Congregation Shearith Israel: Round 2

Round 2 for Congregation Shearith Israel Tower Plan at Community Board 7

Monday, November 19, at 7:00 PM is an important opportunity to make your voice heard before Community Board 7's (CB 7's) Land Use Committee as it considers Congregation Shearith Israel's application to construct a 105'-tall building stacking 5 floors of luxury condos on top of a new community house on the brownstone-scale midblock of West 70th Street. The meeting will take place at the American Museum of Natural History, West 77th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.

The fact that so many concerned citizens packed the house at CB 7's first meeting last month on this application truly made a difference! This time, it's even more important to show our strength since a vote is expected, a vote that may play a significant role in the review of this project by the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals, which will hold its hearing on Tuesday, November 27 (more information to come).

Please don't miss this opportunity to join your neighbors in holding the line against out-of-scale development in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District, which is also protected by low-rise, contextual zoning. Shearith Israel is asking for no less than seven zoning variances allowing it to break the rules that all other property owners must follow. If approved, these variances would set the stage for more towers where they don't belong - on top of the New-York Historical Society or another nonprofit institution next door to you? The dam will be broken, on the Upper West Side and communities throughout the city where New Yorkers are fighting for their skies.

Showing up is just as important as speaking up, so please make every effort to attend on Monday, November 19!

For more background and testimony from previous meetings, please visit http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/70st.html and http://www.protectwest70.org/.