UWS residents riled over “bait-and-switch”

Upper West Side residents are on edge, after developer Chetrit Group acquired land from the non-profit Jewish Home and Hospital. The land-swap deal between the two entities has neighbors concerned that Chetrit will use the space’s special zoning laws to build beyond a reasonable height and disrupt the lay of the land. The Jewish Home, located at 120 West 106th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, had acquired special zoning permission so that it could build a taller, new facility. “This is a classic bait-and-switch,” Glory Ann Kerstein, co-coordinator of the Manhattan Valley Preservation Coalition, said. Her group works to maintain the neighborhood’s physical quality. “Jewish Home got the carve-out from the zoning because they are a non-profit, and now they want to give it away.” City Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito is slated to hold a community meeting tonight to discuss the deal.