Over the past few years, the public outcry over the perceived loss of New York City’s small and funky retail establishments has reached a fever pitch. Pseudonymous blogger Jeremiah Moss has chronicled it in his ongoing jeremiad, and even conservative commentator Nicole Gelinas bemoans the perceived bankification of her neighborhood, Midtown West.
The half-century-old Landmarks law has played a valuable role in protecting the historic fabric of New York City’s neighborhoods, but it also limits the production of housing—particularly affordable housing—in neighborhoods with large historic districts.
While the mayor and the governor sling mud over 421-a, neither leader has devoted much energy to fixing New York’s byzantine and inequitable property tax system, which hasn’t been reformed in more than 30 years.
YIMBY sat down with Bjarke Ingels to talk about his firm’s design for 200 Greenwich Street, aka Two World Trade Center. Despite public outcry following the change from the Norman Foster version of the tower, BIG’s innovative and forward-thinking building will truly respond to the human needs of its tenants, while also punctuating the Downtown skyline with a 1,340-foot take on a classic ziggurat. We’ve also obtained a few additional renderings of the soon-to-be icon’s impact on the cityscape.
As the clock ticks down to the state’s 421-a renewal deadline on June 15, developers are wondering how they’ll fare if condos no longer qualify for the tax abatement. Companies building lower cost apartments on the fringes of the city will likely be the hardest hit, since the tax break helps attract buyers to less desirable neighborhoods.
