MoMa tower panned at hearing

At a Landmark Preservation Commission meeting yesterday, opponents slammed the Tower Verre, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and planned for 53 West 53rd Street. The 75-story tower would include apartments, a hotel and gallery space for the Museum of Modern Art. At 1,155 feet high, the tower would be about 100 feet taller than the Chrysler Building. Last month, the local community board called on the commission to reject what it called an “eccentric asymmetrical tower.” State Senator Liz Krueger said in a statement that the tower “would be grossly out of scale with the other buildings in the area” and would “overwhelm the area’s infrastructure and services.”