Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
City officials yesterday announced that the 9th Precinct's parking lot on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue will be developed into a mixed-use building with approximately 131 affordable apartments, a senior center, community space and replacement parking for the NYPD.
The project, called The Aurea, will be developed by Spatial Equity, Housing Works, the Cooper Square Committee and This Land is Ours Community Land Trust.
Speakers yesterday included (from left) Steve Herrick, executive director, Cooper Square Committee; Dina Levy, HPD commissioner; Leila Bozorg, deputy mayor for housing and planning; Brian Kavanaugh, state senator; and Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan borough president.
According to the city, all 131 apartments will be income-restricted, with 30% reserved for formerly homeless New Yorkers. Housing Works will provide on-site supportive services for residents.
Officials told us afterward that the final height of The Aurea has not yet been determined and will depend, in part, on a future rezoning of the site. If approved, construction is expected to take about two years.
Here's a look at the renderings...
The proposal stems from a city request for proposals that followed the SoHo/NoHo Neighborhood Plan process and community outreach, including public workshops and multilingual engagement.
The Aurea is the first city-owned development site designated under the Mamdani administration. City Hall said it reflects a broader push to build affordable housing on public land and expand the role of community land trusts in future projects.
The parking lot across the street from the 9th Precinct station house has long been identified as a potential site for affordable housing. In recent years, neighborhood organizations, including the Cooper Square Committee and This Land is Ours Community Land Trust, have advocated for the redevelopment of publicly owned property into permanently affordable housing.
While the city said the project will include 25 replacement parking spaces for the NYPD, a police source told EVG that the Precinct is losing more than half of its existing parking capacity.
The source said the redevelopment will also eliminate storage space used for vouchered vehicles, confiscated e-bikes and other large seized items, much of which will now have to be kept on the street.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The parking lot is used by officers personal vehicles. They can take the train to work just like the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteYep no congestion waiver no car
DeleteThe parking lot actually belongs to the school behind it. Teachers and cops park personal vehicles there.
DeleteAs a soon to be senior who wants to remain in the neighborhood, I would love to learn anything about the application process for a unit in this affordable place with elevators and amenities; having access to laundry facilities after more than two decades would be divine.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the club. Looks like its for former homeless and the rest will be market?
Delete30% is for formerly homeless individuals and the remaining 70% will be affordable housing and will be available via the lottery (through housing connect)
DeleteNot the most attractive building but this plan looks well-thought-out and with appropriate elements besides the housing. I hope it moves ahead quickly. (And agree that the police can use mass transit, or the precinct can look for alternative parking sites. To be fair, officers who work at odd hours may find transit less feasible.)
ReplyDelete"alternate parking spots"? Where? Every week more and more parking spots are lost in Manhattan. Car haters rule. And the police hours vary by what's going on in the city. Considering the shortage of police (thank you Mamdani for nixing the 580 new officers at the last minute budget meeting) all officers frequently have "odd hours".
DeleteSeriously wish they would put a nonprofit laundrymat there. Crazy prices at the few remaining in the neighborhood. Maybe even a dedicated mini mall of services that have been priced out of the neighborhood due.to crazy rents. They could even have apprentice programs. And the cops definitely use that parking lot for their personal vehicles.
ReplyDeleteOutrageously oversized for midblock. Many apts across the street will lose their direct sunlight, especially during winter months.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to New York!
DeleteYes
DeleteLove this!!! Convert every parking lot into housing. Such a good way of actually solving the housing crisis.
ReplyDeleteThe sale of this lot will be a net negative for the residents who live around the 9th pct for several reasons. 1. When cops have derelict cars, abandoned vehicles, car crashes, these vehicles need to be stored at the 9th before being towed to the pound, guess where those cars will be put without this lot? 2. Official cop cars (with the logos and lights) need to be parked when not in use, guess where they will be parked when this lot is sold? 3. It isn't realistic for cops who live upstate or on LI to take the train, so they will drive in. Without this lot, guess where they will be parking? Right on the street taking up most of the spots on 5th st so say goodbye to parking on this block.
ReplyDeleteWow, parking > people could hardly be more blatant.
DeleteSarah - that doesn't make sense. People use parking. And a lot of people need public shared parking. It's not like a vehicle doesn't have a human using it lmao
DeleteThis project is just another insult directed at the EV. It is not only out of scale in our low rise hood... it is unnecessary in the EV. Mamdani & Epstein think we are the dumping ground for the homeless and the helpless. Maybe we should get a Statue of Liberty along with the housing project. The EV has been the dumping ground for the city's problems since the end of WWII. Why isn't this building being put up in the Upper East, Upper West, Gramercy, Tribeca, the West Village? There was garden saved from the same fate just last year in Soho. We all know the answer... we have weak... cowardly reps who bow to One Party Rule. We have done more than our share to support those that need help. What we want to know is... who will step up and help us?
ReplyDeleteThank you Chris. You are absolutely correct about weak politicians and also a community board who are both more interested in their own careers and power than what's happening to our community. Between this building and the shelter on East 3rd Street there has not been any meaningful outreach to the residents for their input.
DeleteThis is another ploy by the Defund the Police movement. Eliminate parking and the officers will either request a transfer or take early retirement. Less police in the neighborhood.....you know what that means.....more scoundrels.
