UPDATE: The New School’s Monolith

Original rendering by Skidmore Owings & Merrill of the New School tower

The proposed New School building will tower over the huge Cardozo building on Fifth Avenue and dwarf the surrounding residential buildings.

Status of The New School Building Project on 14th Street at Fifth Avenue

It’s been very quiet along The New School (TNS) front, but the plan to demolish the present 74 Fifth Avenue site and put up a towering building are still very much alive. All that’s been confirmed by TNS spokesperson Jane Crotty of Arzt Communications, is that the design is still being worked on. Rumors have been flying that their once solid funding has diminished significantly, possibly meaning that TNS will bring in a commercial partner, so that the site will not be devoted exclusively to classroom space. One thing that you can plainly see is that the retail stores along 14th Street have been vacated in preparation for the eventual demolition of the building. So there is some movement on the part of TNS, although no plans have been filed with the City.

 

A group has formed, Village Residents Alliance (VRA), to rally residents as well as building owners and management. VRA, working with Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and Community Board 2, wants to ensure that there is an ongoing dialog with TNS. Based on their most recent presentation, TNS was requesting variances which would create a monolithic building which would dwarf the 188 foot high Victoria & Wedgwood coops across the street and rise straight out of the sidewalk without setback to a height of 350 feet. The now looming Cardozo building, by comparison, is a “mere” 262 feet high. That original design also showed an all-glass façade which would radiate light in the nighttime, certainly not a contextual design considering the turn-of-the-century buildings lining lower Fifth Avenue as well as its own block of 14th Street.

 

VRA has been graciously invited by the Victoria Board of Directors to make a small presentation and amass a list of concerned residents at a lobby meeting in late September. Neighboring buildings will be doing the same. VRA is preparing to show up in force at the next New School presentation. This list will also enable VRA to inform all neighboring residents of updates, upcoming meetings and calls to action.

 

You can contact VRA through Susan Kramer or Bob Myrstad via email: VillageResidents@aol.com. Please join VRA today.