Yesterday we were joined by Councilmember Harvey Epstein, affordable housing advocates, and neighbors to protest the city’s approval of the new 538 ft. tall “City of Yes” tower at 5 West 13th Street. That outrageously out-of-scale building will contain just 30 or so super-luxury condos (the tallest building anywhere in Greenwich Village is 324 ft. tall and most buildings range from 3 to 15 stories).

During the public review process for “City of Yes,” city officials said the new zoning rules would have the effect of shaping development here in the form of a lower, squatter building that was likely to include some affordable housing. Instead it turns out the “City of Yes” provisions had the exact opposite effect — not only allowing, but encouraging a bigger, taller building that would include absolutely no affordable housing, and just a small number of ridiculously expensive units, most of which likely will be unoccupied for much of the year. Watch the video of the rally and press conference HERE, and see images HERE, and read the press release HERE.

“City of Yes” was pushed by Mayor Adams and approved by a majority of the City Council in late 2024. At the time, Village Preservation warned that this type of development is EXACTLY what “City of Yes” would produce (under prior zoning a tower could have been built here, but it wouldn’t have been as big, and there was more incentive to build a lower, more contextual building instead of a tower). The Mamdani Administration has said that this is what the new rules allow — meaning we are likely to see this repeated again and again unless the zoning is changed. And that’s exactly what we are calling upon the Mayor and city officials to do.

TO HELP: