Quote:
Originally Posted by JSsocal
Let's not talk in absolutes about something that's so subjective. Because it's not the truth. If this building is landmarked they'll build somewhere else in NY, recent news should tell you we don't need to worry about companies leaving - clearly. People act like if we don't let developers build their buildings right where they want them they'll pack their bags and develop in NJ or CT or Dallas. That's not the case.
We should be building outside our established business districts, because as desirable as NY is so much of it in the boroughs are underdeveloped and ugly, let's not waste the good stuff.
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If I had time, I'd get a violin to go with that. New York has been trying to expand its business districts for decades, with limited success. But the reason Manhattan is so concentrated is because it is the most logical place for these concentrations. Sure, the outer boroughs can host limited business districts. But Manhattan is the center of the entire tri-state area. And we're not going to go downtown and bulldoze the entire lower Manhattan lowrise neighborhoods like Tribeca, the Village, etc. You're not going to see a wave of Hudson Yards type towers spreading across Harlem. You put the big buildings where they can go, and if something has to come down because it's outlived it's usefulness, then so be it. Real estate in the city, and particularly this stretch of Manhattan, has become to valuable to allow buildings to just sit because it brings back a sense of the "old" for some people. This city is never "done". There are new things to be seen, new experiences to be had.
As I keep saying, the city is not a museum - but it has plenty of those who want to go back and look at something. Things change in a vibrant city like New York. And not just the buildings. Street furniture changes. Buses change. Taxis change. The very clothing that people wear changes. That's life. There are a lot of landmarks across the city, almost entire neighborhoods in some cases, and for good reason. Those will stand through time, but don't tell me that insignificant buildings (of which the City has
many need to stand just because they're old. People sometimes become so attached to the things of the past that they can hardly appreciate the experience of the here and now, where things are evolving.
The building that goes up here by SOM coulde be a piece of crap. But it will be a 21st century piece of crap if it is. It will be what Solow thought was the best use for his piece of real estate in the city in the here and now. And that's allowed. It' how and why everything got built in the first place.