Preserve the Village

Hey, I really love Greenwich Village, don't know much about it, but the folks at Protect the Village are trying to ensure that growth makes sense:

PROTECT THE VILLAGE HISTORIC DISTRICT (PVHD) was formed to advocate for the Greenwich Village community and its interests in the face of a massive and inappropriate development proposal from the Rudin Organization and St. Vincent's. PVHD seeks to significantly downsize and reshape this destructive proposal and to protect the Greenwich Village Historic District. We do not oppose the modernization of St. Vincent's. We do, however, consider it vital that any development respect our historic neighborhood, the City Landmark Preservation laws, and the values of our community. We support alternatives that accomplish these goals.

Comments

[Richard Winkler]

I completely AGREE with Mr. Newmark. If St.Vincent's/Rudin is allowed to move forward, every other nonprofit will follow suit and apply for a variance. The LPC must stand firm and not allow them to move forward, otherwise within 15 years the Village will be no longer. Greenwich Village is world famous and a destination for tourists from all over the world. The proposal is hugely out of scale and has nothing to do with the surroundings nor the neighborhood. For those who don't follow this, they are proposing to tear down the current structure, build a huge 400 condo building on the same site with retail spaces on the ground floor and adding a 200 car garage in the same block. And they plan to demolish an existing landmarked building across the street and build a contemporary looking hospital that is so our of scale that it would be laughable if it wouldn't begin the destruction of the historic West Village. We who live in the West Village need St. Vincent's but not at this cost to our infrastructure and our lifestyle.

[Susan]

What they are trying to do to Greenwich Village is a disgrace, and hiding behind a hospital makes it even worse. Did you see the article about this in Vanity Fair? http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/07/hitchens200807 It really puts the whole situation in perspective.