By Todd Stone
Special to DNAinfo New York
UPPER WEST SIDE — About 70 people gathered at the corner of 96th Street and Central Park West Monday night to show solidarity against a developer’s plan to convert a landmarked former church there into condos.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission already approved the project, but developer 361 Central Park West LLC still needs to go before the city's Board of Standards and Appeals to be granted exemptions from certain zoning requirements.
Opposition to the plan has been buoyed by the recent recruitment of lawyer Michael Hiller, who has successfully thwarted other developers from altering landmark buildings, including part of the main New York Public Library.
Hiller gave a speech at the vigil, imploring the crowd to attend the a BSA hearing on June 2, where he said a decision will be made on the fate of the project.
"It’s not going to be enough to go on Facebook and say, 'Isn’t this terrible,'" Hiller told the crowd. "We need to do more than that. In the great words of Robert Kennedy, 'It is not enough to understand or see clearly, the future will be shaped in the arena of human activity by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task.'"
The 1903 building's most recent owner, Crenshaw Christian Center East, sold the building to a developer in 2014 for $26 million. It was subsequently sold for $42 million to 361 Central Park West LLC.
Some at the vigil said they opposed the conversion because they feared a luxury condo could adversely affect the neighborhood, while others delivered pleas for the building to remain a church.
“This building saved my life,” said Gabriel Everett, a former church-goer and lifelong local resident who added that he found support and spiritual connection there. “I wanted to end my life when I first walked in. This in not just brick and mortar.”
Hiller noted that the building, which was landmarked in 1974, is one of only 1,100 around the city to receive individual designation.
The developer needs to meet five requirements in order to earn the variance, including one that the property must suffer from a physical deficit — something Hiller claimed is untrue.
Additionally, the owner must show that it can't generate a reasonable return on its investment, another requirement Hiller said it can't meet. He explained the owner would have to show evidence that it listed the property for sale or lease to prove this.
361 Central Park West LLC did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The developer requested the variance on grounds that the building is a landmark, in many ways defeating the purpose of the designation, Hiller said. The attorney claimed this is the first time landmark status has been cited as a reason for a variance and that if the BSA rules in favor of the developer, it would set a precedent that could significantly jeopardize landmark buildings.
“It troubles me deeply," said Susan Simon, who lives in the apartment building next to the church and founded Central Park West Neighbors Association in part to protest this church-to-condo proposal, "that landmarks are being exploited in this city."
