New York Times , Sunday April 30, 2000

Battle Lines Emerging on the Sale Of a Prime Con Ed Property

Opposition to construction on prime riverfront property owned by Consolidated Edison has begun to jell. A broad coalition of community and political leaders on the East Side has outlined legal strategies to demand public input into decisions affecting the big development.

The controversy involves four parcels of extremely valuable land, comprising nine acres along First Avenue between 35th and 41st Streets. The property includes the Waterside steam-generating plant.

Con Ed wants to sell the property to make way for a complex of office and residential towers. The winning bid, made in January, went to a development group led by the Fisher real estate family, along with the developer Sheldon Solow and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, which would pay Con Ed up to $600 million for the property.

To demolish the Waterwise plant, Con Ed will have to expand operations at the plant at 14th Street and the East River. That proposal has raised concerns about increased pollution in Stuyvesant Town and the Lower East Side.

The proposal has also drawn opposition from those close to Waterside. Many people who live near the plant say that while they do not oppose construction on the property, they are concerned about the scale of the project, its effect on population density, its impact on the environment and whether the buildings would cut off access to the river.

Con Edison has violated state laws regarding environmental reviews of such proposals, said Richard Kahan, an adviser to the East Midtown Coalition for Sensible Development. That group, which includes thousands of property owners in the area, was formed out of concern about the project.

"They are trying to appear to be going through the required processes while also preventing any truly substantive exchange of information," Mr. Kahan said.

John Banks, director of government relations for Con Ed, said no environmental review was needed yet, in part because the utility's decision to seek bids on the Waterside property was merely a way of "researching" its value and there was no definite sale so far.

The coalition, as well as residents near the 14th Street power plant, have enlisted the suppport of community boards 6 and 3, and of nearly every elected official in the area, to demand a voice for the public on the sale. If they do not get it, they say, they will try to stall the project through litigation and challenges during the rezoning.

On Monday, Stephen L. Kass, a lawyer for the coalition, wrote to Maureen O. Helmer, chairwoman of the New York State Public Service Commission, asking her to rescind an order the commission issued last December letting Con Ed continue its efforts to auction the property.

-David Kirby

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ENORMOUS DEVELOPMENT IN EASTERN MURRAY HILL

Con Edison Properties….Bellevue site at 28th Street the Montrose on 38th Street 221 East 41st Street, in addition to the Trump giant rising in Turtle Bay-all these buildings are in our future!

Further south, the Bellevue Site is about to undergo major development. The Association for Children's Services will soon open a shelter on First Avenue at 28th Street. The Bellevue Men's Shelter, which is just north of the ACS building, will be closing sometime this year, although the city has not yet found a home for the 850 men who are housed there. The city's Economic Development Corporation sent out a Request for Expression of Interest to the developers and is currently evaluation the responses. The proposals include plans for a senior assisted living facility, luxury and low-cost housing. There is concern that Bellevue will need the property for a health-related facility in the future, but that such realization will come too late.

The building going up on 222 East 41st Street is a 25 story commercial building, and is being developed by Tishman Speyer. It will replace a parking lot now on the premises.

Then there is the vacant lot on 34th Street, often referred to as the "Peck & Hills" site. Not much is known, but as details emerge, we'll pass them along.

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New York Post Business: Tuesday, March 21, 2000

BIG EAST SIDE POWER PLAY OVER CON ED

If you're nostalgic for the rugged West side land-use battles of the '80's, get ready for the Great East Side War of the '00's.

The looming struggle over Con Ed's proposals to sell of 9 acres of prime East Side property for the development promises to make the brawls over the Westway and Times Square look like love-ins.

The opening salvo comes on Thursday, when some Manhattan legislators have scheduled a public forum challenging Con Ed's proposal to pull the plug on one river-front power plan and power up a second one to take up the slack.

But the 7 p.m. meeting at the Church of the Covenant on East 42nd Street, hosted by State Senate Roy Goodman, Assemblyman Steve Sanders, and Council Members Eva Moskowitz and Margarita Lopez, only pretends to be about Con Ed's plan to turn off the Waterside Plant at First Avenue and 38th Street and increase the capacity of another one (Con Ed spokesman Joseph Petta said the company will "probably send a rep.")

The legislators hope to muscle in on the dream of the land's prospective purchasers, an unlikely partnership of Fisher Brothers Management, Sheldon (9 West 57th Street) Solow, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The lawmakers are allied with the East Midtown Coalition for Sensible Development, an activist group "advised" by Richard Kahan, a former chief of the Battery Park City Authority.

The developers, who won a bidding war, would pay Con Ed $600 million for four parcels of land along First Avenue between 35th and 41st streets where they would demolish the power plant and build giant luxury apartment towers-up to 5 million square feet worth.

