Several readers have pointed out that we missed remarking on a Times story from yesterday about what some are terming "the biggest patch of vacant city land in Manhattan." No, not Hudson Yards—the red zone above is, rather, the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA) just below Delancey Street on the Lower East Side, adjacent to the Williamsburg Bridge. Tenements on the site were demolished 40 years ago, leaving behind, er, acres of primo parking spaces! What to do with the site now? We've shown some fanciful visions before—dreams that might be less of a pipe dream than one might have thought. Opines one local,
"Why not sell the property at the highest market rate possible, take that money and put up low-income housing somewhere else? This neighborhood is booming, so it should be developed at market rate."Consider this issue back on your urban redevelopment agenda for the fall, friends. Gonna be a doozy—especially if you live at BLUE across the street.
· Forty Years of Growth, Except Where It Was Expected [NYTimes]
· Visions of SPURA, Arquitectonica Edition [Curbed]
· SPURA [spura.org]