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[Westsiders for Public Participation]

From ColumbiaSpectator.com - The pocket of the Upper West Side bordered by 96th and 100th streets has undergone a major transformation since last spring, and some residents say the feel of the neighborhood has fundamentally changed. With construction projects nearing completion on every block, new retailers and tenants moving into the neighborhood, and pending development plans stuck at the drawing board, the fate of the local streetscape remains uncertain. Read more.

[Eleanor Seepes]

People should stop complaining about the changes in our neighborhood--already breathing new life into streets that were, for so long--dismal.  The stretch of Columbus Avenue between 97th and 100th was unsafe, ugly, home to really uninteresting and empty shops and that exclusive (unkempt) tennis club.  Citizens in the Frederick Douglass Houses were ill-served, with C-Town so crowded and Associated far too small to comfortably accommodate the daily busy hours--and lacking in choices.  We all had to travel to Midtown and Downtown for so many needs, tough on the elderly and young families.  Now we have a real, modern "village," and perhaps too many complain about the mall-ization of the neighborhood. The stores are attractive, filled with excellent quality and choice, managements seem to be trying to cater to our UWS population.

Observe the elderly neighbors meeting at Whole Foods over soup or coffee, families and friends enjoying a Saturday lunch there, others at their laptops--even if you don't shop there!  Any new stores will add to that as well.  Michael's is an amazing place for families and older folks--we can be creative, take advanatge of twofers, just watch people!  WE DO NEED A CINEPLEX!!!  We have to bus or train now to see a movie other than at the Thalia.

Park West Village is gorgeous, I love walking through there, that was the realized dream of the 50's; Columbus Square is of the 21st Century, and while there's no excuse for the lack of middle-income housing being built, the residents just have to get over it!  Yes, some have lost their wide views and sense of privacy.  This IS sad for them  with the loss of their widespread views. My view has been altered by #808, but I'm grateful for 38 years of the George Washington Bridge in my view.  And #808 ain't bad to look at either from my desk!

I've seen this neighborhood go from intolerable, scary, dangerous (1962) to livable, wonderful, diverse, green, proud.  Yes, it's unaffordable to too many, and the schools ARE overcrowded.  But that means families are here now--and growing--and it is the City that must deal with the realities--and not just on the UWS.  Having the Jewish Home close to aging families is probably a good social move, albeit, again, not what PWV residents are happy about.

COMPROMISE, COMPROMISE, COMPROMISE!  and move on!

[Paul S. Bunten]

Where is the acknowledgement in this article that the consequence of a successful conclusion to the land use imbroglio facing the residents of 106th Street will be the mere transfer of their burden onto the residents of the Park West Village neighborhood, who are still struggling to absorb the full impact of Columbus Village--a new mega-real estate development still under construction squarely in their midst?  Our elected officials appear to be comfortably resigned to this transfer of burden, because not once has any one of them publicly suggested holding Jewish Home Lifecare accountable to the original land use agreements it signed with Manhattan Valley community groups back in September 2007.  Why was JHL’s abrupt decision to leave 106th Street accepted so instantly and so uncritically?

Jewish Home Lifecare has yet to acknowledge the right to public participation of Park West Village neighborhood residents in its parallel land use plan six blocks to the south—the proposed construction of a different “tall, out-of-context structure” on a building lot demonstrably ill suited to the purpose--that would exert a transformative impact upon our daily lives forever.  JHL has not disclosed the smallest meaningful detail of its development intentions for 100th Street, after summarily abandoning its long agreed 106th Street plan last summer.  Why would we trust JHL to treat us more honorably than they have treated our neighbors six blocks to the north?

Public discussion on this very issue has been nothing if not robust, much of it memorialized unmistakably within the pages of this very website.  Yet the Columbia Spectator persists in ignoring this most salient aspect of the story of the transformation of the Upper West Side blocks that its year-in-review article purports to summarize comprehensively.  How any careful journalist could accept the statement that “everyone is negotiating in good faith” uncritically with so much documented evidence to the contrary strains credulity.  To do so ignores one entire side of the story of Jewish Home Lifecare's questionable real estate deal with the Chetrit Group.

I regret to conclude that this article does not confirm the high opinion I had formed of the journalistic standards of the Columbia Spectator.

Paul S. Bunten
President, Board of Directors
Westsiders for Public Participation

[caroline hightower]

I was wary of new stores on Columbus but find myself liking the activity on the street which is now much more inviting - and I enjoy using the stores,  yet still shop at Food City and Manny's which are mainstays. There is now  life on a street that was kind of  lifeless before.

A COMPLAINT.   The Central Park Cafe was also a mainstay: good food, neighbors of all kinds in for coffee or a meal, a clean well lighted place that was comfortable, affordable and good. A PLEASANT, WINDOWED, GOOD FOOD destination. Subway is NOT a destination - I went once, will not go again.  The eating space at Whole Foods is confounding: why would they put it at a basement level when the windows are above if they didn't have to? Getting to it is like a mini check in line at LaGuardia. The impersonal, picnic like tables and the ykky, green and grey gold on cement blocks are gloomy. The entire feel of the eating area is like a prison mess hall,  a far cry from the warmth and inviting surround of the Central Park Cafe.

Otherwise, I think the changes are an upper and I look forward to having a book store (do we really need another Duane Reid?) Perhaps Borders will have a little place to have a cup of coffee. Please?

WITH ALL THE NEW AC TIVITY, WHY CAN'T OUR NEIGHBORHOOD HAVE A PLEASANT PLACE TO SIT DOWN AND GET A GOOD BREAKFAST, SANDWICH, WHATEVER. It's a crying need that has not been met.