Hell's Kitchen Online 10/1/99

[kitchen]

Hell's Kitchen Online                               10/1/99
http://hellskitchen.net "All the News the Times Won't Print"
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IN THIS ISSUE...

1. Way Out West!
2. Tower to Rise Above Port Authority Terminal (Times)
3. Beyond Times Square's Glitz, a Motley Avenue (Times)
4. Readers Comments (Busses & Costco)
5. 14th St. Costco rejected by C.B. 2 (Villager)
6. Feds Take a Bite out of N.Y. Apple Tours (CCN)
7. Manhattan Plaza Tenants Assn. October 1999

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WAY OUT WEST!

* Clinton Special District Coalition October meeting 

   Monday, October 4, 1999 at 7:00 p.m.
   Hartley House
   413 West 46th St. (between 9th/10th Avenues)

Invited speakers are:

Marcia Lemmon -- Ludlow Street Block Association, Member of the Manhattan Borough President's
Nightlife Task Force and active in keeping a lid on too many Rowdy Bars on the Lower East Side --
to speak on issues and tactics in dealing with the influx of liquor license applications.

Richard Lipsky -- representing the Food and Commercial workers, speaking on the proposal to build
a Costco "mega-store" in Clinton.


* Community Board 4 Clinton Land Use Committee voted to support Stiles' Fruit and Vegetable Market
in its application for a zoning variance so it can continue to operate its second area store on
52nd Street. The full community board will vote on the issue at its October 6th meeting and the
Board of Standards and Appeals will consider it later.


* HPD Wants to Know -- if you've been harassed

REMEMBER WHEN THE SUPER PUSHED YOU DOWN THE STAIRS? The Department of Housing Preservation and
Development (HPD) is seeking comments from anyone on whether harassment has occurred at the
following addresses:

318-322 West 51st Street
324-328 West 51st Street
344 West 46th Street

In order to legally convert a SRO residential hotel (citywide) or to perform alterations or
demolitions in the Clinton Special District, an owner/developer must obtain a "Certificate of No
Harassment" from HPD. Harassment can take many forms: threats, use of physical force, deprivation
of essential services such at heat, water, gas or electric, unlawful eviction and relocation
practices or other conduct intended to cause persons to vacate the premises or waive rights
related to their occupancy.

Written or oral comments as to whether harassment occurred at the premises should be submitted to
the Anti-Harassment Unit, 100 Gold Street, New York, NY 10038 Attention: Flora Simmons by October
22. To schedule an appointment for an in-person statement call (212) 863-8266. Please send copies
to Community Board 4 (commboard4@aol.com) and also to kitchen@hellskitchen.net.

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TOWER TO RISE ABOVE PORT AUTHORITY TERMINAL
New York Times, October 1, 1999
By CHARLES V. BAGLI

In yet another indication that the search for increasingly rare development sites in Times Square
is pushing westward, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey selected a developer on
Thursday to build a $500 million, 35-story office tower atop the bus terminal at 42d Street and
Eighth Avenue.

Lawrence Ruben Company and Vornado Realty Trust plan to build the million-square-foot glass and
steel tower, which would be known as 7 Times Square, over the north wing of the midtown terminal.
The terminal and tower, as proposed, would be adorned with the large, splashy electronic signs
that have become characteristic of Times Square.

Under a 99-year agreement with the Port Authority, the two companies would pay more than $110
million for the development rights over the bus terminal. That figure includes a $20 million
renovation of the terminal's north wing intended to smooth the passage of more than 187,000
commuters a day. The final terms of the deal are still being worked out.

"We're looking forward to executing our vision for 7 Times Square," said Lawrence Ruben, whose
company owns or manages 6 million square feet of space in New York, Boston and Washington. "I
don't think we're changing the Times Square neighborhood so much as the changes in the area have
allowed us to do this project."

The developers said they would begin construction after they obtained final approvals and a tenant
for half the office space.

Ruben and Vornado were selected over two other developers, Larry Silverstein and George Klein,
based on price and design, according to executives at the Port Authority. The Port Authority staff
expects to conclude a final lease with the developers within 30 days.

"It would serve as the western gateway to 42d Street and Times Square," said Charles Gargano, vice
chairman of the Port Authority. "I'm pleased that we're finally building above that garage."

