So Much Steel and Glass, So Little Transparency

Manhattan Community Board Five has voted in favor of a resolution calling for an immediate, temporary moratorium on new construction of all buildings 600 feet and higher that are not undergoing public review, especially those with heights sufficient to cast shadows over Central Park. 

The board outlined its concerns in a new policy brief, noting that seven new supertall buildings are already under construction along 57th Street and five more along the 57th Street corridor are already in the planning stages.

"There's actually such a lack of transparency that it is difficult to understand what developers and property owners are actually planning," said Layla Law-Gisiko, chair of the Central Park Sunshine Task Force of Community Board Five. "There's no mechanism for us or the city for us to understand ahead of time what's in the planning" 

The community board is especially concerned about Calvary Baptist Church on 57th Street. The property is adjacent to 157 West 57th St., the site of the first megatower being completed along the corridor by Extell Development Company CEO Gary Barnett.

"The same developer is in negotiation with the church to buy the church, and he could potentially build a tower as high and as tall as 157 West 57th St.," said Law-Gisiko.

Church officials did not immediately return calls for comment. Extell spokesman George Artz said in an email, "We have shown conclusively that the tall, modern, slender buildings do not create shadows for any significant length of time, particularly in the seasons when most people are likely to be in the park.  Furthermore, the Central Park Conservancy has stated that they have no real effect on the flora or fauna of the park."  

A mayoral spokesman said the city will study the report. But most of the properties the board cited were built "as of right," meaning they required no land-use review process from the city's planning department, so there is little the city could have done to alter their construction.

The board ultimately wants Mayor Bill de Blasio to take steps to create more comprehensive zoning laws that would assess the impact of large towers on open space and mitigate any potential impacts, like shadows on Central Park.