The residents of Manhattan Valley are rising up against a potentially higher skyline.
For the past several weeks, residents of 106th Street have raised their voices against the construction of a condo giant after the local nursing home Jewish Home Lifecare and developer Joseph Chetrit announced a controversial land swap in August. Monday night, the battle gained momentum six blocks south, where Park West Village tenants and owners joined forces to oppose construction of the 22-story senior home facility on 100th Street—and all of the traffic, noise, and disruption they anticipate it will bring.
In an interview, Jewish Home Lifecare spokesperson Ethan Geto said that JHL had reached out to attend the meeting and that the offer was declined. But one of the organizers of the discussion, Paul Bunten from Westsiders for Public Participation, said he was not aware of such an invitation.
The basic land swap is a direct property switch that allows the nonprofit nursing home—which has claimed that a new, technologically advanced facility is a necessity—to build its new structure on a Chetrit-owned parking lot on 100th Street. In exchange, Chetrit would be permitted to develop a residential building on 106th Street, which is the current site of the JHL facility.
Preservationists fear that Chetrit will build a tower on 106th Street while and Chetrit and Jewish Home Lifecare are struggling to convince the community that an out-of-context monster is not their intention. Meanwhile, 100th Street has become the site of another land use war.
Tenants and condo owners said they feared extensive traffic on 100th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, where the local precinct and fire departments are located. Sue Brisk, who lives in 792 Columbus—whose backyard would be the site for the new 22-story building—said that multiple serious accidents have occurred very recently with the influx of foot and vehicle traffic from the new Columbus Square development.
“I look down every day and night,” Brisk said of her fears, adding that she could not even begin to imagine the traffic flow with an entire new facility in place.
Eighty-year-old Bill Gellerman asked the crowd if he thought JHL would someday be a good home for him. Neighborhood resident Catherine Unsino, an advocate in nursing home reform, responded by telling the increasingly angry crowd that Jewish Home Lifecare was a below-average institution, and for that reason, they could not welcome them into their home.
Ultimately, after a speech from Maggi Peyton of the Park West Village Tenants’ Association, the crowd agreed that they would form one umbrella group devoted to opposing the swap entirely.
Cheryl Strong, a disgruntled resident, said that she was already part of anoither anti-swap group, which has urged the New York attorney general to join the cause. Jean Jaworek from the Duke Ellington Boulevard Neighborhood Association on 106th Street urged the crowd to be realistic and think of favorable negotiations—a suggestion which was immediately met with firm opposition.
In response to growing opposition, Geto said that they plan to address the traffic concerns with a full investigation, and further, they intend to reach out to the community through an advisory board as well as a lengthy design planning process that would directly include Park West Village.
“Many people want to stop this,” Bunten said to the crowd last night. “The question is how.”
In response to the community members’ unwillingness to negotiate, Geto said, “We are a nonprofit with a mission. It is imperative that we build that building.”
Comments
We're looking for comments that are interesting and substantial. If your comments are excessively self-promotional or obnoxious you will be banned from commenting. Consult the comment FAQ and legal terms.