Hell's Kitchen Online 2/13/00

[kitchen]

Hell's Kitchen Online                               2/13/00
http://hellskitchen.net "All the News the Times Won't Print"
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IN THIS ISSUE ... 

1. New Zoning Program presentation Wed. 2/16 at Clinton Land Use Meeting
1. Way Out West!
2. Hall for Midsize Exhibits Is Planned for Clinton Pier 94 (Times)
3. Costco Plans Store, Residential Tower for Clinton (Chelsea Clinton News)
4. Stiffening Resistance to a Planned Megamarket (Times)
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JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE...

The City Planning Department is making yet another zoning proposal (UNIFIED BULK PROGRAM) that
could have ramifications in Clinton/Hell's Kitchen.

WHY BE CONCERNED?

If you remember the Air Rights/8th Avenue Zoning Plan (which is still in appeals in the courts),
City Planning Commissioner and Mayor Giuliani proposed zoning that would have allowed much larger
buildings on the west side of 8th Avenue.

This time, it's a city-wide proposal and will affect different neighborhoods in differing ways.
Probably the most onerous piece is the "Design Special Permit" where a committee of
'professionals' will determine that a project is 'excellent' and therefore exempt from community
review and the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP). This is essentially a gift to developers
that want to build taller and larger buildings in areas where it would be inappropriate. For a
long time Rudy and Joe have wanted to eat away at community review of zoning changes and special
permits. The real estate industry is salivating at this possibility and this might be their last
chance before Rudy leaves office.

But beyond that, it also appears that City Planning is attempting to put back the high streetwalls
on 8th Avenue that were knocked out when the Air Rights zoning was overturned in court.

Moreover, it appears that in attempting to put in height limitations, that large stretches of
Ninth Avenue might get a height limit of 140 feet -- about fourteen stories -- the size of the
Film Center building at 45th and 9th.

We have to say 'might' and 'appears to' because there's a lot that is not known. The text is 536
pages and a lot of people around town are scratching their heads trying to understand what it all
means.

You can download much of the text (Acrobat files) at http://hellskitchen.net/develop/unifiedbulk.
And to help get you started, grab the Zoning Handbook is at
http://tenant.net/Other_Laws/zoning/zontitl.html

CITY PLANNING TO ANSWER QUESTIONS at CB4 MEETING WED, 2/16

At the February CB4 Clinton Land Use and Zoning meeting, a representative from the Department of
City Planning will make a presentation describing the proposal and answer questions.

    Clinton Land Use & Zoning Committee
    Wednesday, February 16, 2000 at 7:00 PM
    St. Clare's Hospital and Health Center, Auditorium
    426 West 52nd Street (9th/10th Avenues)

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* We don't think NEW YORK APPLE TOURS is responsible for the rape, but we have 
seen them leave their busses unattended many times, so there might be some negligence 
on their part. 

RAPE IN TOUR BUS (Chelsea Clinton News, February 10, 2000)
An 18 year-old woman was raped and robbed after being dragged inside an empty tour 
bus  early Saturday morning, police said. The woman told police a man armed with a 
handgun forced her into an unoccupied New York Apple Tours Bus on 11th Avenue 
between 44th and 45th streets, police said. There were no arests. 

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* Last week we reported that ZANZIBAR BAR/RESTAURANT at 643 Ninth Ave. withdrew 
its application for a sidewalk cafe on the northwest corner of Ninth Avenue and 
45th Street due to community opposition -- it was felt the sidewalk at that 
corner was simply too narrow for a sidewalk cafe. Now it appears one of those 
huge ugly phone booths may be installed right in front of Zanzibar's front door!

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* STILES' MARKET - We hear the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) will soon hear 
the application of STILES' FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET at 352 W. 52 St. (between 8th 
and 9th Avenues) for a zoning variance so it may continue to operate at that 
location. Local residents and Stiles' Shoppers may wish to appear at the hearing 
in support of Stiles.

   Tuesday, February 29th at 2:00 p.m. (Calendar # 175-99-BZ/300-99-A)
   Board of Standards and Appeals
   40 Rector St.
   6th floor, hearing room E

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HALL FOR MIDSIZE EXHIBITS IS PLANNED FOR CLINTON PIER 94 
New York TImes, February 9, 2000
By Daviid W. Dunlap

A new exhibition hall called the Unconvention Center, one mile north of the Jacob K. Javits
Convention Center and about one-third its size, is being planned for Pier 94 by the Giuliani
administration and private developers.

At a cost of $50 million, the 750-foot-long pier shed would be renovated and the one-story head
house, which runs from 52nd Street to 54th Street, would be replaced by a structure of two or
three stories. Once laden with Cunard Line cargo, Pier 94 was more recently used as a parking
garage.