Ten years ago, a new office tower on the west side of Eighth Avenue in what was known as Hell's
Kitchen, would have been unimaginable. A recession had left many existing buildings with vacant
space and Times Square was more known for prostitutes and peep shows than blue chip companies.

Since then, the Walt Disney Company, Viacom, Condι Nast Publications, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum
and others started moving into the neighborhood. And a surge in demand for office space has cut
the midtown vacancy rate by two-thirds, to 6.6 percent, the lowest point in 18 years, according to
Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate broker. The average rent for prime office space in
midtown has jumped to $48.40 a square foot, up from $34.97 in 1995.

Reuters, Ernst & Young, and Morgan Stanley are now building new towers in Times Square, while
Bertelsmann AG and Bear Stearns are building elsewhere in midtown. Chase Bank, the Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce, Deutsche Bank, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and other companies are looking
for new homes and do not have many places to consider.

Ruben and Vornado are hoping to lure tenants to what they say will be first-class office space
above the terminal, second only to one in Tel Aviv as busiest bus station in the world. The
developers also plan to build 80,000 square feet of retail space in the four-story terminal itself
and modernize the transit points for commuters.

The tower would rise above the four-story north wing of the terminal, which was built in 1950. Two
years ago, the Port Authority announced plans to sell the development rights above the terminal,
which runs an annual operating deficit. Five developers submitted proposals, including plans for a
hotel.

But as the office market improved, the Port Authority selected three finalists, each of whom
proposed to build an office tower. The vast terminal site would allow a developer to build floors
measuring 65,000 square feet, broad expanses that are attractive to financial companies.

"The large floor plates lend themselves to a financial user," said Bruce Mosler, executive vice
president of Cushman & Wakefield, who is working with the developers. "The lack of alternatives
makes it a very important project."

The Port Authority has also signed tentative deals with two other companies to build a driving
range and golf center above the south wing of the midtown terminal, and a large multiplex movie
theater over the bus terminal at the George Washington Bridge.

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BEYOND TIMES SQUARE'S GLITZ, A MOTLEY AVENUE 
It's a mix of Art Deco, Victorian, brownstone and modern. 
New York Times, September 26, 1999
by CHRISTOPHER GRAY 

IN the shadow of the new, glitzy revival of Times Square, Eighth Avenue has the reputation of
being a dreary street of architectural leftovers.

But a walk up this broad avenue can prove a surprise, showing a Dagwood sandwich ranging from
crumbling brownstone to up-to-the-minute design.

The walk can well start at the former bank building at the northwest corner of 43d Street. When
the light is right, you can see up into the auditorium of the Second Stage Theater, a big room of
near-industrial materials designed by Rem Koolhaas and Richard Gluckman. On the outside, the
chunky Art Deco ornament of the old bank building, designed by the sculptor Rene Chambellan and
the architectural firm of Dennison & Hirons shines out brightly, a sharp departure from the rest
of the dingy exterior.

This high-style ornament also contrasts with the theater's lobby off 43d Street. With a purposely
unfinished finish of raw concrete and jagged edges of leftover terrazzo, it reflects the latest in
architectural theory and eschews doctrinaire restorationism.

At the northwest corner of 44th Street, Smith's Bar has some perfect 1950's neon and its clientele
is old-line Eighth Avenue, drawn to the establishment by rugby on television and steam-table
brisket and potatoes on the menu.

By contrast, McHale's, at the northeast corner of 46th, is quietly accommodationist: There, beefy
stage hands and electrical workers mix with new-age Times Square workers and tourists. Since it
was the Gaiety Cafe in the 1950's the interior of McHale's has been slightly changed, if at all,
and is probably contemporaneous with the exterior   —   blue-enameled panels and stainless steel
installed in 1941 and designed by Ferdinand Liebmann.

Both of Eighth Avenue's western corners at 46th Street were owned by the Astor estate, the
Victorian-style north corner designed in 1881 by Thomas Stent and the brownstone flats on the
south corner designed by Frederick Barus in 1867.

The latter building has been turning heads for the last year or two. It was rebuilt two years ago
as a nonprofit S.R.O. and the architect, Richard Vitto, added a mansard roof   —   clunky and
obviously new   —   but also a one-story corner tower in brick and brown cast stone.

The materials of the tower are so well matched to the old, and the handling is so deft, that this
little pavilion is a sort of architectural illusion. Even to the untutored passer-by, its apparent
age collides with its unexpected form.

