On
Tuesday, Jan. 19, the LPC held a Public Hearing to review the proposal
by Columbia Grammar, and LW! was there! We spoke out, urging the
Commissioners to defend the rear yards of the school's row houses, what
is often lovingly referred to as the
"doughnut." In our testimony, LW! stated that:
Paved
over but not excessively built out, the rear yards remain largely
intact and would be in no way improved by the proposed full-depth,
three building-wide, 16-foot tall rear yard addition. Rather, the
build-out would exacerbate the hardscape condition by not only
maintaining built space in the rear yard but raising its height and
enclosing the space.
Plantings and "living walls" may be proposed to
mitigate the negative impacts of this build-out scheme, but they are
'green' in name only. A green-colored roof of artificial turf appears
us as merely visual dressing to soften the blow ...
The Columbia Grammar proposal drives home the point that private schools are developers. And they are voracious.
Like Columbia University in Morningside Heights or NYU in Greenwich Village, they seek real estate to expand and compete.
But there doesn't have to be a direct conflict between what's good for
schools and what's good for the city. The City simply needs better policies to
guide growth.
LW!'s initiative "Urban Forests in Our Midsts,"
makes this very case. The project was recently endorsed by the
Municipal Art Society, who honored "Urban Forests" with the Elliott
Willesnky Award.
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LW! in the News
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The New York Observer provides the backstory on Columbia Prep's proposal and the LPC Public Hearing play-by-play.
Architecture and planning blog, Curbed, echoes the Observer and offers some words from Landmarks Commissioner Margery Perlmutter.
Carter Horsley at City Realty frames the issue of the school's proposal in light of LW's "Urban Forests in Our Midsts" initiative.
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Report from the Field: Day of Service a Success!
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Last Monday--the National Day of Service--LW! teamed with dedicated volunteers to spread the good word of the Jan. 12, 2010, LPC designation of West-Park Presbyterian Church as an Individual Landmark.
The day was a tremendous success! LW! staff, interns and volunteers made contact with almost 700 passersby, sharing our excitement for West-Park's new status and hearing their concerns for the future of this magnificent neighborhood beacon.
Here, you can read the West-Park handout distributed to the public and find out how you can take action to support the final phase of the designation--approval by the City Planning Commission. Share the flyer with your nearest and dearest! Print them out and distribute them in your buiding! Please help us continue to share the news!
And don't forget to sign the "West-Park Saved!" proclamation and share your own comments.
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