Again, my own Nosy Neighbor, but I feel like folks have had this same issue over the years — and I mean years. Construction at 45 Park Place, the defunct super tall between Church and Greenwich, started construction in 2016 and was supposed to include an Islamic cultural center on the east side. Nothing has happened on the site since 2019, and the latest from Yimby suggests nothing will. (See excerpt below.)

That means the north side sidewalk of Park Place is blocked to pedestrians into the unseen future.

So from the Department of Buildings, which successfully liberated the sidewalks — after YEARS — at 65 Franklin on Broadway, said they can’t make the same thing happen here:

“After we received your inquiry, the Department’s construction safety team conducted a review of the work site at 45 Park Place, which included a recent site visit and inspection of the construction fence conducted on December 31st, 2024.

“Following this review, it was determined by the Department that the construction fence must remain in place in the interest of public safety, and cannot be moved.”

(The crane gets inspected regularly.)

Bummer. So my rant on these derelict sites — the dinosaurs of Tribeca — continues. It is really unfair to a neighborhood. I mean, how does this end? Ever??

From Yimby:
45 Park Place’s financial challenges first began in April 2019, when Domani Inspection filed for an unpaid sum of nearly $50,000 from el-Gamal. At that time, the developer was seeking an additional $200 million condo inventory loan on top of the project’s original $219 million loan. The following year, just before the city shut down from the COVID-19 pandemic, the lending team of Malayan Banking Berhad, Intesa Sanpaolo S.P.A., WARBA Bank K.S.C.P., MSD Capital, and the Saudi Arabian Al Subeaei family initiated a foreclosure against the project’s Park Place Development LLC after it defaulted on the $219 million loan.

Difficulties continued for el-Gamal and 45 Park Place in 2021. In January, general contractor Gilbane Residential Construction filed a suit over more than $15 million in debts. In July, subcontractors Permasteelisa North America, Construction Realty Safety Group, and Domani Inspection Services led a petition to bring the developer into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy for more than $25 million in unpaid work performed in 2019 and 2020. The lenders have also sought foreclosure over at least $117 million in defaulted debts.

The developer had projected a condominium sellout of $408 million, but only 11 of the 50 units sold by April 2019. The remaining 39 homes were taken off the market later that year.