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Robert Ripps book
History of Tribeca Buildings
The Dreaded Drill Has Been Spotted Again
We know what the Dreaded Drill means by now…. Someone wants to build something new at that spot. We’ve seen it doing soil tests at 100 Franklin, 101 Murray, 460 Washington, 454-456 Greenwich, 445 Washington, and so on….
And now, thanks to a reader who sent the above pix, it has been spotted outside 59 Franklin. What’s depressing about this is that it likely means that the entire southeast corner of Broadway and Franklin is being developed. You may recall that 360-362 Broadway (site of the Roll & Go pizza joint and the American Icon souvenir store) were sold last June; at the time, it was said that “the building is also potentially part of a larger development site. Based upon its land size of 6,440 square feet and the zoning designation of C6-4A, which carries a 10.0 floor area ration, the building leads to a total of 64,440 buildable square feet.”
There’s nothing new on the Department of Buildings website, but when you search 59 Franklin, you do find—from back in 2008, before the economy tanked—an application to build a new building. What’s more, the owner of 59 Franklin is listed as 358 Broadway LLC.
That’s a big chunk of history about to get demolished. And for what? Shouldn’t be surprised, though: The recent residential boom on Broadway—especially between Canal and Worth—in both new buildings and conversions, has been nothing short of breathtaking.
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Hopefully they build a school along with it….
Amen
People with kids move to a neighborhood with no schools and then expect everyone else to build the schools for them…
Public schools are a right for all kids and it is pathetic that in a city like New York that the powers that be allow all of this crazy development without providing the basic amenities. These developers are running rampant and should be required to improve the communities where they are making millions and millions. It’s called giving back and not raping the communities. People who live in this area shouldn’t have to worry about where their kids are going to have to travel to go on to middle school and high school. It is getting more and more cut-throat every year. It’s not all about the people who are moving in and where they are going to have to go to kindergarten. Ask the parents of 5th graders who are already members of the community about the craziness of the middle school application process and how most of their kids will not get their choice of school because of the shear numbers. We all hear about kindergarten but the problem is so much more far reaching.
I don’t even have kids, but public schools where in NYC or anywhere else are a right not a privilege. You pay taxes, you should have access to public schools.
I don’t have children, but don’t most people follow a pattern of thinking about where they want to live according to their needs and future needs? Or do most people just choose a place and hope that it will all work out, with a backup plan to complain if it doesn’t? Or do people think that their children won’t grow up? Or do they assume they’ll move elsewhere shortly, but if they decide they like where they live will go to the “complain later” backup maneuver? I’m honestly asking. Because I think that if I were moving, and had kids, or planned to, I’d be asking myself all those questions. Or maybe that’s just me.
When I moved here in 2001, the schools were some of the highest rated in the city and there were no waiting lists. We were informed and made the best decision at the time. Over the past 12 years, the city has allowed developers to build without any regard to how many residents Lower Manhattan can reasonably accommodate. In addition to the numerous buildings being built, numerous office buildings in the Financial district have been converted into residential apartments. They could not keep up with inventory of 3 and 4 bedroom apartments. Who did they think were going to occupy those apartments? I agree if I were looking for a place to live today with small children, Lower Manhattan probably would not be my first choice but the recklessness shown by the city in allowing all of this residential development without requiring the developers to contribute to the quality of life of the residents was wrong.
I understand now, thanks to @tribecamom ‘s explanation. When I’ve heard people talking about their considerations in moving into a new place w/regard to kids and schools they were always (it seemed) talking about communities that were not in the midst of dramatic change (as this neighborhood has been since the 70s), so they were better able to account for what would happen when their children grew. The last time I heard this discussed it was by parents in Brooklyn Heights, which is undoubtedly a far more stable population than lower Manhattan.
The sad thing is that all this development during the Great Glass decade and the city will be stuck with these hideous buildings “forever.”
Or maybe some people really like glass buildings.
There *are* schools, just not *enough* schools. Even if you’re a kid-hater or not interested in the future of humanity, ANY approved development should automatically include growth in school needs, just like growth in sanitation or electrical needs! Last time I checked even our neighborhood didn’t disallow procreation. Or are we to have kid-free zones in the city now? More apartments mean more people, more people mean more children. Even Tribeca isn’t exempt from that formula.
