Does it matter what we write here? Probably not. There's no way we can distract from the total insanity pictured above with boring, old-fashioned words. But we'll give it a go anyway. This, friends, is what appears to coming to 19 Park Place, a skinny lot near City Hall and that planned Islamic center that's been flying under the media's radar. If you recall, we touched upon the future of this site back in 2008, when it looked like there were two competing proposals filed with the Department of Buildings. The taller one, 21 stories from architect Ismael Leyva, won out. Did it ever!
A tipster alerts us to some action at the site (pictured in the gallery above):
Saw a chinese dance troupe and a number of suits in hard hats at 19 park place. The plywood was open, and just beyond, a party tent had been set up with a banner “GROUNDBREAKING”... Some life on park place other than the constant scuttlebutt around the Muslim community center and the seemingly dead silverstein/4 seasons across the street at 99 church. The Chinese drum and dance troupe is interesting though...Does it relate to a new source of financing?
Mysterious! There was a Stop Work Order in place on the site since June '09 (it got lifted today), and the permit issued for the temporary tent says the project will be 21 stories and 29 residential units. Leyva's website now sports the above renderings of 19 Park Place, though we don't have confirmation this is indeed what's getting built. It kind of looks like a mashup of his monstrous Hell's Kitchen ghost tower and his stalled Flatbush Flatiron in Brooklyn, but the interiors are almost too normal for the Jetsons design. Will this sliver building distract from the "Ground Zero Mosque?" We're guessing no, because after staring at the rendering all we want to do is find a place to pray.
· Ismael Leyva Architects [ilarch.com]
· Bob and Larry's Mysterious Neighbor at 19 Park Place [Curbed]
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