Quirky development proposals are nothing new in New York

Unlike Gary Barnett’s Theater District thrill ride proposal, most wacky development pitches don’t get the green light from city officials. Over the years, several ludicrous project proposals have hit the books — and some to overwhelming public backlash.

Here’s a look back at some of the most notable and what happened to them.

• 252-258 Third Avenue

Victor Sigoura’s Legion Investment Group had to put hard brakes on its Gramercy Park condo project in May, when an air rights deal between the developer and a neighboring co-op board was voided by a Manhattan court. Legion had originally pitched to build a 20-story building adjacent to the co-op at 38 Gramercy Park North. The catch? It wanted to cantilever part of its project 15 feet above the residence, according to a letter from the co-op board. Ultimately, the court found that residents had been pressured and coerced into the sale, according to court documents, hammering a nail in the coffin for the strange proposal.

• Central Park Observation Tower

Forget on-the-park views, what about inside the park? In 2017, architecture firm DFA Studio proposed a 712-foot thimble for a spot inside the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park. According to the firm’s proposal, the prefabricated timber project, which would stand at more than three times the height of the Statue of Liberty, would serve as a tourist attraction covertly doubling as a filtration system, tapping the lake as a spot for drinking water. The public use project hasn’t seen an update since its initial renderings were revealed.

• Big Bend

In March 2017, architecture firm Oiio unveiled plans for what it described as the “longest building in the world.” Measuring 4,000 feet long, the skinny, U-shaped proposal for Billionaire’s Row would take advantage of a supposed loophole in Manhattan’s zoning restrictions, apparently substituting height for length. Regardless, the imaginary structure would still surpass the other supertalls on the block — along with every other building in the Western Hemisphere — topping out at 2,000 feet.

Freedom Plaza

New York state’s reversal of its longtime ban on downstate casinos has ignited the imaginations of developers, who have sketched out gambling venues from Nassau County to Hudson Yards. Along the East River and steps away from the United Nations headquarters, Stefan Soloviev’s Soloviev Group has joined with resort operator Mohegan to propose a 1,200-key hotel and two residential towers with more than 1,400 condos and rental units. The 6.7-acre plot will also feature a casino, a museum, four acres of green space and a giant Ferris wheel hovering over the property.

• Analemma Tower

What comes after Elon Musk’s $55 million tickets to space become mainstream? Moving to space, of course. And the New York-based Clouds Architecture Office has just the proposal, inverting what it means to be a “skyscraper.” The concept calls for bolting a tower to a NASA-controlled, Earth-orbiting asteroid, which would carve an off-kilter, figure-eight path across North and South America, with the longest portion of its daily trip spent above Midtown Manhattan. Speculative renderings also suggest that getting down from the extraterrestrial structure wouldn’t be a walk in the park — instead, residents would parachute down from the suspended object. Obviously not for the faint of heart!

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