Hell's Kitchen Online 7/12/98 Pt 2
Hellskitchen
kitchen@hellskitchen.net
Sun, 12 Jul 1998 11:51:56 -0500
Hell's Kitchen Alert 7/12/98
"All the News the Times Won't Print"
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In this issue...
* Reminder City Council on Tuesday
* Fields Twists the Knife on Clinton. Give Her a Bronx Cheer on Tuesday.
* And where is Peter Vallone?
* Fun Facts on Zoning and Broadway
* Math on the Broadway Initiative (Jack Goldstein says it's "Sound Planning")
* Joe Rose and Broadway Initiative Abuse City Planning Hearing
* Hopes for a "Fairer" City Council Public Hearing
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THIS IS THE BIG ONE.
CITY COUNCIL ZONING SUBCOMMITTEE will hold a public hearing on
the Theater Subdistrict/8th Avenue Zoning Proposal on July 14.
PUBLIC HEARING
Theater Subdistrict-8th Ave. Zoning Proposal
City Council Zoning Subcommittee
WHEN: Tuesday, July 14, 9:30 am
WHERE: City Council Chambers, City Hall
==============================================================
FIELDS TWISTS THE KNIFE ON CLINTON. GIVE HER A BRONX CHEER ON TUESDAY.
We've learned from City Council sources that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields is now
advocating for the complete approval of the controversial Theater Subdistrict/8th Avenue Zoning
Proposal set to be reviewed this week at City Council. Sources say she is "lobbying heavily" for
the plan's approval by City Council.
This would mean Fields would be going against her own position released in April, which in itself
was seen by many as a stab in the back to the Clinton/Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. As one person
put it, "First she stabs us in the back, now she twists the knife." If the original plan is
adopted, as she is now advocating, the entire west side of Eighth Avenue would be open for
skyscraper development through transfer of air rights and there would be no Special Permit
allowing community Board and City Council review.
Last summer when she was campaigning for the Borough President office, then City Council member
Fields issued a statement she would protect Clinton/Hell's Kitchen from overdevelopment. Once she
took office, she quickly backed away from this campaign promise.
In March, as part of the "Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP)," Fields held a public hearing
and stated she would "listen to the community" and something about "enhancing the process."
Despite being downtown at an inconvenient hour, the Clinton community turned out in droves on
March 25. But Fields couldn't be bothered with listening to her constituents. She left the hearing
early, and as she was leaving, was seen in the lobby grabbing for free tickets and dinner from
Broadway Theater producer Liz McCann.
In early April, when it was apparent that the Manhattan Borough Board was about to follow Board 4
and Board 5's complete rejection of the proposal, Fields engineered a backroom meeting with some,
but not all, members of the Borough Board. In particular, the two affected Community Boards were
left out of the meeting. We found out that City Planning Commissioner Joe Rose, Fields, and Fields
Real Estate advisor, Barbara Baere, had been out that day lobbying on behalf of the Broadway
Initiative.
This makes perfect sense as Fields had accepted substantial campaign contributions from Broadway
Initiative spokesperson Ethan Geto and Joe Rose's father.
The result was that the Manhattan Borough Board's resolution was watered down considerably. Even
so, it "rejected" the plan and called for substantial modifications, voting 11-0 (with one
abstention). At that meeting, right after the vote, Fields said her (the Borough President's)
recommendation would "follow" the vote of the Borough Board and "improve upon it." She said "you
may not always get what you want, but the process is enhanced."
Politically, with the strong rejection by the Community Boards, it was necessary for Fields to
engineer the "Fields Two-Step," where the Borough Board watered down the resolution and she took
the next step.
In April, just before she released the Borough President Recommendation, her staff was reaffirming
she would "protect the neighborhood." We obtained her initial draft on the morning of April 22,
and it somewhat conformed to the Borough Board. But by that evening, at the urging of Barbara
Baere, Fields called for putting skyscrapers back on the west side on 8th Avenue up to 45th Street
(the Borough Board recommended their complete removal from the west side of Eighth Avenue).
On May 6th, in her speech to the City Planning Commission, she talked about "protecting the
theater," but in the hallway of City Hall, Fields said everyone had "misunderstood" her campaign
promise and that associates of the McManus Democratic Club was urging her to approve the proposal.
(McManus had supported her for Borough President)
So it now appears Fields lied to the Clinton community, she misrepresented her position to the
Borough Board and is abandoning her stated position in favor of developers and campaign
contributors. Who in their right minds would have voted for her?
==============================================================
And Where is Peter Vallone?
City Council Speaker Peter Vallone's position on the Theater Subdistrict Zoning Proposal is
crucial. On one hand, he is running for Governor and having a running fued with the Mayor over the
budget, the City Charter and Yankee Stadium. On the other hand, Vallone is a notorious friend of
developers and real estate interests.
Vallone has refused to meet with the Clinton neighborhood in opposition to the plan. This is very
infortunate as he has met with the Broadway Initiative and its supporters. Vallone did have a
short meeting with some of the civic groups in opposition, but the neighborhood was not included
(yes, we asked).
Also, Vallone has taken campaign contributions from Broadway theater owner Nederlander and
Broadway Initiative spokesperson Ethan Geto. (see above on how Virginia Fields sucks up money and
screws the community).
So it's even more important to call Vallone at City Hall AND at his campaign office and let him
know your support for his gubernatorial bid is directly related to the outcome of the zoning
proposal.
Vallone City Hall office: (212) 788-7210 fax (212) 788-7207
Vallone Campaign office: (718) 433-1998 fax (718) 443-1999
==============================================================
Facts on Zoning and Broadway
* The Shuberts (theater owners) are worth $168 million
* Nederlander bought the parcel on Eighth Avenue, east side, and
47/48th St. in anticipation of the zoning change
* Nederlander is part owner of the Yankees
* Joe Rose's family owns a parcel on Eighth Avenue
* Joe Rose himself owns buildings in the affected district
* Nederlander gave about $40,000 to Mayor Giuliani's reelection campaign
* Giuliani was fined for accepting this (and other) illegal donations
* Times Square BID said it had not taken a position on the 8th Ave Zoning
and that it wouldn't do so until April (Gretchen Dykstra in January)
* Times Square BID said it didn't known about the Zoning announcement
* Times Square BID is listed as a member of the Broadway Initiative
(its name was quietly added in March)
* Broadway Initiatives said it hadn't taken a position on the zoning
(January 22, Manhattan Spirit)
* Jack Goldstein said the Zoning was a "signal moment of the Americal Theater"
* Ron Silver (president, Actors' Equity) said the complete Bain Report
was "much larger" than the released six pages of text
* Alan Eisenberg (Ex. Dir., Actors Equity) said the unreleased part of the
Bain Report contined "derogatory information" about the theater.
* Clinton Planning Council President Jim Condeelis stated "We made
our deal... See you at the groundbreaking..." referring to the
deal with Giuliani.
* City Planning's Richard Barth would not state who in the Clinton
Community City Planning had met with.
* Joe Rose was a featured speaker at the "Friends of the Clinton Special
District" (a shell organization put together by Clinton Planning Council)
* "Friends of the Clinton Special District" has conducted no known
other activities other than the fundraiser.
* No theater owner has filed a hardship application
* Five theaters have used air rights
* The Bain Report only went to 1993
* Theaters using air rights are now required to maintain a theater use
for the "life of the development" that used the air rights
* City Planning says twenty-two skyscrapers will have no impact on Clinton.
* Richard Barth said the plan would only increase the height from
29 to 33 stories
* Joe Rose said that 56 stories are now allowed
* The plan allows an increase of bulk of up to 44%
* Joe Rose said the plan would help Clinton and not a precedent.
* Broadway Initiative accused Senator Franz Leichter of playing
"politics of fear."
Who get Shubert Money? (partial list)
Public Theater $210,000
Manhattan Theatre Club $180,000
Playwrights Horizons $110,000
Roundabout Theatre Company $90,000
Theatre Development Fund $30,000
Who supports the Broadway Initiative?
Public Theater
Manhattan Theatre Club
Playwrights Horizons
Roundabout Theatre Company
Theatre Development Fund
==============================================================
MATH ON THE BROADWAY INITIATIVE (and Jack Goldstein calls this "sound planning")
There is a finite $24.32 million potential from landmarked theater air rights (2.432 million
square feet at $10 each).[1] No one will write a check the first day. Air rights sales will occur
over time, perhaps taking up to 20 years and will happen in chunks. If one were to take a
$1,216,452.50 per year annuity in equal installments and invest it for 20 years at 6%, there would
be a $44.7 million fund (the future value in today’s dollars).[2] But that represents only $13.9
million in today’s dollars (present value of tomorrow’s dollars).[3] The proposal calls for 20% to
be reserved for theater preservation and use provisions, so $11,162,091.47 real present value will
be available for general theater enhancement, and that’s after 20 years.
After the endowment is fully funded, interest will be drawn for operating expenses (Broadway
Initiative states it will be $1 million per year). As the air rights are finite, the endowment
won’t have new contributions and it will either grow at a much smaller pace or most likely it will
decline in real terms.
But Broadway Initiative operating expenses will grow over time to meet increased costs of program
activities. So even after 20 years, the interest from the endowment will meet only 5-10% of the
necessary operating expenses.[4]
The remaining money is claimed to be coming from a combination of contributions from Broadway
Initiative members and state/city government funding. None of the government money is either asked
for or committed at this time. It’s hard enough for the not-for-profit theater to get yearly
funding from the state/city, and not-for-profits could be hurt if government starts to designate
limited arts budgets for commercial theater.
