Turtle Bay Association

ISLAMIC U.N. OBSERVERS MOVE TO E. 51ST STREET

By: Bruce A. Silberblatt

Two townhouses, 322 and 324 East 51st Street, have been acquired by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which enjoys observer mission status to the United Nations. OIC includes 57 Muslim nations with a population of 1.5 billion. The houses will become its headquarters and residence of its UN representative. $7,000,000 was paid by it to acquire the properties. OIC will combine the buildings and expects to occupy them in time for the upcoming September UN General Assembly plenary session.

The Turtle Bay Association recognizes that OIC has full entitlement to base itself in our community, as did the existing 70-odd missions to the UN in our area. We trust that that the right of everyone on this quiet mid-block, including the OIC itself, to the peaceful enjoyment of their homes and places of work will not be compromised by demonstrations either for and against, police activity, and added traffic.

CITY TRIES TO GRAB MOSES PLAYGROUND - AGAIN!

By: Bruce A. Silberblatt

In mid-August, 2009, the Turtle Bay Association learned that the City, through two quasi public entities, Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and the United Nations Development Corporation (UNDC), was determined once more to sequester the Robert Moses Playground. The playground occupies the west part of Robert Moses Park, 42nd to 41st street, 1st Avenue to the FDR Drive - about an acre in all.

The community has been through this before; it first surfaced in 2002 and has reappeared at intervals thereafter. If the goals of EDC/UNDC are the same as before, once they control the park, they would put up a 35 story, 1,000,000 square foot monolith that defies all provisions of the NYC Zoning Resolution. They then would empty out UN personnel from several properties they own beyond the UN campus, and move them to the new construction. The vacated properties would either be sold or leased anew, precipitating a massive cash flow into the undeserving pockets of EDC/UNDC. Before parkland can be taken, it must be approved by the New York State legislature. The last time a proposal to that effect was put to that august body, it was tossed without even a vote - primarily on political grounds rather than land use issues.

As a mitigating sop to the communities that would suffer the loss of Robert Moses Playground, an Esplanade outboard of the FDR Drive would be constructed from 39th to 51st streets. Needless to say, an Esplanade is a walkway/bikeway and NOT an active neighborhood park/playground and cannot be configured to serve as such. As such, it is an inadequate mitigation for taking the playground and erecting an out-of-scale office tower on it.

Community Board 6 has in the past adopted various resolutions; the last being in 2007. They demanded that there be two mitigations: 1/ A replacement for park/playground of approximately the same shape and area, in the immediate neighborhood, and 2/ a mitigation for the out-of-scale new tower (which could be the Esplanade).

The most likely site for a replacement park would have been the empty Con Edison property at 685 1st Avenue (between 40th and 41st streets), but the City shot itself in the foot by including it in the Con Edison development and thus taking it off the table. All is not lost; work is stalled and no construction has begun at 685 1st Avenue. All it takes is a modicum of political courage to re-acquire it via condemnation.

The Turtle Bay Association has consistently supported the CB6 resolutions but recommends the following be implemented as well:

1/ EDC/UNDC cannot put a shovel in the ground until both mitigations demanded by CB6 have been complied to. Both the replacement park must be up and running and the Esplanade finished.

2/ EDC/UNDC must pay the full market value of the property, based on commercial use. Property in the neighborhood has been going for anything from $50,000,000 to $300,000,000 an acre! Those funds could be applied to the re-acquisition of 685 1st Avenue.

3/ Financing for the property, the new building and the two mitigations must be on hand before any alienation legislation is adopted.

It is bad enough to remove parkland from the public, to usurp it for commercial use without sufficient mitigation to the affected communities is beyond the pale.