, formerly known as Derrick Ford, has served two prison sentences for gun
possession.
Early last month, in a tense face-off between protesting union supporters and coalition members,
about 40 members of Akbar's group appeared at the W. 54th St. site where Roy Kay Inc. is
constructing a $33 million project for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with nonunion
labor.
The show of force came one day after a rally of 4,000 union members, said Michael Hellstrom of
Laborers Local 79.
"The next day, Akbar came in with his guys to show strength on Roy Kay's side," Hellstrom said.
Akbar acknowledged the face-off, but said he is now trying to steer clear of the situation.
"To show support for Roy, we came in with two vans," he said. "I didn't bring no guns. And after
that ruckus, I backed off because I didn't want to be seen as a strong-arm guy for Roy," he said.
Akbar, 44, said he has worked with Roy Kay, owner of the firm, for 13 years since first
encountering him at a construction project at Brooklyn College. He said his group provides
security guards for all of the firm's New York-area projects.
In addition, about a dozen members of his group have construction jobs with Roy Kay Inc. Two are
at the 54th St. site, he said.
A Roy Kay Inc. representative at the West Side site confirmed that some members of Akbar's group
are working there, but declined to speak for attribution.
On Tuesday, as many as 40,000 union demonstrators staged a traffic-snarling, sometimes violent
march and rally outside MTA headquarters to protest Roy Kay's contract.
Building trade officials said the firm has a history of safety violations and provides substandard
benefits to workers.
Akbar accused unions of attempting to make him an issue in the dispute.
"They're making me a threat, but I'm not," he said. "Now it's the unions trying to be gangsters,
acting like Bogart."
Security guard contracts often are doled out to coalition groups by contractors both as a means of
satisfying job demands and to buy protection against other groups, authorities say.
Although some groups press legitimate demands to hire minority workers, as many as 100 others have
turned the tactic into a cynical hustle, according to prosecutors.
According to Brooklyn federal prosecutors, mobsters in Coney Island used threats of disruption by
Akbar's group against a home builder to help collect $400,000 in shakedown payments.
Akbar was not charged in the case, but he acknowledged that his group won the security contract on
the site.