UPPER EAST SIDE — The humble five-story walk-ups, the mom-and-pop businesses like Schaller & Weber, Ottomanelli Brothers and Glaser's Bake Shop, and the rich character that has developed as a result of the hard work of immigrants over the years is being threatened by an influx of development in the area, according to a new study.
A local group looking at the affordability of the Upper East Side released a report this month that it calls a "love letter" to the neighborhood, urging residents to take action against increasing development.
Tall towers have begun to encroach the neighborhood in recent years, including developments like the 1,400-foot-tall 432 Park Avenue building and the planned 900-foot Sutton Place tower — which threatens the character and affordability of the Upper East Side, according to local group Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts.
Just this month, Citizen360, a 34-story luxury condominium high rise started construction. The developer said it chose to build in Yorkville for its historic character but also because it is on the “cusp of transformation” with the completion of the Second Avenue Subway.
Last week, the Friends of the Upper East Side released a study suggesting that the area's eastern-most neighborhoods — like Yorkville, Lenox Hill and East Harlem — are most at risk of losing affordable units because they aren't protected by historic districts and will soon have a new subway line running through them, according to Franny Eberhart, the group's president.
“We thought it was time to look at our neighborhood, which meant Central Park to the East River and from East 59th Street to 110th, particularly the part of our neighborhood that is not protected by landmark designation,” she said. “We are not opposed to change, but with development pressures arising from the new Second Avenue Subway, the displacement of local businesses and longtime residents by luxury super towers is a real threat.”
Eberhart said she fears the coming of the Second Avenue subway will cause an increase in demand for residential development, meaning more developers could swoop in and gobble up smaller buildings — many of which have affordable housing — to make way for big towers.
Currently, 38 percent of all Upper East Side buildings have rent-regulated, subsidized or public housing units, but that number could decrease if steps aren’t taken to protect those buildings, according to the group, which is focused on preserving the neighborhood.
The area has already lost a substantial number of affordable housing units, the study says.
Between 2007 and 2014, the area saw a net loss of 26 percent of affordable units compared to a loss of 6 percent citywide, the study states. During that period, 1,578 buildings in the district lost rent-stabilized apartments. Of those, 70 percent were along Third Avenue in Lenox Hill and Yorkville, the study says.
If the number of affordable homes continue to drop, the economically and ethnically diverse character of these neighborhoods could be at stake, according to the study.
The group suggested several ways to protect the neighborhood, including maintaining the zoning that has kept density down in the mid-blocks; restricting the height of buildings to 210 feet, even in cases where lot mergers would allow for taller buildings; and giving incentives to building owners for maintaining their properties.
The group also asks that developers be required to include Upper East Side communities in the loop during the planning process.
"The value of the report is that it puts, in part, in planners' words lots of things we as residents knew already," Eberhart said. "So we urge people ... to think of the diversity of the neighborhood — of age and economic levels and how all are welcome — as something to really value and can be retained going forward."
Eberhart said Friends will continue to talk with elected officials, community boards and state representatives to get ideas rolling.
The group released a video in conjunction with the study that Eberhart describes as a "love letter" to the neighborhood.
Friends of the Upper East Side from Friends of the Upper East Side on Vimeo.