The Unconvention Center would be T-shaped, its long stem over the Hudson River, with three
exhibition areas on the main floor for midsize trade shows, which typically draw 5,000 to 10,000
visitors. In the head house, at the top of the T, would be a ballroom and meeting rooms for
corporate events, as well as a cafe.

"These trade shows are a big job generator," said Michael G. Carey, president of the New York City
Economic Development Corporation, which is negotiating the deal with the development team,
Unconvention Center Inc., headed by Elyse N. Kroll, a trade show producer.

Mr. Carey said the Unconvention Center and the Javits Center would be "complementary, because they
go to different constituents."

Gerald T. McQueen, the president and chief executive of the Javits Center, said, "New York needs
all the trade show space it can find, so we are not opposed to efforts to increase exhibit area.

"The Javits Center's success is a prime example of the tremendous need for its own expansion," Mr.
McQueen said. "Currently we are turning away almost as much business as we're able to
accommodate."

Neighbors have some concerns, said John Doswell, co-chairman of the waterfront committee of
Community Board 4 in Clinton. They will be looking closely at how much of Pier 94 would be open to
the public, how the center would relate to the future Clinton Cove Park nearby and how traffic
generated by trade shows -- trucks, vans, taxis, limousines, buses -- would affect the overall
Hudson River Park.

Issues of traffic and park design will be resolved in the course of hearings and review leading to
a vote in the City Council, said Joseph B. Rose, chairman of the City Planning Commission and a
board member of the Hudson River Park Trust.

"One of the goals of the park is to bring people to the waterfront, to make the Hudson River an
integral part of the life of the city," Mr. Rose said. "This project will do that in a felicitous
way."

The development group at Pier 94 is led by Ms. Kroll, president of both the Unconvention Center
Inc. and of E.N.K. International, a producer of trade shows for the fashion industry.

As business travel and tourism increased in recent years, Ms. Kroll said, hotels were less eager
to set aside entire floors for exhibitors. "There was no place to grow," she said. "That's why we
needed to create new space."

Her search took her to Pier 94, which New York City opened in 1964 as a freight terminal for
Cunard.

Inside is an astonishing and almost column-free expanse of 175,000 square feet -- four whole
acres.

Ms. Kroll can still recall her reaction when she was shown the space two years ago by Deputy Mayor
Randy L. Levine: "Oh, my God."

E.N.K. has leased Pier 94 from the city since summer 1998, using it for its own shows or
subleasing it. More than 15 exhibitions have been held there, including the New York International
Gift Fair.

As a tenant, Ms. Kroll said, E.N.K. has spent more than $3 million to comply with building codes
and improve aesthetics. It insulated the pier shed by covering the roll-down gates that line both
sides, installed duct work for air conditioning and heating, built bathrooms and waterproofed the
roof.

"They have had a good run on Pier 94 on an interim basis," Mr. Carey said, "and we have every
confidence that they'll have great success on a more permanent basis."

Unconvention Center Inc. would lease Pier 94 for 49 years. The city expects to receive rent, to
share in the revenue and to receive money from the developers toward the long-term maintenance of
the pier. The exact terms are still being negotiated, both sides said.

Construction is to begin early in 2001 and take about a year, said Paul Travis, a managing partner
in Washington Square Partners, the real estate advisers to the Unconvention Center. He said the
project would be financed by $40 million in borrowing and $10 million in equity.

Construction would add about 100,000 square feet of floor space to the pier, bringing it to
270,000 square feet, but that is still well below the maximum allowed by zoning rules, Mr. Travis
said.

The center is being designed by the Atlanta firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates,
whose other projects have included the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia,
incorporating the historic Reading Terminal train shed.

A preliminary sketch shows a bowed roof on the new head house, an esplanade, arched fanlight
windows and twin towers at the end of the pier. "The intent is to animate the building in a way
that's more festive and inviting," said H. Preston Crum, a senior principal in the architectural
firm.

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COSTCO PLANS STORE, RESIDENTIAL TOWER FOR CLINTON
Chelsea Clinton News, February 10, 2000
By Ben Upham

Costco, the Seatt1e~based discount supermarket chain, said this month it was looking into adding a
residential tower to its controversial plan to build a megastore in Clinton.

West Side Assemb. Scott Stringer accused Costco of “not being open with the neighborhood”

Jeff Brotman, chairman of Costco, said the company, which recently bought the 40,000-square-foot
site on West 55th Street at Tenth Avenue, intended to just build a store, but “the cost structure
is giving us pause.

“We may have to look at that project as a multi-use project, whereas before we only intended it as
a Costco” store, he said.

