Community Board 3 Meeting on Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing
LIVING, NEWS Thursday, March 31st, 2011
The Committee of Community Board 3 (Chinatown – Lower East Side) met last night at the Henry Street Settlement to continue the planning process of the Seward Park project. Neil Kitteredge, an architecture & planning partner at Beyer Blinder Belle and hired by the City, led the discussion with preliminary plans and new building models.
The meeting focused on three themes:
1. Street and Pedestrian network. Especially in dealing with pedestrian safety in crossing at Delancey Street. The Committee also discussed pedestrians making traffic shortcuts at the Willamsburg Bridge as being an issue.
2. Open Space. The Committee discussed incorporating more open spaces in the neighborhood with the addition of playgrounds, public green spaces, and residential courtyards.
3. Building Mass & Height. Delancey Street is one of New York City’s widest streets and therefore can “handle more buildings of height and mass,” according to Kitteredge and his firm’s studies.
The Board also discussed the importance of balancing vehicular access with pedestrian activity with the possibilty of closing certain streets to be solely open markets. Another goal was “restoring the vibrancy of Delancey Street Retail.” The Committee discussed the challenges of maintaining pedestrian and vehicular access with retail visibility.
The Board was also concerned with which buildings would be considered the new ‘gateway’ buildings in the Lower East Side.
Kitteredge said these proposed plans were still in the preliminary stages and the City wanted to show the plans to the community for early feedback in a series of ongoing meetings.
Short URL: http://blogs.aaja.org/ourchinatown/?p=957
Posted by Pearly Huang
on Mar 31 2011. Filed under LIVING, NEWS.
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