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Waterside Plaza

Coordinates: 40°44′15″N 73°58′24″W / 40.7374°N 73.9733°W / 40.7374; -73.9733
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Waterside Plaza
Waterside Plaza from across the East River
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeResidential
Architectural styleBrutalist
LocationBounded by East River and FDR Drive from 25th to 30th streets, Manhattan, New York, United States
Coordinates40°44′15″N 73°58′24″W / 40.7374°N 73.9733°W / 40.7374; -73.9733
Year(s) built1971–1974
Cost$78 million
OwnerBrookfield Properties
ManagementBrookfield Properties
Technical details
Floor count37 (10, 20 & 30 Waterside Plaza)
31 (40 Waterside Plaza)
Grounds6 acres (2.4 ha)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Davis, Brody & Associates
DeveloperHRH Construction Corporation
Longstreet Corporation
Structural engineerRobert Rosenwasser[1]
Services engineerCosentini Associates[1]
Main contractorHRH Construction Corporation[1]
Other information
Number of units1,470
Website
watersideplaza.com

Waterside Plaza is a residential and business complex located between the FDR Drive and the East River from 25th to 30th streets in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan, New York City. It was formerly a Mitchell-Lama Housing Program-funded rental project.

History

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Planning

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Waterside Plaza was constructed alongside a segment of the FDR Drive that was built on landfill brought to the United States as ships' ballast from the rubble of the city of Bristol in England, which was bombed by the Luftwaffe in World War II during the Bristol Blitz. The area is known as "Bristol Basin" and a memorial to the use of rubble from Bristol was erected in 1942 by the English-Speaking Union of the United States on a footbridge across the highway; the plaque was later relocated to Waterside Plaza in 1974.[2][3][4][5]

The development of Waterside Plaza were first envisioned in 1961 by Richard Ravitch of the HRH Construction Corporation. While having lunch with architect Lewis Davis at the end of the parking garage at the Skyport Marina, a project that Ravitch constructed at the foot of 23rd Street that opened the following year, the two discussed a newspaper article in which United States Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson complained about a lack of housing for staff working at the UN headquarters; Ravitch suggested solving the problem by building housing along the waterfront to the north of the marina.[6][7][8]

Ravitch approached James Felt, the head of the New York City Planning Commission, in the spring of 1961 to discuss his idea but he was told, "Don't waste your time." Ravitch dusted off his plans two years later when he learned that Wiliam F. R. Ballard, the new chair of the City Planning Commission, was supportive of waterfront development. However, plans for Ravitch's proposed development were kept quiet because the city had plans to condemn buildings for the controversial Bellevue South urban renewal project, located nearby between 23rd and 30th streets, and the Waterside project would involve constructing new housing over the river without the need to displace any existing tenants.[9]

In order to obtaining financing to construct housing over this section of the East River, Title 33 of the United States Code was amended in 1965 to designate the segment of the river from 17th to 30th streets within the pierhead line as non-navigable, so the federal government could not expropriate the property under its powers to regulate navigable waters.[1][7][10] The matter to change the designation of the river along the Manhattan shoreline had been brought before Congress at the request of Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. by Emanuel Celler, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 10th congressional district.[11]

Steps leading down to the river from the central plaza, with the Secretariat Building in the background

Plans for Waterside were first announced by Mayor John Lindsay on December 20, 1966. Initially estimated at a cost of $42 million, the project sponsored by the HRH Construction Company and designed by Davis, Brody & Associates was to contain a total of 1,450 apartments, some of which would be reserved for United Nations staff.[12] Waterside was approved by the City Planning Commission on April 12, 1967. Beverly Moss Spatt was the only member of the commission to vote against the project, which she called, "a reversal of city policy and commitment of not granting tax abatement for housing when rents are equivalent to units now available and renting on the private market."[13]

Although Waterside was intended to provide housing to a mix of lower, middle, and upper-income residents, opponents of the project criticized the city subsidies that were being offered to the developer when less than five percent of the apartments were to be for low-income families (70 units were to be for low-income residents, 280 for middle-income residents, and 1,118 for upper-income residents). The planned subsidies included the developer leasing the land from the city at no cost and only having to pay half of the residential real estate taxes. Meanwhile, supporters of Waterside argued that the subsidies were needed in order for the project to move forward, and that it was located on a site that currently produced no revenue to the city.[14] The project sponsors—the HRH Construction Company and the Longstreet Corporation—subsequently suggested increasing the total of low-income units to 145, swapping 75 of the middle-income units with low-income units to make up for the difference. With these amendments, the project was approved by the New York City Board of Estimate on December 22, 1967.[15][16]

