9 Community Board
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BOROUGH Manhattan MAP ID# M8 COUNCIL DISTRICT: 9 COMMUNITY BOARD: 11 NAME OF PLAN Community Organization: Community Board 11 and CIVITAS Address 55 East 115th Street, New York, NY 10029 Contact Name: Cora Shelton, CB 11 and Genie Rice, CIVITAS Phone Number: CB 11: 212.831.8929 Fax Number Website TYPE OF PLAN 197-c Plan (groundwork) GEOGRAPHIC AREA OF PLAN The area stretches from 96th Street between 5th Avenue and the East River up to the tip of the East Harlem Triangle above 139th Street NEIGHBORHOOD/PLAN BACKGROUND The built environment in East Harlem is distinctly low rise (three to six stories) with the significant exception of large tracts of public housing, built as towers-in-a-park (fourteen to 22 stories). The blanket zoning for most of East Harlem, unchanged by the last major amendment to the Zoning Resolution, is R7-2. Although this zoning designation is compatible with the existing tower-in-a- park construction of the New York City Housing Authority, it has no relevance to the balance of the East Harlem cityscape. GOALS OF PLAN 1. Reflect the mid-block lower scale context while permitting slightly larger buildings on appropriate avenues. 2. Stimulate new development. 3. Keep and attract middle-income residents where incentive exists now RECOMMENDATIONS The overall intent is to redistribute the FAR in East Harlem to reflect the mid-block lower scale context while permitting slightly larger buildings on appropriate avenues. Zoning changes that would allow for this include: 1. Designate zoning along specific side-streets with low-rise context. 2. Designate areas with slightly larger tenement buildings with appropriate zoning. 3. On the principal commercial avenues: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Avenues, change zoning to encourage more residential development IDENTIFIED STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION 1. Pursue zoning changes through the Department of City Planning. PARTICIPATORY PROCESS N/A PARTNERS Manhattan Community Board 11 and CIVITAS OBSTACLES N/A TIMELINE INITIAL IDEA 2000 FORMAL PLAN? NO DATE SUBMITTED: 2001 SUBMITTED TO: Department of City Planning CITY ACTION? Department of City Planning is reviewing the plan MODIFICATIONS MADE TO PLAN N/A ADDITIONAL INFORMATION N/A BOROUGH Manhattan MAP ID# M10 COUNCIL DISTRICT: 9 COMMUNITY BOARD: 11 NAME OF PLAN Community Organization CIVITAS Address: 1457 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10128 Contact Name: Genie Rice and Debbie Quinones Phone Number 212.996.0745 Fax Number Website TYPE OF PLAN Comprehensive Community Plan GEOGRAPHIC AREA OF PLAN The one and one-half mile long Madison Avenue corridor between East 94th Street and East 125th Street. NEIGHBORHOOD/PLAN BACKGROUND The 31 block long corridor on Madison Avenue lacks pedestrian and commercial activity. It contains several major housing projects with buildings that are set back from the street; large- scale institutions which provide little interaction with the street; and significant areas of vacant land that occur in the northern section of the study area. The bulk of the commercial uses involve ground floor retail facilities that front on to Madison Avenue. These tend to be fragmented and fail to provide any continuous retail usage. The major landowners along the corridor are: city government (Housing Authority, Housing Preservation and Development) and institutions. Residential uses are dominated by the Carver, Lehman Village and Taft housing projects between 99th and 115th Streets. Hospital facilities, schools and churches are also dominant uses in the area, including: Mt. Sinai Hospital, North General Hospital, Cardinal Cooke Medical Center, New York College of Podiatric Medicine, Hunter College campus schools, PS 171, JHS 13, PS 108, PS 79, Manhattan Country School, St. Bernard's School, La Scuola And Lycee Francais de New York, the Russian Orthodox Church, Edward the Martyr; the Bethel Gospel Church, and the Upper Madison Avenue United Methodist Church. Other important institutions in the study area include the New York Academy of Medicine, Museum o the City of New York, El Museo del Barrio, and the International Center of Photography. GOALS OF PLAN 1. Improve the visual character of the Madison Avenue corridor. 2. Focus new development on housing construction and additional community service provision and retail uses. 3. Make the area safer for local residents. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Landscape/Urban Design A. New buildings should be sited along the street line without setbacks. B. An extensive street tree-planting program should be initiated and temporary "greening" of vacant sites should be undertaken where redevelopment is not yet contemplated. 