New Virtual Public Meeting October 12; Send Letters TODAY!

The City has finally responded to Village Preservation’s letters (here and here) about its plans for a tower at 388 Hudson Street of up to 355 feet — the tallest ever built in Greenwich Village. We called them out for the lack of guaranteed 100% permanent affordability for the project, about the deceptive images they have offered, and for the thumb-on-the-scale public “process” that has ignored much community input. Their letter (here) continues to fail to offer guarantees of 100% permanent affordability for the project. It also hedges on their ongoing push for a tall, narrow, setback tower on the site, claiming the process “is not over,” but still failing to offer alternatives to such an inefficient and unnecessarily impactful configuration that would shadow JJ Walker Park and loom over the Greenwich Village Historic District.

Read our response to this completely inadequate reply by the city here. Village Preservation continues to demand 100% guaranteed permanent affordability, and to welcome an affordable housing development here including and well in excess of the originally proposed 100 units. But the sole option the city has offered is for a tall, setback tower that would be up to two to three times the height of even large neighboring loft buildings, cast a long shadow over JJ Walker Park and beyond, and make remarkably inefficient use of space in the building, maximizing height and mechanical infrastructure while minimizing the amount of housing that can be included relative to the size of the building. 

We are fighting for a lower, bulkier building that steps back from JJ Walker Park and the Greenwich Village Historic District, rising to an ultimate height commensurate with its surroundings, which would be a much more efficient use of space. Our approach would maximize the amount of housing that could be included while minimizing shadows and other visual impacts. We have been raising these issues from the beginning of the process, secured a resolution from Community Board 2 that incorporated many of these concerns, and was told by the City that such concerns would be addressed. At the September 12 public meeting — the sole public meeting scheduled on the project — we were shocked to see this input roundly ignored, deceptive materials presented hiding the record-breaking height of the proposed building, and no guarantees of 100% permanent affordability. 

Since we sent those letters, a second virtual public meeting has now been scheduled for October 12 from 5:45 to 8pm (register here). We strongly urge you to attend this meeting. We also strongly urge you to fill out the “Community Visioning Questionnaire” here to provide feedback on the proposed project. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND you offer the following feedback:

• The planned development must be guaranteed 100% permanently affordable, which the current plan does not do.
• The tall, setback tower configuration must be eliminated, and replaced with a lower, bulkier building that sets back from JJ Walker Park and maximizes housing while minimizing height. 
• No all-glass structure nor one with fortress-like walls with only tiny punched windows should be considered (these are two options being presented).

No. 388 Hudson Street will be a permanent and prominent addition to our neighborhood, and it’s critical that we get it right for future generations! This is public land that has been promised to the community as a park. We must DEMAND that the housing be guaranteed 100% permanently affordable, and that the building make the best and wisest use of space for housing, minimizing height and shadows, and fitting into the context of its surroundings.

TO HELP: