Massive Buildings are Coming to the West Village. So What?

By Alec Pruchnicki

With all the construction going on in lower Manhattan, two proposals stand out. One is for a 60-story tall residential building in the Meatpacking District (to be called Gansevoort Square) and the other is a 35-story building at 388 Hudson Street. The excessive heights of these buildings have resulted in controversy but they seem to be progressing anyway. What are the issues?

On a city owned block in the Meatpacking District which contains the Whitney Museum, the start of the High Line Park, and the nearby Standard Hotel, the city proposes building of a 60-story tall residential building. It would be about three times the size of the Whitney or the Standard and would dwarf all the other surrounding structures. In addition, there would be a major expansion of the Whitney, a maintenance building for the High Line, and a small amount of open space. About 25-50% of the apartments would be in the affordable range and the rest market rate or luxury level. Opponents say the 60 stories are inappropriately high and the building should be smaller, possibly with 100% affordable apartments. A private developer would construct and manage the building.

The city desperately needs housing and this should be built. Opponents state that the density of this building would be ten times that of a typical six-story apartment, which is true, but it would also contain ten times the number of apartments. I don’t know how often opponents go to the Meatpacking District, but I have dinner there at the Brass Monkey bar a few times a month, usually on Saturday or Sunday evenings. The local restaurants and beer hall are often crowded but when customers leave those places they stagger out onto empty and possibly dangerous streets. There are some apartment buildings south of Gansevoort Street but there is very little housing and very little street traffic in general. As Jane Jacobs observed years ago, empty streets are dangerous and the more people and pairs of eyes on the street, the safer it is (everything else being equal).

And how does the height of a building injure, in any significant way, those nearby individuals and businesses? It may stick out and appear as an eyesore to many, but New York City was never meant to be a gated community with a Homeowners Association enforcing uniform height and design. That’s what produces ticky tacky little houses that all look just the same (a musical reference—look it up) but that is not New York City.

The situation on Hudson Street is similar. They city is proposing a 30-35 story building that is at least twice the size of surrounding buildings, but opponents are asking for a six-story apartment building like those built a century ago. The age of six-story apartment buildings or even 12-story high rises is over, at least if you are serious about producing the housing the city needs. The building will be 100% affordable but whether it will be for 30 years, 60 years, or forever is yet to be determined. As with the Meatpacking District, the area around 388 Hudson is almost totally devoid of housing. Public schools, a park, and several office buildings surround the site with only one condo building to the northwest. It is also fairly empty at night unless you walk one to two blocks away.

Both sites have common reasons for opposition and common reasons for being built. Opponents do not like the excessive heights but cannot point to any significant injury that any nearby residents or businesses will suffer. But people who cannot find affordable housing, or even market rate housing, do suffer. Decreasing the heights will also decrease the apartments, whatever income level they eventually become, and partially defeat the purpose of these constructions. We build housing to build housing, that is the primary purpose. If the character or architecture of an area, or the view of the river, or the sunlight falling on a playground can be preserved that would be wonderful, but if not, you still need housing of some type and you need a lot of it.

New York City, and the nation as a whole, are not facing a housing problem, they are facing a housing crisis. I’ve lost several friends who had to leave New York City due to housing costs, and will probably lose more. Large population shifts have occurred from liberal states with expensive housing and extensive homelessness to southern states with cheap, though shoddy, housing. The effect of this component of the nation’s rightward political shift is significant but I will wait for another day to address this. Just know that it is significant and can get worse if housing availability is not improved.

Many issues can affect the quality of life in New York and we need to prioritize them. Inability to get affordable housing is a high priority, the height of nearby buildings should be a low priority. If the day comes that housing is so available and affordable that its height and style becomes my major concern, I will be very happy.