And yes, if you’re a voting tax-payer you do have a little hope that things will work out because it’s logical to assume that those we voted for are accounting for and projecting our city’s needs, all of them. Those include educating its children.
These brilliant parents that move into or who are planning on moving into a neighborhood with existing overcrowded schools and no schools under construction or near completion, hopefully, are planning on home-schooling their angels, so that they can pass along their brilliance to them in all subject matters, not just their selfishly poor decision-making.
“Kid-haters” are the result of parents with no awareness of their surroundings or decibel levels. No one else thinks that your child or your parenting skills are as wonderful as you do. I could be wrong.
“Kid-haters” are the result of self-absorbed assholes that believe the world is here to serve them. At one point in their lives they too were kids and had parents that hopefully wanted the best for them. Schools are a right, not a privilege. It’s pathetic that in one of the wealthiest cities in the world the public education system is so lacking. Even more pathetic are those that troll the comment sections of sites like this and leave snarky comments about things which they know little about with the false belief that someone actually cares about what they think. And don’t forget, if it wasn’t for all these families and their annoying kids bringing their hordes of money into this neighborhood it wouldn’t be such a nice place to live. But, I could be wrong.
Yes, Brett, you are wrong and you’re also a self-absorbed asshole. Your words.
Thanks for setting me straight Mrs. Smithers. Now that I have your opinion my weekend is complete.
Thank you, Brett. You complete me.
Yup, I was wrong. Come one, come all, the sign-up sheets for the waiting lists to get on the school waiting lists will be available in the Whole Foods craft beer area. I sure hope they can build those schools faster than they can replace the water mains on Hudson or my wife can collapse a bugaboo. We could try clicking our Matt Bernson heels together?
To get the conversation back to the original premise, just so you know, 358 wraps around the corner building and is an L that runs Franklin/Broadway and along Cortlandt Alley. Both sites are under discussion for development, the former by the guy who founded Bonjour Jeans and the latter by Bruce Menin. 358 has a lot of mass it can as of right build up back along Cortlandt Alley and will probably end up looking like 88 Leonard. I think (but am no expert) that the building’s width on the B’way side prevents it from going up too high there because of something referred to as “the sliver law.” Of course, I assume that these developers will apply for variances so it’s all a crap shoot.
As to the kid thing, when I moved into the neighborhood 29 years ago, I assumed this was our “starter” house and we would move once we started having children. The problem is/was housing prices and we could never really afford to move within the city and didn’t want the suburbs. So, 29 years and three kids later, we raised a family in the starter house and made it work. Now, across the city, there is little housing stock so it’s not that parents don’t think it through but that they truly don’t have lots of choices for family living.
One of the largest remaining enclaves of artists living in Tribeca will be gone.
These artists are the pioneers who first made Tribeca a place to live and work.
The people moving into Tribeca and the Financial District these days are expecting CITY PLANNING, which is history. There is no longer city planning in New York City as we can all see from what is happening downtown. Builders build and renovate without any consideration for necessities that make a community with the exception of restaurants. New York City is only interested in the money involved in the building of these buildings. What happens next is quite obviously not of concern to them. Our community board is still of the mind that there are no children living in NYC as they were 45 years ago when parents had to picket city hall for schools. These days no one really care, they go about their business quietly complaining and just allow the city to do as they please.
So, the childless amongst us are supposed to care for your children (full disclosure — I do), but for some reason it seems that you don’t care for others. Tribeca is home to several close-to-brand new schools (by NYC standards), excellent programming, access to playgrounds and community activities, and we’re supposed to feel sorry for you? When half the city doesn’t have the basics like enough books and teachers? Perhaps, if you toned down your sense of entitlement and made an effort to work with other organizations trying to properly school their children as well (because you do care about them too, right?), you might gain a little more sympathy.
Touche.
Sadly, the current air of entitlement is likely to continue, as it has for selected areas of this city..
The Right To Entitlement Club.
Concern for others..hmm,
How do we get better at pretense??