388 Hudson Street

This city-owned plot of land at Clarkson Street, long used to construct NYC’s Water Tunnel No. 3, was also long promised to the community as a park. However, in 2021, at the urging of Community Board 2, the site was instead earmarked for the creation of 100 units of affordable housing, which would have required a very moderately scaled building on the site.

However, also at the urging of Community Board 2 as well as some local elected officials, the city began to consider increasingly larger developments for this site. By the summer of 2023, they were proposing a building of up to 355 ft. tall — the tallest tower ever constructed in Greenwich Village. Worse, questioning by Village Preservation revealed the city only intended to require the development remain affordable for 30 years. And the city’s designs ignored public feedback for a development that respected its context and minimized shadows and visibility on adjacent JJ Walker Park and the Greenwich Village Historic District. 

Village Preservation welcomes affordable housing on this site, including in excess of the originally committed 100 units. In fact, we believe development that follows the guidelines we have advocated for could include about double that number of units. But we believe strongly that building on this site is only acceptable for 100% guaranteed permanently affordable housing, designed to respect its context and surroundings, and minimizing shadows on JJ Walker Park and the Greenwich Village Historic District while maximizing affordable housing.