Perhaps the largest member of the Broadway Initiative, Actors’ Equity Association, has a surplus
that may vanish within two years [5]. Smaller members (such as SSDC) would also be expected to
contribute. Can the various unions’ members collectively make up the $9 million yearly shortfall
(or even half the shortfall if government funding comes through)? The theater owners are only
contributing once through the $10 air rights sale, but will other unions have to make yearly
contributions? How will unions pay for this obligation? What happens if one or more unions back
out?
1. If the air rights are released into a buyer’s market, the projected $50/sq. ft. value would
likely decrease and the $10 to the Broadway Initiative could also decrease.
2. The calculations are based on 20 years at 6%. But even with different numbers, the idea is the
same. The calculations do not take into account real estate cycles, i.e., length, depth, or
frequency.
3. What you can buy today for $13 million will cost $44 million in 20 years at 6%
4. If Air Rights represent only 5-10% of the operating needs of the Broadway Initiative, are they
(and the devastating impact to the Clinton community) necessary?
5. Equity News, January 1998
==============================================================
JOE ROSE AND BROADWAY INITIATIVE ABUSE CITY PLANNING HEARING
Those who attended saw a flagrant and arrogant abuse of office by City Planning Commissioner Joe
Rose at the May 6th City Planning Commission Public Hearing. In short, he colluded with the
Broadway theater owners to "stack the meeting."
How so?
While members of the Clinton community were sitting on the hard pews of the old Board of Estimate
Room at City Hall, waiting for Rose to show up (he was about an hour late), his staff allowed
theater bigs-wigs to sit in a private area, drink coffee and make telephone calls. The public was
refused entrance to this area.
While the process called for rotating half-hour time periods (30 minutes for those in favor and 30
minutes for those opposed) and for individuals to have three minutes each, throughout the day we
saw Rose give many of those in favor up to fifteen minutes and collectively he gave the theater
executives about 40 minuites to the Clinton community's 20 minutes.
Many in the community showed up promptly at 10 a.m. and signed up to speak, but many were kept up
to six hours. Some of the theater executives and "stars" showed up in mid-afternoon and were
allowed to speak almost at once. Specifically, this special treatment was given to Stephen
Sondheim, Arthur Laurents and various industry executives. The community had to cool its heals
while Sondheim spoke.
One Hell's Kitchen reader wrote:
"Joe Rose was down the throat of almost every "anti" speaker
the minute the 3 minute bell went off, asking them to wrap up,
but he let the "pro" people drone on and on. I signed up at
11 am as an "anti" speaker. I was assigned #48. By 4 pm I was
hungry, exhausted, bored and I had to leave. I sat and sat and
sat. I used up one of my vacation days at work just to attend
and speak. I was mildly pissed when Stephen Sondheim waltzed in
around 3 o'clock and got to speak within ten minutes (he was "pro")
although I'm sure other "important" people got to do that too.
The community isn't dumb, and a setup could be seen immediately. Rose lieutenant Richard Barth,
smiling said, "Funny, most of the people today are testifying for the proposal." Indeed, Rose cut
off many from the community. He was also seen giving hand signals to Broadway Initiative
coordinator Anne Zimmerman and Shubert's Real Estate Director Rebecca Robertson. And while he was
acting in his official capacity to "review" the plan and listen to public comments, Rose went out
in the hallway and gave an interview supporting the zoning change.
==============================================================
HOPES FOR A "FAIRER" CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING
Our understand is that the City Council Zoning Subcommittee Public Hearing on Tuesday, July 14
will be a bit more even than the Joe Rose farce of May 6. Even so, the order of speaking and time
limits will be determined by Chair Walter McCaffrey of Queens.
Given the abuse of Joe Rose, we had asked the City Council Land Use Committee a few weeks ago for
the ability to "pre-register" speakers, to accommodate those who could come early and would then
need to leave for work. They said no, but that should be a "no" for both sides. Lately we've heard
that the Broadway Initiative will be bringing in their window dressing, Broadway stars to speak in
favor of the proposal (whether or not they know anything about it) in order to "wow" City Council
members. [some do get taken in by this and that is the theater owners' modus operandi].
So if community residents must "cool their heels" and wait their turns, then so should any
Broadway star or executive that makes an appearance. Even though the committee has told us there
won't be pre-registration, we urge our readers to be on the lookout for any such abuse.
Having said that, there is a "pecking order" that we will see Tuesday morning. First up will be
City Planning honcho Richard Barth giving "the presentation" of the plan. Then any City
Commissioners will be able to speak--most likely Joe Rose. Then elected politicians will have the
opportunity to speak--most likely Virginia Fields (see above) and state elected officials. Elected
officials will also be taken out of turn if they show up later. City Council members can sit with
the committee and ask questions, but not testify, so you won't see Tom Duane testifying. After
that, the Community Boards are expected to be heard and then the subcommittee will turn to panels
-- three or four individuals that may be related thematically, i.e., three Broadway producers,
three housing advocates, three civic organizations, etc. The Chair is expected to rotate pros and
cons, and it's up to the chair as to the order. The public should have the right to speak, but
again, it's up to the chair.
We hope and expect the process to be fairer, but we will be watching.