The S.R.O. is actually three structures   —   now combined but at first separate buildings   —
of one apartment per floor; the 1880 census shows families of modest prosperity, like that of
Daniel Smith, 37, who lived here with his wife, their two daughters and his brother, Englebert,
26; both men were milk dealers.

Rents for the six-room apartments were $25 a month in 1920, and a photograph from that year shows
the ground-floor corner store, now empty, occupied by Eugene Callahan's "General Dry Goods" store.
His obituary in The New York Times in 1940 said he had served thousands of theater people.

A block up, the red-painted tenement at the southwest corner of 47th, designed by William H.
Cauvet in 1873, is a nice example of Eastlake-style incised decoration. The buildings at the
northeast corner of the same intersection are, individually, less interesting, but form a
memorable group: The corner building, designed in 1888, has flaking brownstone as antique, for New
York, as any monument on the Acropolis. The next building up, a closed store at 772 Eighth Avenue,
has a fantastically unchanged wooden storefront circa 1899, with a thick, crackly coating of
paint.

Next door, the midblock group of buildings, 776-780 Eighth Avenue, was designed in 1897, but has
the wider, more expansive character that sets the older Eighth Avenue apart from the narrower,
tighter structures of Ninth and 10th Avenues. The entire group is shuttered and carries a sign
"For Sale   —   Development Site." But some have been used intermittently for movie locations, and
on certain days pedestrians have been able to look through the paint-encrusted front doors back
into deep hallways with stained glass windows, classical-style detail, and giant, spooky strips of
peeling paint.

Farther north, at 49th Street, the 1989 Worldwide Plaza is an early neo-traditional style
multi-use development, and where it reaches the corner of 50th Street forms one-quarter of a
striking architectural dialogue. Diagonally opposite, on the northeast corner of 50th, is the
peculiar Vasarely-style paneled building designed in the mid-1980's by Mario Ingrami and William
S. Fryer. Its mechanical modernism is the antithesis of the homey, friendly character that
Worldwide Plaza was trying to achieve.

AT the southeast and northwest corners are two apartment houses, both finished last year and both
designed by Peter Claman of Schuman, Lichtenstein, Claman & Efron. The Gershwin, built on the
southeast corner for Jack Resnick & Company, is in the sleek, Upper East Side style that was
especially popular earlier in the 1990's.

More in context with the less pretentious atmosphere of Eighth Avenue is Longacre House, built by
Harry Macklowe with big, 1940's style windows and airport runway-style lighting. Mr. Macklowe says
it has no particular style, just what he terms "appropriate style," a promising coinage. The trim
lobby, in early modern blond wood and frosted glass, is an interesting departure for such
buildings. Both these tall buildings seem to represent the future of Eighth Avenue.

The Municipal Parking Garage, built in 1960 at the northeast corner of 53d, is an unusual
building, designed by the architect Alton Craft and engineers Seelye Stevenson Value & Knecht for
New York City at a time when city leaders were panicking about suburban shopping centers siphoning
off urban shoppers.

Although overpainted, parts of the original deep green tile of the giant corner tower still peep
through, and the sloping floors and waffle-form floor construction makes this a memorable work of
its time, although it, too, is a development site.

Somehow a clutch of older buildings around 55th Street has survived such high-rise construction,
although their days may be numbered. A good terminal point for the architectural pilgrim is the
1871 group at the northwest corner of 55th, designed by John G. Prague.

Their deeply darkened brownstone fronts on Eighth contrast vividly with the rich red-brick return
on 55th, and, at night, interior illumination seems to suggest commodious housing   —   whirling
ceiling fans and ancient plaster moldings are visible from the street. Visit them soon for, at a
century and a quarter old, it is hard to predict how much longer this aspect of Eighth Avenue will
last.

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READERS COMMENTS

from Joseph:

Thanks for the info about the well-deserved New York Apple Tour Bus fine (and other interesting
info). Now if we could only keep them off of residential side streets (such as West 55th Street
b/n 8th and 9th - a favored route because of their 53rd and 8th home base). Are there any
regulations that limit the buses to major avenues and streets?
 
From Joe:
Costco, no way!

