(l. to r.) Proposed buildings at 375 Lafayette Street, 27 East 4th Street, and 56 Great Jones Street/354 Bowery 

All three of the items will be heard and voted on at the full Community Board 2 meeting on Thursday, February 19 starting at 6:30 pm. Please submit written comments AND sign up to testify on Thursday night. 

Submit written testimony HERE by 4 pm, February 19, 2026

Register to speak at the Full Board HERE by 4 pm, February 19, 2026

See below for talking points we STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU USE in your written and verbal testimony.  

The proposed cantilever for the 300 ft. tall building at 354 Bowery/56 Great Jones Street is also scheduled to be heard by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) on Tuesday, February 24 (the other two items will be heard at the LPC at a date TBD). 

Submit written testimony to the LPC opposing the cantilever at 354 Bowery/56 Great Jones Street — CLICK HERE 

You can also register to testify at the Tuesday, February 24 hearing of the LPC HERE. The approximate time this item will be heard (during the day) won’t be posted until Friday HERE.

Suggested Testimony for February 19 Community Board meeting on 375 Lafayette Street, 27 East 4th Street, and 354 Bowery/56 Great Jones Street

  • Urge the full board to PASS the resolutions from the landmarks committee AS IS, which OPPOSE each of these applications.
  • The proposed design for 375 Lafayette Street is much too big, and the design is much too bulky, monotonous and repetitive, especially on Great Jones Street and the rear facade. The scale needs to be reduced and broken down, with greater texture and variation in detail, color, and materials. 
  • The proposed building at 27 East 4th Street could threaten the safety of the Merchant’s House Museum next door, which is a citywide and national treasure. The museum argues that the proposed safety measures are not enough, and even if they were, such protocols are rarely reliably followed, and any deviation would threaten permanent damage to the museum. 
  • The proposed building at 56 Great Jones Street is gargantuan, and makes no effort to relate to the NoHo Historic District whatsoever. In light of this, there is no need to accommodate the developer to allow the building to be even bigger and to get special permission to cantilever over the NoHo Historic District at 354 Bowery. 
  • At 375 Lafayette and 354 Bowery, which supporters note will contain 25% “affordable” housing, it’s important to recognize the required income levels for those units make them UN-affordable to the majority of NYC renters, so how “affordable” they actually are is debatable. 

Especially given the limited time you will have to speak and the limited criteria under which these applications can be considered, WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO LIMIT YOUR TESTIMONY TO THESE POINTS.