2. Land Use and Transportation A. Retail uses should be developed along Madison Avenue in the 2,000 feet of avenue frontage that is vacant. B. Mixed-use developments should provide for ground-floor retail uses on the Avenue. C. Consideration should be given to extending the Economic Development Zone Boundary along Madison Avenue, south of 116th Street. D. Vacant sites/buildings fronting on to Park Avenue should be considered for community facilities. E. New development should provide opportunities for individual home ownership. F. The proposed improvements to the Metro North Station at 125th should be supported. G. The city should examine ways to relieve traffic congestion resulting from Mount Sinai parking and service needs. 3. Community Services and Programs A. Indoor recreation facilities are required for teenager use. B. Mount Sinai and North General Hospitals should consider the creation of a health museum. IDENTIFIED STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION 1. Set up a local community organization (such as a sub-committee of CB 11) to implement key recommendations. Members should include representatives from CB 11; community-based organizations, the Housing Authority; Mount Sinai; North General and other major institutions; City agencies; the School District; and CIVITAS representatives. 2. Coordinate the work of relevant federal, state, and city agencies in order to encourage mixed- use and mixed income development on vacant parcels. 3. Develop a list of funding sources and agencies for technical assistance, grant proposals, etc. 4. Working with banks to foster necessary assistance and training for local residents. 5. Organize a Youth Forum/Conference, which would focus on issues raised by the survey. 6. Address issues to capitalize on potential increased tourism in the area. 7. Seek funding and identify work programs in order to establish a summer job program for students in the area. PARTICIPATORY PROCESS The Upper Madison Avenue Study was initiated by CIVITAS in June 1992. During the course of the work program CIVITAS organized a number of community workshops in East Harlem attended by representatives of the major institutions, the Housing Authority; Mount Sinai; North General; the Department of City Planning, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development; and the NYC Housing Authority. Progress report sessions were also held with Community Board 11, and included meetings with the City Properties Committee, the Task Force on Comprehensive Planning, the Youth Committee, and the Economic Development Committee. Local residents' issues and needs were identified through meetings and questionnaires. A resident survey was conducted during the summer of 1992. The random survey was conducted by bilingual teenage interviewers in five housing complexes along Madison Avenue. PARTNERS Buckhurst Fish, Hutton, Katz & Jacquemart, Inc.; The New School; CUNY; Raymond Plumey; CB 11; the Housing Authority; Mount Sinai; North General; the Department of City Planning, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development; the NYC Housing Authority OBSTACLES N/A TIMELINE INITIAL IDEA 1991 FORMAL PLAN? NO DATE SUBMITTED: N/A SUBMITTED TO: Manhattan Borough President’s Office CITY ACTION? Manhattan Borough President’s Office and community residents planned for a HS/ community facility, however lack of funding has stalled the project. Some possible pilot projects to retrofit NYC Housing Preservation and Development sites with a commercial component. MODIFICATIONS MADE TO PLAN N/A ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Mount Sinai has constructed a Science Building along Madison Avenue between 98th and 99th Streets. The design was altered to include street level windows and a store, which unfortunately was inaccessible to those coming from the street. Instead, it was only accessible from inside the Science building. BOROUGH Manhattan MAP ID# M14 COUNCIL DISTRICT: 3 COMMUNITY BOARD: 9 NAME OF PLAN: Harlem on the River Plan Community Organization West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. & Community Board 9 Address 271 West 125th Street, NY, NY 10027 Contact Name: Cecil Corbin-Mark Phone Number: 212.961.1000 ex. 303 Fax Number Website TYPE OF PLAN Comprehensive Community Plan GEOGRAPHIC AREA OF PLAN The Harlem on the River plan is located within Community Board 9. The plan focuses on four blocks bound by Broadway on the east and the Hudson River on the west. The area is also bound by 133rd Street to the north and 125th Street to the south. NEIGHBORHOOD/PLAN BACKGROUND The plan for the Harlem Piers area called "Harlem on the River" was established through a community-driven planning process. The plan includes elements that were identified by the community workshop participants, steering committee members, design professionals, project sponsors and consultants. The area has a number of active uses that includes auto related uses, meat packing and wholesale establishments, light industrial uses and a bus depot. Little recreation