From Bill:

This superstore refuses to include parking in its plan and is so big that developers are trying to
hide its massive size by putting part of the building underground. Underground or not, the
superstore's customers will still be seen coming and going on the neighborhood streets, causing
worse traffic and congestion on streets that are already overburdened with the crush of the
commuter tide from Times Square and Midtown. Hell's Kitchen does not need the traffic, congestion
and real estate pressures that Costco would bring to this neighborhood. We DO need the mom and pop
independent stores that Costco would drive out of business.

From Kevin:

I am in favor of the small store, of ecology, of less congestion, but I am also in favor of saving
money for myself... we in Manhattan need to save money... thus, I am in FAVOR of a Cosco.

From Ken:

I don't think a Costco would be such a bad idea. It won't generate more car traffic because
there's no parking... It won't cause more truck traffic either -- as the Costco takes business
away from smaller stores...

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14TH ST. COSTCO REJECTED BY C.B. 2
The Villager, September 29, 1999
By Lincoln Anderson

Following reports that Costco, the bulk-goods grocery and department store,- is being courted for
the commercial space in the building planned for the 14th St. Armory site, Community Board 2, last
week, voted strenuously against the plan. Forty four C.B. 2 members voted against a 14th St.
Costco, while one member -- Honi Klein, executive director of the Village Alliance Business
Improvement District -- abstained.

The Armory was bought from the state two years ago by the Silver Brothers; part of their design
calls for 75,000 sq. ft. of commercial space in the building's bottom level. The rumored plan says
Costco, which normally builds 150,000 sq. ft. stores in the suburbs, would bring a new, smaller,
urban concept, Costco Fresh, to 14th St..

When earlier reports said Costco was eyeing space on 23rd St., Chelsea residents made it known
they opposed the plan. Larry Plum, representing unionized food workers, told the board that they
should oppose Costco because it is a non-union shop.

George Watson, co-chairperson of the Chelsea-Village Partnership, and a member of the board of the
Armory Action Association, an ad-hoc community group originally formed to keep the armory from
becoming a welfare center, said A.A.A., had seen four proposals for the site in 1997, one of which
involved a Costco, and that A.A.A. then had rejected it. Watson said under the proposal Silver
Bros. submitted, the retail space was supposed to be movie theaters and a performing theater.

Carol Yankay, the co-chairperson of the Community Board 2/Community Board 4 joint 14th St.
Committee, said: "We discarded Costco. They had nothing to do with Silver Bros. Now they've snuck
in the back door somehow."

"I'm totally opposed to the 14th St. site for Costco," said Councilmember Christine Quinn. "That
area, 14th and Sixth, is already so congested with traffic that having trucks come in there will
change it into a parking lot."

Scott Melvin, an aide to state Senator Tom Duane, said Duane has been opposed to a 23rd St.
Costco, and would probably oppose a 14th St. Costco.

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DOUBLE-DECKER DEBACLE: FEDS TAKE A BITE OUT OF N.Y. APPLE TOURS
Chelsea Clinton News, September 23, 1999
By Matthew Blanchard

A major tour bus operator lied to avoid federal emissions regulations that could have kept its
aging double-decker buses off the road.

New York Apple Tours Inc. pled guilty to charges that it had falsified documents to trick federal
regulators into believing that 70 of its buses were exempt from safety and emissions inspections.

The company has agreed to pony up an $800,000 fine as part of a plea bargain struck with the
United States Attorney in New Jersey, where the company was formerly based.

Apple must also bring its buses into compliance with safety and emission standards set by the U.S.
Department of Transportation and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The red double-decker buses, which once served London's transit system, have become a staple of
New York City tourism, driving up and down East Side avenues full of gawking tourists. Apple
imported the vehicles from England between 1991 and 1995.

Because buses more than 20 years old are exempt from stringent emissions standards, Apple Tours
altered documents in order to suggest that its buses were manufactured in 1967. In fact, most were
manufactured a decade later. For its part, the company admits to skirting what it views as an
onerous certification process, but not much more.

"The buses were actually younger than we said they were," said Walter F. Timpone, attorney for the
defendant. "All we said was that documents were falsified that doesn't mean the buses were unsafe
or polluters." Thirty of the illegal buses were never on the road, Timpone said, but were
cannibalized for spare parts. The remaining 40 ran the tourist route and will continue to do so.

