More 3-story-tall 5G cellular towers are planned for our community! Boldyn Networks recently submitted an application for the tower at 771 Greenwich Street (at the southeast corner of Greenwich and Bethune streets, directly adjacent to the building at 99 Bank Street). This location is within the Greenwich Village Historic District.

Want to stop it? This tower is currently undergoing a “Section 106 review” to determine if it will have a negative impact on the surrounding historic district. You can help. Click below and send a comment to the review today! (There’s a separate review for each 5G tower, so you need to send a separate comment for each tower.)

The deadline for comments on the 771 Greenwich Street tower is December 26. The public can submit comments by sending an email to:
citybridgelink5g@ebiconsulting.com

Village Preservation has suggestions for comments along with an optional form you can use if you wish (the form needs to be sent to the same citybridgelink5g@ebiconsulting.com address):
https://www.villagepreservation.org/oppose-a-5g-tower-at-771-greenwich-street-99-bank-street/

In addition to the language suggested by Village Preservation, I’d urge that you include a sentence stating that these towers should not be allowed anywhere within or adjoining our historic districts.

Boldyn has also just submitted an application for the tower at 100 Horatio Street. This is a tower we’re particularly concerned about; stay tuned for more information.

The fight over the multiple futuristic 3-story-tall LinkNYC 5G towers planned for our community is heating up again.

Last July, the city-wide review that was supposed to evaluate the towers’ impacts on neighboring historic districts was “paused” by the FCC because of the chaotic way it was being conducted by the applicant (a company currently named Boldyn Networks, previously known as CityBridge and ZenFi). That review, called a Section 106 review, has now restarted.

An application was recently filed for 445 West Street (southeast corner of Bethune Street and West Street), and we have received notices that applications will be filed soon for 100 Horatio Street (southwest corner of Horatio and Washington streets), 100 Jane Street (actually at the northwest corner of West 12th and Washington streets), and 771 Greenwich Street (southeast corner of Greenwich and Bethune streets). Applications for a tower near Jane and Greenwich streets and another tower near Gansevoort and West streets are also in the works. All of these locations are either within or directly adjacent to historic districts.

Save Gansevoort has been designated a “consulting party” to these reviews, and we have already filed a comment objecting to the proposed tower at 445 West Street. This tower is immediately adjacent to Westbeth, and violates a clause in Boldyn’s contract with New York CIty that states towers cannot be placed next to individual landmarks such as Westbeth.

It’s now possible for the general public to comment as well by sending an email to:
citybridgelink5g@ebiconsulting.com The deadline for submitting comments on the tower at 445 West Street is November 26th. Comments must relate only to the impacts of the proposed tower on the historic buildings and districts; it you raise any concerns unrelated to historic preservation your comment may be ignored or discarded. In the subject header, include “Section 106 review of tower at 445 West Street.”

In your message, make two points;

1. The proposed tower at 445 West Street directly adjoins Westbeth, an individual landmark. This tower would violate Boldyn’s contract with New York City, which prohibits LinkNYC 5G towers adjacent to individual landmarks.
2. This prohibition recognizes that these futuristic 3-story-tall 5G towers are incompatible with landmarked properties and would have negative impacts on such properties. Because of their size and design these towers will inevitably have a negative impact on designated historic districts, and should not be allowed within or adjoining such districts.

We’ll post more information as soon as proposals are officially submitted for the other 5G towers proposed for our area.

There’s some big news about the LinkNYC 5G towers. Seven of these futuristic three-story-tall towers are currently planned for the West Village, with more to come. In early February the City poured footings for two 5G towers on Washington street, one on Horatio and the other on West 12th. City Councilmember Erik Bottcher’s office was able to get the city to put a temporary halt on construction, but last month we were told by his office that the city was likely to resume construction at any time.

However, a few weeks ago we heard about another issue that had the potential to stop construction. Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act requires a review of any project funded or licensed by a Federal Agency that is in or adjacent to a historic structure (or district) that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The purpose is to determine if the project will have a negative impact on that historic district or landmark. The 5G towers are licensed by the FCC, and both Washington Street towers are within 50 feet of a historic district listed on the National Register (the one at the corner of Horatio and Washington actually adjoins two historic districts). All the other towers currently proposed for the West Village are also in historic districts or adjacent to an individual landmark.

Yet it turns out that a Section 106 review was never conducted. The FCC, as the federal agency, has a legal obligation to ensure the requirements of Section 106 review are met, and the NY State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) would be the agency that administer the review. Save Gansevoort and other preservation organizations sent multiple letters to the FCC, SHPO, and our elected officials asking for a review. In our letters, Save Gansevoort specifically pointed out that construction of the Washington Street 5G towers had already begun, in apparent violation of the Section 106 regulations. Significantly, ten days ago Congressman Jerry Nadler sent the FCC a letter asking that they conduct a review.

Last Thursday, the FCC notified CityBridge (the franchisee that is building and operating the towers) that a Section 106 review is required and that no construction should occur until the review is completed. The order applies to all the LinkNYC 5G towers in the entire city, so this is a big deal. A word of caution: the FCC wants this project to move ahead, and SHPO may not be eager to court controversy. So we will have our work cut out for us.

Stay tuned…

Concrete was poured yesterday to build a footing for the LinkNYC 5G tower at the southwest corner of Horatio and Washington Streets (100 Horatio Street). A footing was constructed two days ago for the tower at “100 Jane Street” (actually located at the northwest corner of West 12th Street and Washington Street).

