City planners and Community Board 3 are inviting the public to a “SPURA Open House.” It’s a chance for people to weigh in on the urban design phase (building height, open space, etc) of the Seward Park planning process. There will be an opportunity to examine a 3-D model of the SPURA site (see above), which features lego-like building blocks that can be moved from site to site. Here’s the invitation:
Hosted by: The NYC Economic Development Corporation, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, NYC Department of City Planning, and Manhattan Community Board 3
Community Board 3 and the City have been working together to develop a possible plan for the City-owned Seward Park sites. Recently, the City hired Beyer Blinder Belle, a local urban design firm, to provide assistance in understanding the urban design options for the sites – for example, building heights and massing, open space, and streetwalls. To assist in this effort, they created a 3D scale model that shows different options for how the buildings could be arranged on the sites.
We are pleased to invite you to a public Open House to learn more about the urban design options and ask questions. Architects and designers from Beyer Blinder Belle, along with City representatives who have been working with the community, will be available to discuss and answer questions about what the potential project could look like. The urban design conversation will continue at the next CB3 Land Use Committee meeting on Monday, May 2nd.
When: Wednesday, April 27th – stop by anytime between 4:30 and 7:30 PM
Where: 80 Essex Street (between Delancey and Broome Streets)
80 Essex is the south Essex Street Market building. It’s the ESM building that’s been mostly closed for over 15 years (after the NYC Economic Development Corp consolidated the Essex Street Market into the building north of Delancey), and the one in which artist Mike Nelson had his installation in 2007 “A Psychic Vacuum.” http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/2007/nelson/