Thursday, April 21, 2005
CB5 acts on street fairs and Union Square redesign
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
New York is a summer festival, said the Visitors Bureau ads for years. Actually, the NY summer is a street fair experience. If you thought the CB6 East Side fairs' list exhilarating (T&V April 7), you should see the one from CB5, covering NYC west of Park Avenue South, 14th to 59th Streets. Only a few are in our area, such as the fair of Gramercy Park Neighborhood Association (Arlene Harrison, President), on PAS between 17th and 23rd Streets, on Sunday, May 14, the Gramercy Park Block Association’s event on the same PAS stretch on Saturday, Oct 8, and the 14th Street-Union Square LDC’s festivities on the selfsame landscape on Saturday, July 16 (I expect this is the Union Square Partnership under its old name). Regardless, old friends. There’s also a Union Square Hospitality Group event on Madison Square Park, Sat/Sun June 11/12, with a three block street activity. Also, the Muslim Foundation of America celebration, on Madison Ave between 23rd and 41st Streets, on Sunday September 25, an opportunity for an exchange of views, and a Sikh Cultural Society post-parade get-together in Madison Square Park on Saturday, April 30, cleanup guaranteed. This report omits the list of 26 more fairs north of our area. Why do we, the community, support these commercial activities outside our windows? Well, we know that the concessionaires’ fees are sometimes the one basic source of income to help pay the social service organizations’ overhead (postage is a big thing), and that the ethnic groups of new Americans want to show how they fit in.
CB5 has always been viewed by the preservationists as a real-estate friendly board. On February 10 theCB nearly unanimously (with no nays and three abstentions) passed a resolution favoring the proposed redesign of the North End of Union Square, after a public session of mostly opposing opinions. The main caveats in the resolution were in the choosing of a concessionaire for the restaurant. To keep you up to snuff, the 2-½ pages of the resolution boils down the updated design principles as follows:
Playground Consolidate two existing play spaces into one continuous, enlarged playground (enlarged from 5,100 square feet to more than 10,000 square feet) with distinct age-specific play areas that encourage creativity through landforms, play equipment and open spaces with child sized hills, and a planted perimeter. Sand, water and plants will be incorporated into the playground. The playground is designed to be accessible to wheelchairs as well as baby strollers. A unisex bathroom with changing table, accessible only from the playground for use by children and their guardians, will be located on the west side of the pavilion. Design was conceived with security and sight lines in mind. Parks security, Parks employees as well as a playground associate will be available as added security.
Northern Gateway Plaza. Addressing its history as an urban gathering space, the plaza will be repaved using materials able to withstand the greenmarket’s requirements as it relates to truck usage as well as drainage. Asphalt blocks are proposed to create an integration of the plaza perimeter with the park as a continuation of the southwest corner renovation. Along 17th street, 8 trees will be planted flush to the ground with improved drainage. Space between the trees will be a minimum of 20 feet. Addressing the requirement by Department of Transportation for a barrier along 17th street to inhibit mid-block crossing, temporary metal removable stanchions will be installed along the north end of the square. Style to be similar to the fencing currently being used within the park. Additional shaded public seating as well as trees will be placed along the north façade of the pavilion. Construction will be phased (working with the greenmarket) to minimize impact with operations. Public bathrooms accessible from the north side will be built along the east side of the pavilion for use by all park patrons as well as the greenmarket. Increased and historically sensitive lighting to be installed. The design has been developed in consultation with the managers of the greenmarket without objection.
Concession. Restoration of the pavilion with the main entrance on the south side, and seasonal terrace. The concessionaire will be responsible for a full restoration of the pavilion. The seasonal terrace will occupy less area than what is occupied currently by the concession. The area will be available to the public when the concession is closed. Additional public seating will be installed along the south side of the pavilion and in the vicinity of the Lincoln statue. Internal exhaust will go through an existing chimney. Waste bin storage has been positioned with little visual impact, minimal space requirements as well as keeping with park’s aesthetics.
Parks and Recreation Office and Storage. A smaller building will be added on to west side of the pavilion to increase storage for the Parks Department staff. A new basement of the building will be excavated of approximately 1,000 square feet to create locker rooms, showers, and increased office space.