The partners first must persuade the city to change the zoning at the site, most of which is slated for heavy industry. That means surviving the turbulent Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, requiring final approval by the City Council.

And it means living with rules likely to be enacted under zoning reform. City Planning Commissioner Joseph Rose says, "We've told Con Ed and the developers there will likely be a 495-foot height limit.

That's not enough for the East Side Coalition. They want Con Ed and the developers to play ball with the community groups in coming up with a "master plan" of designs for the vast scheme.

Power broker Kahan argues, "the best quality development will come from sitting down with civic groups and the city and putting together a master plan like the ones at Riverside South and Battery Park City."

He says that so far, neither Con Ed nor the city has shown any interest in that. So to get their attention, the coalition means to prevent con Ed from getting permission from the state Public Service Commission to close the Waterside plant and power up another one at 14th Street.

And to accomplish that, Kahan-who led the alliance of civic groups that got Donald Trump to limit the size of his Riverside South development-isn't shy about describing the hardball tactics he plans to use:

"We'll likely oppose the application to increase capacity at 14th Street," he says, "making it impossible to develop the Waterside site or delay it by years.
"The [approval] process can be done in 18 months or so…We can make that process take three years longer." Now, never mind that the development scheme's destiny may be bent by the economy and shifting political winds.
Never mind that the deal with the developers isn't even final.

Never mind that Con Ed's choice of developers surprised real estate industry sources, who said "The Fishers haven't built anything in years," and marveled, "they've been on the outs with Solow for years."

Should a civic group in effect hold hostage a development that involves public land? Planning chief Rose would not comment on the coalition. He said, instead, "We strongly believe that the integrity of the public review process must be maintained, and that duly-designated institutions like the community boards, the planning commission, and the City Council need to be upheld." Kahan insists, "We want a plan where the developers are going to make a lot of money." But it sure takes chutzpah for Kahan and Co. to warn so boldly that nobody will make a dime without their blessing.

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On September 26, 2002, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) conducted a Public Hearing on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS), the following testimony was made on behalf of MECA.

I am Fred Arcaro, President of Manhattan East Community Association or MECA for short.

The Disposition Parcels being discussed tonight are right in the middle of the Manhattan East Community Association area---not Murray Hill-not Tudor City or Turtle Bay. It is the MECA members and residents in the MECA area who would be most effected by the impending building development.

MECA is an important member organization of the East Midtown Coalition for Sensible Development or EMCSD for short and we embrace EMCSD design principles.

I'd like to emphasize items that MECA is most interested in:

1. We want sensible development in our community but not the high density
that is proposed by the DGEIS.

2. We want as much park space as possible. We are especially concerned about this in view of the recent New York Times article that appeared on September 20th. It discussed the United Nations' plan for building a 35 story, 800,000 square feet, office building on a 1.3-acre asphalt active park. This park is located at 41st Street on the east side of First Avenue ands is called the Robert Moses Park. Obviously, the loss of this park would further reduce park area in our community. Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff suggested that the city construct an esplanade and bike path along the East River to compensate for the loss of the Robert Mosses Park. MECA finds this suggestion unacceptable for two very important reasons:
a. First, the esplanade is not an active park.
b. Second, the esplanade has always been part of the city's master plan going back during Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger's days. Therefore, the esplanade would not give the community a true replacement for the Robert Moses Park.

We suggest that PSC, as a condition of sale of the Con Edison Properties, insist that the 685 First Avenue property be giving to the community to be used as an active park. By so doing, would solve a number of problems:
a. It would drastically reduce the shadow impact on the land marked Tudor City Parks.
b. It would create a much-needed open space, air and light for the many buildings near the 685 First Avenue property.
c. It would show special respect for the land marked and historic Tudor City Buildings.
d. It would replace the loss of the active Robert Moses Park that the UN wants for a 35-story office building.

3. We would like to see a platform constructed above the FDR Drive that would create a beautiful park on it, similar to the one that is being promoted by the Municipal Art Society of New York.

4. We do not want to see a tall building on 38th street so close to the FDR Drive. We want to see more park space between the building and FDR Drive. A tall builds on 38th street would have a great adverse impact on many residences of the Horizon and the Corinthian.

5. We want 39th and 40th streets, between First Avenue and the FDR Drive remapped, not merely reopened.

6. We want to see local retail shop and a supermarket that will serve the needs of the community.

7. We do not wish to retain the old, contaminated, industrial-looking Waterside plant buildings, but would rather see new buildings that are sensible in density and that allow for open space, light and sightlines around them.

In conclusion, MECA is deeply concerned about and interested in the impact that the impending building development will have on our neighborhood. We will strive to achieve development that will enhance our community and quality of life. As President of MECA, a board member of EMCSD and a member of the land-use committee of Community Board 6, I will be watchful of all building development. MECA and EMCSD look forward to the enthusiastic support of this community.

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