Neighborhood residents are angry about the pending addition of a two-story, 48-unit luxury condominium to the top of the Radio City Post Office. With building permits okayed by the city at the end of last year, residents are arguing that the addition, which could provide some much needed cash-flow to the struggling USPS, would compromise the Special District Clinton zoning laws, DNAinfo reports. The zoning law stipulates that the neighborhood maintain a mixed-income characteristic and not be adversely affected by new development.
This proposed addition by developer OasesRE is not the first building that's sparked outrage amongst Clinton dwellers. When developers yanked air rights at Eighth Avenue and 52nd Street to develop The Link, a sprawling, 44-story luxury tower, residents claimed that, similar to the post office addition, the building would block off light and air from surrounding smaller streets.
A neighborhood resident who filed the zoning challenge says that the real concern "is that the purpose of the special district is being completely perverted by all this" development. In addition to the restriction of light, residents are worried about the extra foot and vehicular traffic that those 48-units would bring to Clinton. Like everywhere in New York, neighborhood residents are also arguing that "a diverse economic culture with all age groups, all kinds of people... is all being pushed out by luxury condos." Sadly, there's always for now there's these places where you can catch a break.
· Neighbors Challenge Condo Development Atop Hell's Kitchen Post Office [DNAinfo]
· How NYC's Decade of Rezoning Changed the City of Industry [Curbed]
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