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1 West End Avenue / 10 Freedom Place HELEN ROSENTHAL CHAIR Council Member, District 6 Contracts Manhattan COMMITTEES DISTRICT OFFICE Finance 563 COLUMBUS AVENUE, AT 87TH STREET Housing and Buildings NEW YORK, NY 10024 Cultural Affairs (212) 873-0282 Community Development Oversight and Investigations CITY HALL OFFICE 250 BROADWAY, ROOM 1744 NEW YORK, NY 10007 THE COUNCIL (212) 788-6975 OF www.council.nyc.gov THE CITY OF NEW YORK FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 29, 2014 Contact: Stephanie Buhle Director of Communications [email protected] Council Member Helen Rosenthal Denounces New Poor Door: 1 West End Avenue / 10 Freedom Place The Mayor's Housing Preservation Commissioner went to extraordinary lengths to strengthen the affordable housing guarantees for a new building, 1 West End Avenue / 10 Freedom Place on the Upper West Side. Regrettably, the developer chose to exploit the affordable housing zoning code of the prior administration, which allows for a separate entrance for tenants in affordable housing units, commonly referred to as a "poor door." This building is part of the Riverside Center development, adjacent to the Riverside South development that is home to two poor door buildings: one just going up at 40 Riverside Boulevard and one that has already opened at 315 West 61st Street / 317 West 61st Street / 33 West End Avenue (all one building). Council Member Helen Rosenthal was involved in negotiations over the past two weeks with the Developer, in which the City negotiated financial guarantees for the affordable housing to remain affordable permanently and for the roof deck and court yard to be accessible and shared by all tenants. Council Member Rosenthal released the following statement about the new poor door building: "As a member of Community Board 7 in 2010, I voted against the Riverside Center development rezoning where 1 West End Ave/10 Freedom Place and several other buildings will be built over the next few years. While I applaud the affordable housing included in the site, I believed at the time, and still believe today that the development will add substantially to the density of the area without providing enough infrastructure to support that growth. Exploiting the poor door loophole is not in the spirit of the extensive community negotiations around this development, and it is abhorrent. "The current administration, the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, and I strove to negotiate financial guarantees for the permanently affordable housing and shared use of roof deck and court yard common space at 1 WEA/10 Freedom Place. "Unfortunately, the inclusionary affordable housing zoning laws negotiated in the previous administration allow for 'segmented buildings' with separate entrances, elevator cores, etc. for the market-rate and affordable housing residents. "At Riverside Center, the Developer exploited a loophole. Now, we have to close it. "I will continue to work to close the loophole that allows developers to build 'poor doors.' Until then, we are stuck with the developments that are already in contract under the 2009 law. I will continue to work with the administration and these developers to negotiate the best deal possible to foster the economic integration and diversity that is the foundation for a stable and thriving New York City. "It is incumbent upon the city and all its agencies to be hyper-vigilant against the cynical abuse of our tax dollars, public space, and public support for affordable housing." # # # .
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