ReplyDeleteThe street will be designated as police parking only. We will lose air and sun space as well as the residential street scape as the building is oversized for a side residential street. The three 75 year old trees will be cut down.While trying to answer urgent calls the police will have to deal with street closures because of construction equipment and dumpsters. The students in PS 751 will be subject to loud construction noise during classes and possible danger from construction debris during out door gym classes in the school yard. There are two sides to every story. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteExactly. People need to chill instead of foaming at the mouth "OMG A PARKING LOT IT MUST BE "AFFORDABLE" HOUSING NOWWWW" leave things be.
DeleteWhat happened to the 8-story height limit on EV side streets? This thing is a monstrosity, and should not be allowed.
ReplyDeleteRight??
DeleteI live on the block and am excited about this development. I love the age diversity of the East Village (despite its reputation as only containing 22-year-olds) and this will further that legacy. The attempts to turn the lot into a park always seemed like thinly-veiled NIMBY attacks by the next door neighbors, who were rude and disruptive at several campaigns for senior housing.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful. I love the ground floor entrance and everything- roof patio- mural. Great news for the EV and NYC. This is a major accomplishment and collaboration. This is going to change people's lives. Excelsior.
ReplyDeleteI am very disappointed at the negative comments about this housing development, especially the one about the EV being a dumping ground for the homeless. There are about 130 units in this building with only 30 percent going to homeless seniors, the rest low income seniors. Older neighbors who can no longer navigate the difficult conditions associated with living in an old walk up tenement, like climbing stairs, carrying laundry to the laundrymat, groceries and packages (if they don't get stolen) up and down stairs, the resultant isolation of living amongst people you are three times older than whose lives revolve around weekend binge drinking. As for the size, have the commenters noticed Village View right around the corner or the height of the Precinct. We can't solve the housing crisis in the City especially among older adults by protecting streetscapes. This building is thoughtfully and contextually designed with lots of green space. In terms of parking for the police, let them use mass transit like the rest of us. More off duty cops using mass transit is a deterrent. I could go on about all the misinformation in several of these comments, but I would hit a character limit. While seeing anyone living on our streets is saddening, seeing older adults on our streets is a terrible reflection on our society and how we care for the older adults amongst us. This building couldn't be completed=⁵
ReplyDeleteThere was never any mention that the homeless are seniors. Did you make that up? And if you have more information... Is the building just for seniors or locals and seniors. Then what is the percentage of locals... what is the percentage of seniors and what is the percentage of homeless seniors?
DeleteVillage View was built decades before the 2008 rezoning of the EV that allowed buildings on side streets of no more than 8 stories. The 9th Precinct is 6 stories, so I have no idea what you are referring to there - even 130 Ave C, which was where the cops were temporarily moved when 321 was being rehabbed, is well under 8 floors. This behemoth is simply too big to be shoehorned in down here.
Delete"The Aurea is the first city-owned development site designated under the Mamdani administration" - Completely incorrect. The idea and its process started by the Adams administration, but NY media is eager to take part in the current mayor's obsession with endlessly self promotion.
ReplyDelete@Longtime-Great building lots of windows and green space. Will EV residents get precedence and what is on the south side of building?
ReplyDeleteAs a senior who has now lived in the neighborhood for 47 years... how do I get on a wait list???
ReplyDeleteThere will be a 30% set-aside for local residents for the affordable units. The affordable units will be through the City-Connect Lottery system, so interested residents can sign up there. The Development Team will also make sure there is information available to the community through forums like this and other forums. The south side of the building has a second floor patio for residents that has a pergola and lot's of native plants and is connected to the community room. This is intended to be an active space for residents to get together for events and celebrations. There is another terrace on an upper floor that is more intimate and designed more for sitting with a book or coffee . . .
ReplyDeleteAre the locals seniors or just any local who meet the financial requirements. And how about the homeless seniors... Are they locals or from anywhere in the city And how is a homeless person deemed eligible. And do the pay rent?Thanks for the information.
Delete"The Aurea is the first city-owned development site designated under the Mamdani administration" - is actually correct. It does not say that the Adams administration did not set-aside parking lots for affordable housing. Just that this is the first one by our new Mayor.
ReplyDeleteThe locals are seniors and the homeless units will also be for seniors. If they have income, they will pay 30% of that towards rent.
ReplyDeleteSo the building is 100% senior? 30% locals. 30 % homeless. But what about the other 40%?
DeleteGotta keep it market rate
DeleteThe HPD Commissioner is the person wearing a black jacket, white shirt, shorts and high heels?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea it's for seniors. But not the scale of the building. The EV is a low rise neighborhood. And if this is approved builders will start assembling other properties for high-rise buildings. Why? because land is cheap in the EV and rents are through the roof. Plus, the city has a terrible record operating high rises. And for seniors that need attention and reliable elevators and other services... it will be a disaster. And a death trap. 4 or 5 floors is plenty. We don't need another housing project in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteWe were told in the beginning the building was 100% for seniors.WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT??? I guess "anonymous" is anonymous because he just let us in on the secret.
DeleteAgain, more misinformation. This building will not be operated by NYC, but by the not-for-profit partner. The mix of residents is 30% homeless seniors, 70% low-income seniors of which 30% of those seniors will be local residents.
ReplyDeleteDoes 59 count as a senior?
ReplyDeleteBy the time they get to finishing you'll be well into your 60's.
DeleteI just worry about the construction noise and dust affecting the children who attend the school behind site. They are children of special needs and these sounds might be very triggering to them.
ReplyDelete