But the preservationisits’ struggle continues. More to come.
New York is a summer festival, said the Visitors Bureau ads for years. Actually, the NY summer is a street fair experience. If you thought the CB6 East Side fairs' list exhilarating (T&V April 7), you should see the one from CB5, covering NYC west of Park Avenue South, 14th to 59th Streets. Only a few are in our area, such as the fair of Gramercy Park Neighborhood Association (Arlene Harrison, President), on PAS between 17th and 23rd Streets, on Sunday, May 14, the Gramercy Park Block Association’s event on the same PAS stretch on Saturday, Oct 8, and the 14th Street-Union Square LDC’s festivities on the selfsame landscape on Saturday, July 16 (I expect this is the Union Square Partnership under its old name). Regardless, old friends. There’s also a Union Square Hospitality Group event on Madison Square Park, Sat/Sun June 11/12, with a three block street activity. Also, the Muslim Foundation of America celebration, on Madison Ave between 23rd and 41st Streets, on Sunday September 25, an opportunity for an exchange of views, and a Sikh Cultural Society post-parade get-together in Madison Square Park on Saturday, April 30, cleanup guaranteed. This report omits the list of 26 more fairs north of our area. Why do we, the community, support these commercial activities outside our windows? Well, we know that the concessionaires’ fees are sometimes the one basic source of income to help pay the social service organizations’ overhead (postage is a big thing), and that the ethnic groups of new Americans want to show how they fit in.
CB5 has always been viewed by the preservationists as a real-estate friendly board. On February 10 theCB nearly unanimously (with no nays and three abstentions) passed a resolution favoring the proposed redesign of the North End of Union Square, after a public session of mostly opposing opinions. The main caveats in the resolution were in the choosing of a concessionaire for the restaurant. To keep you up to snuff, the 2-½ pages of the resolution boils down the updated design principles as follows:
Playground Consolidate two existing play spaces into one continuous, enlarged playground (enlarged from 5,100 square feet to more than 10,000 square feet) with distinct age-specific play areas that encourage creativity through landforms, play equipment and open spaces with child sized hills, and a planted perimeter. Sand, water and plants will be incorporated into the playground. The playground is designed to be accessible to wheelchairs as well as baby strollers. A unisex bathroom with changing table, accessible only from the playground for use by children and their guardians, will be located on the west side of the pavilion. Design was conceived with security and sight lines in mind. Parks security, Parks employees as well as a playground associate will be available as added security.
Northern Gateway Plaza. Addressing its history as an urban gathering space, the plaza will be repaved using materials able to withstand the greenmarket’s requirements as it relates to truck usage as well as drainage. Asphalt blocks are proposed to create an integration of the plaza perimeter with the park as a continuation of the southwest corner renovation. Along 17th street, 8 trees will be planted flush to the ground with improved drainage. Space between the trees will be a minimum of 20 feet. Addressing the requirement by Department of Transportation for a barrier along 17th street to inhibit mid-block crossing, temporary metal removable stanchions will be installed along the north end of the square. Style to be similar to the fencing currently being used within the park. Additional shaded public seating as well as trees will be placed along the north façade of the pavilion. Construction will be phased (working with the greenmarket) to minimize impact with operations. Public bathrooms accessible from the north side will be built along the east side of the pavilion for use by all park patrons as well as the greenmarket. Increased and historically sensitive lighting to be installed. The design has been developed in consultation with the managers of the greenmarket without objection.
Concession. Restoration of the pavilion with the main entrance on the south side, and seasonal terrace. The concessionaire will be responsible for a full restoration of the pavilion. The seasonal terrace will occupy less area than what is occupied currently by the concession. The area will be available to the public when the concession is closed. Additional public seating will be installed along the south side of the pavilion and in the vicinity of the Lincoln statue. Internal exhaust will go through an existing chimney. Waste bin storage has been positioned with little visual impact, minimal space requirements as well as keeping with park’s aesthetics.
Parks and Recreation Office and Storage. A smaller building will be added on to west side of the pavilion to increase storage for the Parks Department staff. A new basement of the building will be excavated of approximately 1,000 square feet to create locker rooms, showers, and increased office space.
But the preservationisits’ struggle continues. More to come.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 4:54 AM 
