Is it just us, or does Village Voice Shelter columnist Toni Schlesinger sound a little extra feisty this week? While profiling a theater director who's about to lose his view of the Hudson because of the Related Company's plan to tear down the Superior Ink factory and build a 200-foot tower, Schlesinger adds a couple cents:
The Related Companies! The same ones that put up the building at Astor Place that Gwathmey designed and it's all blue and I bet people inside are going to wear blue glasses so it will always be blue for them. Apartments costs millions. Related is trying to get a zoning variance here so they can build even bigger. They have to prove that that's the only way they can get a return on their money. They are crying hardship. Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation director Andrew Berman said that Related's portfolio is worth over $10 billion. So where is the hardship? Then if Related succeeds, all developers will be sobbing because of their own hardship. I heard the building is going to be 20-some stories. So your view will go...Enough with the holding back, Toni, tell us how you really feel! The Far West Village affects us all in mysterious ways.
· The Squid Are Coming [VV]
· Gwathmey Gets Served on Superior Ink Plans [Curbed]
· So Much for Those Superior Views [Curbed]