After getting praised, panned, beaten, battered, held up as an example of what NYC should be striving to build and then ultimately decapitated by the City Planning Commission (feel like reliving this epic saga?), French starchitect Jean Nouvel's planned serpentine skyscraper next to the Museum of Modern Art was approved by the City Council today in a 44-3 vote. This was the last hurdle in the public land-use approval process made necessary by Tower Verre's desired zoning variances and air-rights deals. Now that the anger-tinged approval process is in the rear-view mirror, here come the bigger questions: Will the project's developer Hines actually build the 1,050' version of the West 53rd Street tower? If so, when and with whose money? Will the lot be empty for years? Will Steve Cuozzo's conspiracy theory come true? Can the next Bond supervillain put down a deposit on the penthouse right now? The fun is just getting started in Midtown!
· All 53 West 53rd Street coverage [Curbed]
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