Response to Request for Information Regarding 388 Hudson Street
December 20, 2023
Dear Mayor Eric Adams,
The incredibly valuable public land at 388 Hudson Street, which was originally promised to the public as a park, should include exclusively 100% guaranteed permanently affordable housing. This is completely within the City’s power and can be achieved in multiple ways, including deed restrictions attached to the land. The City’s responses to demands for guaranteed permanent affordability at this site have thus far been inadequate and suggest an unwillingness to impose this requirement.
In addition, the City should discard its plans for an out-of-scale and inefficient tall setback tower that reduces the amount of housing that can be included relative to the building size, while maximizing height, shadows, and visual impact. We demand the city rethink this project and do better. The proposed tall set back tower — up to 355 feet and the tallest ever built in Greenwich Village — would tower over its neighbors and make a remarkably inefficient use of space, turning much more of the building over to mechanical infrastructure and less to housing. It would also unnecessarily loom over the neighboring well-utilized JJ Walker Park and the Greenwich Village Historic District. We agree with the call by Village Preservation and others for a lower, bulkier building that steps back from JJ Walker Park above the height of adjacent City-as-School and rises to a height commensurate with surrounding buildings. This much more efficient use of space for housing would help protect the neighboring park and respect the neighborhood context.
The proposed development will be a permanent addition to this neighborhood. This makes all the more essential a guarantee of 100% permanent affordability and a more efficient use of space that relates to its context and minimizes impact on the park.
Sincerely,
Kent Barwick Layla Law-Gisiko
Chair President
cc: Hon Adolfo Carrion Jr., Commissioner-NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development, Hon. Mark Levine- Manhattan Borough President, Hon. Erik Bottcher- D3 NYC Council Member, Susan Kent- Chair, CB2 Manhattan