Rendering of the proposed building at 231 East 94th Street. Image Credit: NYC CPC.
On February 7, 2024, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application for a 46-story mixed-use building at 231 East 94th Street in Yorkville. The building would be located mid-block on the north side of East 94th Street between Second and Third Avenues.
The proposed building would have 452 units, 113 of which would be permanently affordable housing and ground-floor retail and community uses. Previously, Manhattan Community Board 8 and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine both conditionally approved the project but wanted to see deeper affordability or more affordable units given the scale of the project. At the Commission’s public hearing for the project, several residents testified in opposition to the project’s mid-block location for a 46-story building.
At the City Planning Commission vote, eight Commissioners voted to approve the application. Commissioners Gail Benjamin, Juan Camilo Osorio, and Orlando Marin voted against the project. Commissioner Benjamin did not comment why but had asked about making the building shorter and bulkier at the public hearing.
Commissioner Marin stated, “While I’m a bit disturbed about the mid-block height I’m a little more disturbed with the amount of affordable housing that is being provided and I really think that this is a missed opportunity to develop more affordable housing by invoking the Mayor’s planned proposal to cross subsidize affordable units with market rate units so my vote is no.”
Commissioner Osorio stated, “It’s not the density or the height of the proposal, which I think is manageable in this part of the city, even though in the mid-block I understand and respect the concerns that have been raised, but my vote highlights the Community Board’s and Borough President’s requests for deeper affordability to maximize the public benefits in exchange for the large amount of FAR that is being requested.”
Despite these objections, the project received enough votes to pass. The application will next be reviewed by the City Council.
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the Editor of CityLand and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)