It is outrageous that this is happening only two weeks after the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation told Community Board 2 that it was still accepting comments on these towers;  two weeks is obviously completely insufficient to evaluate comments and make any necessary changes.  In fact, given the time required to survey the sites and schedule work crews, it seems likely that the decision to proceed with these towers was made before the Community Board hearing even occurred. OTI and CityBridge are ignoring both the resolution that CB2 passed two weeks ago asking for a moratorium on these towers, and the letter sent by Borough President Levine asking that installation be slowed in residential areas.

Update: the Village Sun has published an detailed article about pushback in the West Village after construction started on these two 3-story-tall 5G towers. Construction has been temporarily halted due to community pressure, but could resume at any time.

A private company called CityBridge is planning to install seven 3-STORY-TALL 5G antenna towers in the Far West Village. These things are huge, ugly, and many will have large illuminated advertising signs. All the towers will be in historic districts, or immediately adjacent to historic districts or individual landmarks. The planned locations are 100 Horatio St., 820 Greenwich St., 771 Greenwich S., 100 Jane St. (actually at the corner of W. 12th and Washington), 445 West St., 113 Horatio St., and 108 Gansevoort St. We are investigating the options for fighting these monstrosities.

Earlier this year, the City Council approved office use at Aurora’s Gansevoort site. In return, Aurora has signed several documents  memorializing the deal negotiated with the community for various benefits. The documents include the following:

An overview of the deal is provided in this binding commitment letter between Aurora and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s office.

First, the existing restrictive declaration on the Gansevoort block (the south side of Gansevoort Street between Washington and Greenwich Streets) that had previously prohibited office use (use group 6B) has been amended to remove that prohibition. This new amendment can be found here. (The 2003 amendment, which was actually signed in 2013, can be found here; the 1998 amendment can be found here; and the original restrictive declaration can be found here.)

Second, a new restrictive declaration has been added to the Gansevoort block providing additional community protections and benefits.  These include a prohibition on all music and amplified sound on the rooftop and terrace exteriors of the block, reasonable closing hours for those exteriors, a prohibition against height increases of any of the existing buildings, and a prohibition against more than 3 full liquor licenses (none of which could be in spaces adjacent to the exterior roofs/terraces) and 4 wine and beer licenses (all of which would be ancillary to some other use such as retail or office space). Importantly, the restrictive declaration also mandates the creation of 1775 sq/ft of essentially free basement space for non-profit arts or cultural organizations. The new restrictive declaration can be found here.

Third, a binding commitment letter between Aurora and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s office mandates the creation of 2000 sq/ft of rent-subsidized space for a non-profit arts organization and 2000 sq/ft of subsidized space for a non-profit Greenwich Village social service organization, both to be located within a complex of buildings surrounding 7-11 Weehawken Street. (There is also an option for a one-time cash grant to a non-profit social service organization in lieu of the 2000 sq/ft of subsidized social service space). No more than 50% of the combined community space provided at Weehawken and at Gansevoort Streets can be below grade. The binding commitment letter can be found here.

Save Gansevoort invested a great deal of  time and effort to make this deal happen. We continue to believe that the decision by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to allow this development was profoundly misguided; however, given that unfortunate decision we believe this is the best possible outcome for the community. We are deeply grateful for all of the hard work by Community Board 2 and its chair Carter Booth, and by Council Speaker Corey Johnson and his chief of staff Erik Bottcher, that made these negotiations successful.

The City Council will be holding its only hearing on Aurora Capital’s application to amend the Gansevoort restrictive declaration this coming Wednesday. The application will be heard by the Council’s zoning sub-committee:

Wednesday, February 12, 10:00 AM
City Council Chambers
City Hall (2nd Floor)
(Note that this in the actual City Hall – the classic little building in City Hall Park – not the Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street. Entrance is on the east side of Broadway across from Warren Street.)

This hearing will be an opportunity for the City Council zoning subcommittee to consider the deal laid out in the recent Community Board 2 resolution. This deal allows for office use on the Gansevoort block in return for a package of community protections and benefits. The terms were negotiated by Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s office, Community Board 2, and Save Gansevoort.

The deal contains the following protections for the community: Aurora has agreed to prohibit all music and amplified sound on the rooftop and terrace exteriors of the block, has agreed that there will be no future increases in height of any of the existing buildings, and has agreed to allow no more than 3 full liquor licenses (none of which could be in spaces adjacent to the exterior roofs/terraces) and 4 wine and beer licenses (all of which would be ancillary to some other use such as retail or office space).

In addition, Aurora has agreed to the provide the following spaces for non-profit organizations:

1. There will be a 1775 sq/ft space in the basement of 68 Gansevoort Street for the use of a non-profit community arts organization (likely theater/dance rehearsal space). This space will be rent-free.

2. There will be approximately 2000 sq/ft of space for a community arts organization at 7-11 Weehawken Street. The rent will be $25 sq/ft, with a 10% rent increase every 5 years.

3. There will be an additional 2000 sq/ft of space on the same terms for a non-profit community service organization also at 7-11 Weehawken St. The community organization would have the right to opt for an annuity or lump sum payment in lieu of taking the space.

4. No more than 50% of the total square footage of the three spaces listed above can be below grade.

We believe this deal is fair, and are grateful to Community Board 2 and to Corey Johnson’s office for all of the work they did to bring about this outcome.

More details about the community protections can be found here.  The Community Board 2 resolution passed on December 19, 2019 is here.