Costco, corporate owner of big-box wholesale food clubs nationwide, turned to the 55th Street site
after attempts to place a store elsewhere on the West Side fell through because of community
opposition. The store would be Costco’s first in Manhattan, a borough that, until recently, prided
itself on a lack of t big chain stores. The company has stores in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Another store in Manhattan, on East 116th Street, is in development as part of a multi-store
project, Brotman said, but will probably not be finished for several years. Brotman added that the
company had just finished purchasing the Clinton property in the last several weeks, and was “in
the final evaluation stage of what we we’re going to do”

The store, on two floors, would be 75.000 square feet, according to Brotman. Paul Selver, an
attorney for Costco, speculated the apartment tower could be 150,000 square feet, depending on
zoning restrictions.

The shift to a multi-use project would require government approval that might include a public
review process. Andrew Berman, chief of staff for state Sen. Thomas Duane, said such a process
would give the community a chance to air their concerns where they counted.

“If they do want to go that route,” Berman said of Costco’s new plan, "it’s much more likely we
will he able to weigh in and prevent approvals, if we choose to oppose {Costco] and seek to stop
it.”

Assemb. Richard Gottfried, who has opposed the 55th Street store since it was introduced,
suggested a mixed-use site had been Costco’s intention all along.

"I think they were probably trying to roll out their plans piece by piece, perhaps in the hope
that some people would find it easier to swallow -- if that was their plan it did not work that
way” he said.

Costco - considered building stores on West 14th Street and then on 23rd Street in Chelsea last
year, hut was stymied by community opposition in both instances.

Costco’s apparent flip-flop on the residential tower is just the most recent complaint leveled
against the company by residents in the Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton neighborhood. Among the most
consistent worry is the amount of traffic a mega-supermarket like Costco would generate in the
already congested neighborhood.

Brotman said the store will not have any parking, and he expects most customers to walk to the
store, “Whether people drive to the neighborhood is another story,” he added. He noted a traffic
study commissioned by his company shows "several hundred” parking spaces in the immediate
neighborhood.

John Fisher, head of the Clinton Special District Coalition, a non-profit community group, said
Costco did not want parking on the site because such plans would trigger an environmental review
of the project. But at the same time, most shopping at Costco stores is for food in bulk, which,
he argued, would not be easy to carry home on foot. especially since the store would be in such a
remote location.

Another concern, Fisher said, is that Costco, with its low prices and bulk shopping, would create
serious competition for small businesses in the neighborhood.

Maria Guzman of Gottfried's office also noted that Costco is a non-union shop that does not take
food stamps. “There’is a public housing project next door, you have Section 8 housing across the
street [from the site].” she said. “They don’t accept EBT [the city welfare program], which means
the people who need it most, they can’t go there.”

A number of West Side elected officials say they are waiting to get a clearer picture of the
company’s plans before coming out for or against. Community groups are also waiting for Costco to
submit details of their intentions for the site, which the company has yet to provide.

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STIFFENING RESISTANCE TO A PLANNED MEGAMARKET
New York Times, February 13, 2000
by Corey Kilgannon

For weeks, community groups and elected officials in Clinton say, they have not been
adequately informed about Costco's plan to build what would be Manhattan's largest
supermarket.

Construction of the two-level store along the entire blockfront on the west side of
Tenth Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets is scheduled to begin next year.

Last week, many local officials became even more upset when Costco confirmed rumors
that it is applying for a zoning change to build apartments over the store.

Assemblyman Scott Stringer called the revision a "classic bait-and-switch tactic that
we had to hear about through the grapevine." Although Costco did not need any zoning
change to build the store, the company agreed to meet in December with local elected
officials, Mr. Stringer said, but company officials never provided any further
response to community concerns.

"This takes a big development to mega status," he said. "It's time for Costco to be
forthcoming about their plans. If they're going to build a residential tower, they
should have gotten their act together and told us."

Jeff Brotman, chairman of Costco, would not furnish details about the apartments at
the December meeting because it was added later, when the company decided that the
project would not be economically feasible otherwise.

Construction costs are higher than anticipated, he said. "In Manhattan over the last
six months, they've gone up 30 percent for our projects."

Opponents say the West Side neighborhood is an inappropriate location for the 75,000
square-foot store, which would not have a parking lot or garage, because, they say,
it would likely attract bulk buyers who would arrive by car.

Also, they say, delivery trucks and garbage trucks serving the store would further
clog local streets. "We're at a breaking point already; there's no more room," said
John Fisher, president of the Clinton Special District Coalition.

Owners of small stores in the area fear that the Costco would drive them out of
business, he added.

Katherine Gray, the chairwoman of Community Board 4, said local leaders told Costco
that there are several public housing developments near the site, and asked if Costco
would waive for lower-income shoppers the annual $35 membership fee it charges at its
stores, and whether it would accept all food stamps. Mr. Brotman said the store would
not waive the fee and was undecided about food stamps.

As for traffic, Mr. Brotman said, "You're always going to have people who say they
don't want any traffic, but either way, you're going to have development there."