If you park your car in the Broome Street lot managed by the Lower East Side Partnership, you will soon need to come up with a new plan.
The organization has run two lots (one for passenger cars, the other for commercial vehicles) during the past 50 years. But the parcels, located between Clinton and Norfolk streets, are part of the Essex Crossing development project. The Partnership just got word from the city, which owns the land, that the leases have been officially terminated through a court order.
Local businesses using the commercial parking lot will be required to clear out by 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 14. The neighboring lot for passenger vehicles will be able to stay open a little bit longer. It will be shut down at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 14.
Lower East Side Partnership President Tim Laughlin tells us his organization has tried to give customers as much warning as possible, and he’s pushed to delay the closure. Laughlin said he’s expressed his concerns about shutting down the commercial lot so close to the holidays. At the same time, said Laughlin, he understands the need to keep the Essex Crossing construction project on schedule. There are fewer than 20 vehicles using the commercial facility. A small number of cars using the commercial lot will be able to move over to the passenger lot in the time that remains before its mid-January closure. Laughlin emphasized that the Partnership had no control over the timing of the lots’ closure — that the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development has been calling the shots.
The parking lots are located on Essex Crossing sites 3 and 4. On site 3, the developers are planning a 14-story residential condo tower. On site 4, there will be a 25-story mixed-income rental tower. The buildings will include about 400,000 square feet of office space, as well as the subterranean Market Line, a large shopping pavilion.
The project is rising in the former Seward Park Urban Renewal Area. During years of community meetings, the Partnership supported the elimination of the parking lots. The organization depended on revenue from the lots, but stated that the trade-offs (more commercial activity and more apartments) were worthwhile and would ultimately help struggling small businesses.
In the first phase of Essex Crossing, parking lots on Ludlow, Attorney and Suffolk streets were closed. All together, there were about 500 parking lots on the Seward Park site. Community Board 3 advocated for 400 underground spaces as part of the development project, but it was not a requirement. The Essex Crossing team decided against replacing any of the parking.
