ParkWestVillage

The Deconstruction of Park West Village on Manhattan's Upper Left Side
Last Updated: 6/10/10 (New Photos showing some of the steps in the construction process)

Special Photo Essay: Park West Village vs. Columbus Village (from every angle) 2/20/09 (click here)

pwvillage@gmail.com

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Some Suggestions for Greening Park West Village

The following suggestions were submitted to the Board of Managers of 392 last June, but they could apply to all 7 buildings.

1. Lights in the compactor rooms could be door activated so that they aren’t on 24 hours a day. Think of 38 lights x 24 hours, etc. (I was informed that the lights keep the cockroaches from coming out.... Just think it!)
2. In fact, what about doing this all around the building? In my office building the lights in the public bathrooms are motion activated. Same could be done for the bathrooms in the basement and perhaps for the laundry room as well.
3. Even the hallway in the basement doesn’t have to have all of the lights on 24/7. And perhaps throughout the whole building! Maybe there can be a night-time mode with one light on permanently in front of the elevators on each floor and the rest activated by motion, for instance from midnight to 6 AM every day. Or all day long! In apartment buildings in Europe, for instance, they don’t leave lights in the hallways burning 24/7. They either are motion activated or one pushes a button (that is on a timer). And it works!
4 . Similarly, lights in the bike and storage rooms ought to be on timers because many people walk out without turning them off. One alternative is to put up signs, “Please turn off the lights when exiting,” but I think timers are better. Right now we have neither.
5 . Unplug or replace the water cooler in the Fitness Center with a plain water fountain. The present refrigerator recycles 24/7 and the cold water coming into the building is cold enough without wasting so much electricity and generating heat on top of it. Yes, it’s only pennies a day, but for the next 100 years?

Needless to say, the Board has not yet finished implementing these recommendations!

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Check out the new pictures & movie clips at: Park West Village Destruction Pictures
For more info on neighborhood issues: Preserve Park West North
For a view of the future--Schematics of the new buildings The Future Aint What It Used to Be!
But let's not forget how it was!
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Should you wish follow the NYC DOB status of the five construction sites controlled by the Developer, you may click on the URLs below (do not retype them):

801 Amsterdam Avenue: 98-100th streets, NE corner Amsterdam Avenue, adjacent to Trinity Church: http://tinyurl.com/yvvjh3

(*) The 97-100th street, West of Columbus Ave, includes the 30-story building site (808 Columbus): http://tinyurl.com/yvj9ax

775 Columbus Ave -- NE corner 97th Str & Columbus (small "tennis courts"), adjacent to 382 CPW: http://tinyurl.com/27c7uc

(*) 779 Columbus: 98-99th street block & east of Columbus Ave, "middle tennis courts", adjacent to 382 and 392 CPW parking lots: http://tinyurl.com/ywqd8m

805 Columbus: SE corner 100th Str & Columbus & 100th street building, adjacent to 392 CPW: http://tinyurl.com/26cdmf

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New Zoning Rules for the UWS?
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From a neighbor: For whatever it's worth, people who surf the web have known for sometime that the developer filed with the DOB. These were circulated sometime ago:

775 Columbus (corner lot at 97th St. ): 12 stories, 98,328 sf, 56 apts
Overview Occupancy/Use Data

779 Columbus (center lot between 98th & 99th Streets): 15 stories, 253,468 sf, 132 apts
Overview Occupancy/Use Data

Here's a recent NYT article on Kondylis.
If you google "Costas Kondylis" you'll get the rest.

If you go to:Permits you can see the four permits (Doc 1, 2, 3 and 4) Job No: 104464438 related to the "virtual" building at 808 Col Avenue, which has not been approved yet.

Click on Jump to: Doc 1 on upper right, and read o the lower half of the page a few data about this phantom building:
Like it's 30 stories, 326 ft high, 359 apartments, gross area 384,485 Sq.
Ft., and so on. Very skimpy info The four
permits are all about mundane items related to construction. I was not aware that they can claim they are building a 30 story building (unapproved as yet) but get approvals for parts of that construction, like excavation and sewer lines, etc. Not clear where this game stops and Kondylis has to get his building approved before he can go further?

If you click on the BIN number on that page, you get a page for 10 W 100th street. You can browse the complaints and permits, etc. 100 W 100 and 802 COl Avenue seem to be linked in the DOB system. For example clicking on "complaints" gives this list. They're all dismissed except one. Is one of them yours?

To know the details of the approved excavation application, you’d have to go down to DOB and request a copy of the application. The information isn’t on the web, and anyway not in the permit issued to the contractor. The details are in the application submitted by the developer.

Here’s the approved application for a new building. Click on “Schedule A” for details:http://tinyurl.com/ypzq4u

Here’s the work permit issued to the contractor to build what has been approved: http://tinyurl.com/2tfwce