New York Apple had falsely indicated that its late 1970s buses were manufactured in 1967 by means
of "tricks, schemes and devices," according to court documents filed by the United States
attorney. These schemes included making bogus invoices from manufacturers' blank letterhead, the
documents said.

"Other tour companies have done similar evils and they're taking a high-risk gamble," said Mary
Mears, spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency. "We're well aware of the problem and
we do catch them."

Once touted by Detroit as a possible solution to the energy crisis, diesel fuel has made the hit
list for environmental groups nationwide.

"The extra fuel efficiency comes with a wallop of toxic noxious fumes," said Richard Kassel,
senior attorney at National Resources Council, a national nonprofit environmental group with a
local headquarters. "The company should be ashamed of itself for throwing that soot into the New
York air."

Diesel exhaust has been linked to increased cases of asthma, cancer, heart disease and emphysema.
In technical terms, the culprit is "particulate matter." Diesel exhaust makes up 53 percent of
particulate matter in Manhattan air, compared with the nationwide average of 3 percent.
Double-decker buses belch out approximately 10 times more "particulate matter" than standard
transit buses, according to a preliminary study by the Department of Transportation.

But while the battle against New York Apple Tours may be won, for some locals, the war isn't over.

"They pump out horrible exhaust, illegally double park and park in front of fire hydrants," said
state Sen. Thomas K. Duane, whose office has received numerous complaints about the bus company.
"I'm not optimistic they've been breaking laws ever since they started."

Meantime, New York Apple Tours remains steadfast. "We are happy to put this behind us and continue
to focus on our mission of revolutionizing sightseeing in New York," the company said in a written
statement.

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THE MANHATTAN PLAZA TENANTS ASSOCIATION
TENANT NEWS OCTOBER 1999
NEXT MEETING - OCTOBER 11th - 7:30 p.m.

SEPTEMBER 13th MEETING

ASSEMBLY MEMBER RICHARD N. GOTTFRIED was the featured guest and spoke on a number of issues
affecting not only MP residents, but all NYS:  the NYS Budget - the Assembly did not yield to
pressure to cut money for Education, Health Care  & Higher Education & won - there will be
increased school aid, previous health care cuts were rolled back by 25% &  the proposed cuts in
higher education were eliminated.  In addition NY will be getting about $1 billion from the
tobacco industry (half to NYC/half to NYS).  When asked about the status of Section 8 in Albany
ASSEMBLY MEMBER GOTTFRIED responded that it was not good: Bill S.6076 was defeated in the Senate &
A.8210 never got out of committee in the Assembly.

COMMENTARY

The Assembly Member's reply should be a WAKE UP CALL to all MP residents!  OUR HOMES ARE AT
STAKE!!!  And if we ALL don't rally around this issue & write, call, fax, e-mail the elected
officials to force them to protect our homes WE WILL ALL BE ON THE STREET SHORTLY!!!

A resident asked about changes in the occupancy rules & was advised by MARIA GUZMAN, Legislative
Aide to ASSEMBLY MEMBER GOTTFRIED, that the rules have changed & the size of apartments are now
allocated by the number of people occupying same rather than the gender of occupants.  It is no
longer required that (for example) a mother & son  be given a two bedroom apartment, rather, if
there are only two people, no matter the relationship, they are then correctly in a one bedroom
apartment.

VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT

During the month of July STATE  SENATOR  ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN wrote to BRUCE HARRISON  urging the
installation of the "lift"  between the Terrace & the 400 building & the MPTA wrote regarding the
following: Signs for apartment doors - "In Case of Fire - Pets Inside", Information on back-up
generators for the elevators, MPTA Bulletin Boards in each buildings' lobby. In August the MPTA
wrote: "Street People" sleeping & urinating in the MP Park and Non-residents walking dogs off the
leash in the MP Park. As of the date of this writing the MPTA has had no response from Mr.
Harrison on any of the above letters.

Y2K

At various meetings members have raised concerns about Y2K. The best information the MPTA has been
able to obtain from MP Management is that there are no relevant problems, including the elevators
which are not calendar oriented. It is always advisable to keep paper trails of all your financial
dealings & it wouldn't hurt to be a little extra careful this year, besides this will help at tax
& recertification time.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

BL & CB4 are carefully monitoring any new work attempted at 423 West 43 Street (J.C. Hansen Co.)
since the stop work order obtained by CB4 District Manager WILLIAM KELLEY.