Mixed-use East 57th Street project could clash with proposed new water main

Two new public school buildings slated for World Wide Group’s mixed-use complex on Second Avenue between 56th and 57th streets are to be constructed with the help of $53 million in city-backed bonds, for which the marketing effort kicks off today. But the Department of Environmental Protection’s plans to build a secondary water main under East 56th Street, from Sutton Place to Third Avenue, have neighbors panicking about the potential “war zone” that could come of two simultaneous megaprojects on the block. World Wide Group’s plans call for a 350-unit luxury apartment tower at 250 East 57th Street and a Whole Foods store in addition to the two schools. The debt offering that launched today is through the New York City Education Construction Fund. The DEP said its plans for the water main are not final and that work would not begin until at least 2013, but several local politicians and co-op boards have urged the DEP to relocate its project. [Post]