Community board rejects skinny UWS tower after NY1 anchor blasts it


From left: NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan, the proposed tower at 207 West 75th
Street (source: West Side Rag), and the building currently on the site

A proposal to erect a slim 14-story tower on a tiny site at 207 West 75th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue has been shot down by an Upper West Side community board, West Side Rag reported, after NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan, who lives in an adjacent building, declared the development “not welcome” in the neighborhood. The proposal will now go before the city’s Board of Standards & Appeals.

The community’s opposition to the 25-foot-wide development was clear, with the votes against it almost unanimous. Nearby residents are concerned that the building would block their light, increase congestion in the neighborhood and affect property values in surrounding buildings, West Side Rag said. The building currently on the site is also said to have some historical significance, being one the last two remaining buildings from the Upper West Side’s historic stable row.

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Current zoning in the area allows a 71-foot building to be built at the site, but the developer, wh0 purchased the building for $5 million in May, according to City Council member Gale Brewer’s blog , is seeking to make the building 141 feet tall, a similar height to surrounding buildings. The architect for the project is MA Architects, based on East 20th Street.

“We are not seeking a building taller than our neighbors,” said Caroline Harris, a lawyer representing the developer.

Morris Adjmi of MA Architects was not immediately available to comment. [West Side Rag]