A push for a bigger, bolder Midtown just cleared a key hurdle.
The city’s mammoth rezoning proposal — which would allow for more than 4 million square feet of new space in a 78-block area of the East 40s and 50s — yesterday won the conditional support of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.
While he’s still calling for more than a dozen significant changes to the project, Stringer said he was happy the city committed to funding improvements to transportation in and around Grand Central Terminal.
“In order to make East Midtown’s plan a success, greater density in East Midtown should follow significant investments in its infrastructure,” said Stringer, who is in a tight race to become city comptroller.
Although his approval is solely advisory, it holds a lot of sway in the City Council because the project affects the heart of his borough. The council will review the project after it has been cleared by the City Planning Commission.
The plan, which will allow for the replacement of out-of-date buildings with more modern and taller structures, is supported by the real-estate industry but was rejected by seven local community boards.
The boards’ main concerns were about the density of the project and its impact on traffic and transit because it would bring many more people into the area around Grand Central.
This week, however, Mayor Bloomberg committed to funding infrastructure improvements — including to the 4, 5 and 6 train lines — starting immediately after the plan wins council approval.
“That’s sort of a necessary precondition to this whole conversation,” said Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan), whose district includes the neighborhood.
He said he was pleased Bloomberg recognized the need to bolster infrastructure but said other issues — such as air-rights pricing and the transparency of a new district-improvement fund — remain.
“The proposal is still not yet complete,” Garodnick said. “This has been a very quick process, so the list [of issues] is a considerable one.”
Stringer’s recommended changes had to do with allowing for hotels and residential permits in the area, creating a better public-review process, and a number of other issues.
Still, a City Hall spokeswoman said his OK helps move the project along.
“We appreciate the borough president’s support and his thoughtful recommendations, and we look forward to working with him to implement this plan that will allow East Midtown to meet the important challenges it faces,” said spokeswoman Julie Wood.