Stop — in the name of zoning!
City officials have ordered a developer to halt construction of a controversial
building after determining that he failed to get his foundation completed
before new zoning rules went into effect.
The building, at 614 Seventh Ave. in what realtors have been calling “Green-Wood
Heights,” was one of several construction sites where workers madly
tried to finish foundations after the City Council unanimously downzoned
the neighborhood earlier this month.
The building is commonly referred to as the “Minerva Building”
because it would block the view of the Statue of Liberty that a bronze
of the goddess of war enjoyed from her perch atop Battle Hill in Green-Wood
Cemetery — a “view corridor” that was an instrumental part
of the statue’s design.
“They did not get the foundation done, so they can not build unless
they change their plan,” said Department of Buildings spokeswoman
Jennifer Givner.
The DOB reached the same conclusion about a building at 182 15th St.,
but said that work at a nearby site, 162 16th St., could continue because
its foundation was completed on time.
Despite the permit revocations, opponents of the “Minerva” building
were hardly gloating this week.
“It remains to be seen if it’s a victory,” said Jeremy
Laufer, district manager of Community Board 7. “The downzoning of
the neighborhood was certainly a victory, though.”
Experts said the “Minerva” developer would probably take his
case to the Board of Standards and Appeals for an exemption to the newly
passed downzoning. Calls to the developer, Chaim Nussenzweig, and his
architect, Robert Scarano, were not returned.
The mad scramble to finish the foundation won’t be for naught, though.
Even if the developer loses a BSA appeal, something will be built on the
site.
“We’re still going to work with the architect, probably even
more so, to make sure that a new design doesn’t block the view corridor,”
said Richard Moylan, president of the Green-Wood Cemetery.
“The new zoning may make it tougher. [Scarano] may have to build
a bulkier building” because he can’t go up as high, Moylan said.
The down-zoning of Green-Wood Heights was passed along with an up-zoning
along more-commercial Fourth Avenue.
