Extell’s “poor door” receives city approval

But Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer vows to reject future developments with separate entrances

40 Riverside Boulevard
40 Riverside Boulevard

WEEKENDEDITION UPDATED, 5:05 p.m., July 21: Extell has received approval from the city to install a so-called a “poor door” on its Upper West Side development at 40 Riverside Boulevard

Last year, Extell introduced a plan for a 33-story luxury condo with a separate entrance for affordable-housing tenants.

Now a spokesman for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development has confirmed that the agency had approved Extell’s application for the Inclusionary Housing Program, according to the New York Post.

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The program allows developer to build larger properties in exchange for providing on- or off-site low-income housing. The development will have 219 units with waterfront views and 55 affordable units in a “building segment” Facing The Street.

“The ‘poor door’ is not on the side as you show it, in some back alley, but in fact on 62nd Street, very similar to where the Ashley (a free market rental)  is on 63rd Street,” Extell said in a statement to The Real Deal disputing an image circulating of the building’s two entrances.

However, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer has vowed to reject future developments with separate entrances. [NYP]Christopher Cameron