Neighborhood Plan 5/31/2019 Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 Hell’s Kitchen South Coalition Background..................................................................................................................... 7 History and Current Zoning ...........................................................................................................................................11 Air Quality ......................................................................................................................................................................17 Transportation ...............................................................................................................................................................21 Parks and Public Green Spaces ...................................................................................................................................33 Residential Development with Affordable Housing .......................................................................................................44 Commercial and Local Retail Uses ...............................................................................................................................52 Infrastructure and Services ...........................................................................................................................................58 Implementation ..............................................................................................................................................................60 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................................65 Next Steps .....................................................................................................................................................................65 Glossary of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................66 Acknowledgments .........................................................................................................................................................67 Appendices ....................................................................................................................................................................68 © 2019 Hell’s Kitchen South Coalition 1 Table of Figures Figure 1: Proposed land uses ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Figure 2: Town Hall meeting, April 18, 2016, photo: Yannic Rack, Chelsea Now ......................................................... 7 Figure 3: Existing land use and PA-owned property....................................................................................................... 9 Figure 4: Plan area, imagery ©2019 Google, map data ©2019 Google ......................................................................10 Figure 5: Plan area census tracts, image ©OpenMapTiles ©OpenStreetMap contributors ........................................11 Figure 6: 1920 Sanborn Map of current Port Authority Bus Terminal ..........................................................................12 Figure 7: Bus terminal site, 1929 – West 41st St & 8th Ave ...........................................................................................13 Figure 8: Dyer Avenue and West 37th St bridge in foreground .....................................................................................13 Figure 9: Dixie Bus Terminal, 241 West 42nd St, 1930, image from scoutingny.com ..................................................13 Figure 10: Historical 9th Ave retail .................................................................................................................................14 Figure 11: Paddy's Market on 9th Ave ...........................................................................................................................14 Figure 12: Special Hudson Yards District, Subdistricts & Subareas ............................................................................15 Figure 13: Hudson Yards, photo by Related-Oxford / Xinhua / Redux .........................................................................16 Figure 14: Outdoor Air Pollutants ..................................................................................................................................18 Figure 15: Traffic Density ..............................................................................................................................................18 Figure 16: Bus congestion, unsafe pedestrian conditions, photo Brian Weber............................................................19 Figure 17: Buses headed to Port Authority Bus Terminal, photo: Brian Weber ...........................................................19 Figure 18: View of West 37th St bridge over Dyer Ave from West 38th St, photo: Brian Weber .................................21 Figure 19: Access to PABT and Lincoln Tunnel in Plan area .......................................................................................23 Figure 20: PABT ramps to the Lincoln Tunnel, photo: Brian Weber ............................................................................24 Figure 22: Traffic on West 37th St and 9th Ave en route to the Lincoln Tunnel ...........................................................24 Figure 21: Tunnel-bound traffic on 9th Ave, photo: Brian Weber .................................................................................24 Figure 23: Commuter bus parking, photo ©Google ......................................................................................................25 Figure 24: Curbside bus terminal on West 34th St, photo: Brian Weber .....................................................................26 Figure 25: Tour bus unloading passengers on matinee day, photo: Brian Weber .......................................................26 Figure 26: Commuter buses crossing 9th Ave, photo: Brian Weber ............................................................................27 Figure 27: Bus infrastructure .........................................................................................................................................28 Figure 28: Enclosed bus station, Helsinki, Finland .......................................................................................................30 Figure 29: Enclosed bus access, Lyon, France, photo ©CC BY-SA 4.0 ......................................................................30 © 2019 Hell’s Kitchen South Coalition 2 Figure 30: Dyer Avenue North Improvement Plan, source: Hudson Yards / Hell’s Kitchen Alliance, 2017 .................32 Figure 31: Parks deficit in HKS, nycgovparks.org, ©The City of New York .................................................................34 Figure 32: Hudson Boulevard Park, photo: Brian Weber .............................................................................................35 Figure 33: Canoe Plaza, photo: Brian Weber ...............................................................................................................36 Figure 34: Hell's Kitchen South open spaces ...............................................................................................................37 Figure 35: HYHK Streetscape Plan ..............................................................................................................................38 Figure 36: HKS community feedback word cloud .........................................................................................................39 Figure 37: Existing and proposed open space .............................................................................................................40 Figure 38: Existing mid-block pedestrian connection on West 37th St (9/10), photo: Brian Weber ............................42 Figure 39: 9th Ave, ground floor stores with apartments above, photo: Brian Weber .................................................44 Figure 40: Older housing, W 40th St, between 9th & Dyer Ave, photo: Brian Weber ..................................................44 Figure 41: HKS affordable housing ...............................................................................................................................46 Figure 42: Proposed residential uses ...........................................................................................................................48 Figure 43: Proposed residential & commercial building heights ...................................................................................49 Figure 44: International Foods on 9th Ave, photo: Brian Weber ..................................................................................52 Figure 45: Sea Breeze Fish Market on 9th Ave, photo: Brian Weber ..........................................................................52 Figure 46: Existing retail businesses in Hell's Kitchen South .......................................................................................53 Figure 47: West 40th St. exterior of PABT, photo: Brian Weber ..................................................................................55