The next step in the process involved obtaining financing for the project.[16] Waterside's developers made a deal with the United Nations Development Corporation (UNDC) to give relocation priority to residents and businesses that would be displaced by the construction of the U.N. Center, a proposed mixed-use development with office space and hotel rooms that was being planned in the Turtle Bay neighborhood near the headquarters of the United Nations (now part of the complex that includes One, Two and Three United Nations Plaza). The agreement was made in exchange for UNDC backing the Waterside development with tax-exempt bonds.[17] Almost 600 of the apartments at Waterside were to be reserved for residents that would be displaced by the proposed U.N. Center, many of which lived in the Beaux-Arts Apartments on East 44th Street.[18] The UNDC subsequently revised its plans for the U.N. Center to build on a smaller footprint that did not involve razing the Beaux-Arts Apartments.[19]

The development of Waterside was originally intended to be privately funded, but the project got stalled because its sponsors had difficulties in obtaining financing due to the effects of inflation and a tightened market for loans with high interest rates. On June 24, 1970, the City Planning Commission approved a revision to the project that involved the city taking over Waterside's financing through the Mitchell–Lama Housing Program after construction of the apartment complex had been completed.[18][20] The city was unable to finance the project's construction because it was reaching its limits on debt for housing and renewal projects.[21] In 1971, a group of nine banks agreed to lend a total of $71.58 million over a three-year period to finance the construction of Waterside. Led by Chase Manhattan Bank, the other banks providing construction loans included Bankers Trust, Chemical Bank, First National City Bank, Franklin National, Irving Trust, Manufacturers Hanover Trust, Marine Midland Grace, and Morgan Guaranty Trust.[21]

Construction and opening

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Three of the four towers viewed from the south, with the United Nations International School in the foreground

The apartment buildings at Waterside were constructed on top of a 6-acre (2.4 ha) platform supported by over 2,000 concrete piles that were sunk into the East River beginning in January 1971.[21][22] The platform was built next to another deck that had been previously constructed for the planned site of the United Nations International School with a $1.1-million grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.[23][24][25] On May 5, 1969, the deck of the future school site had been used as the landing field for a Hawker Siddeley Harrier vertical take-off and landing jet operated by the Royal Air Force in the Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race from London to New York City.[26][27]

The first apartment buildings at the site opened in 1973 and the $78-million complex was completed the following year with the opening of the northern tower.[28][29] Waterside was formally opened on September 12, 1973, when Mayor Lindsay, former Mayor Wagner, and other dignitaries boarded a fireboat at the South Street Seaport and headed up the East River to attend the ceremony. At the event, Mayor Lindsay presented architect Lewis Davis and developer Richard Ravitch with the city's 75th Anniversary Golden Jubilee Medal in recognition of their contributions.[7][29][30] The city began celebrating its 75th anniversary earlier in the year, which marked the consolidation of the five boroughs into modern New York City in 1898.[31]

The pedestrian overpass across the FDR Drive at 25th Street was originally built in the 1940s.[32] When the Waterside project was being completed in 1974, there were plans to construct an additional footbridge across the highway at the northern end of the complex. Preliminary designs for a pedestrian overpass connecting to 30th Street were prepared and funding for the $300,000 structure was to be obtained from the federally-assisted mortgage for the 375 units in the northern building.[33][34] However, the location of the proposed footbridge was opposed by officials at Bellevue Hospital, which felt that a pedestrian overpass at 27th Street would be a better option because people walking to and from First Avenue would be passing through an area monitored by the hospital's security personnel and that it would also provide better connections to existing and planned public transportation services.[34] At that time, plans for the construction of a southern extension of the Second Avenue Subway (running between 34th and Whitehall streets) called for a new station to be built on Second Avenue between 23rd and 27th streets.[35]

View to the southeast of the central plaza and 20 Waterside Plaza

There were plans to build additional above-water apartments, offices, and a hotel to the south of the site in the 1980s, but environmental concerns and community opposition doomed the project and led to the development of Stuyvesant Cove Park.[36]

In 2004, Waterside Management Company LLC launched a three-year capital improvement program with a cost in excess of $35 million. The capital improvement program included upgrades to all new apartments as they became vacant as well as all hallways and each building's reception and concierge areas. The plaza itself was re-waterproofed and repaved and extensive park-like landscaping added. The health club, parking facilities, and security system were also upgraded.

In January 2019, the New York City Council approved legislation to preserve 325 units in the complex as affordable housing through 2098, to give rent protections to certain residents who lived at Waterside prior to its exit from the Mitchell–Lama Housing Program in 2001, and to extend the housing complex's ground lease with the city to run through 2118 (the original 99-year lease had been set to expire in 2069).[37] The actions came as a result of prior negotiations that Ravitch had with the city to extend Waterside's ground lease in order to refinance the mortgage on the property.[38] In October 2021, Ravitch sold his remaining stake of Waterside Plaza to Brookfield Asset Management for $582 million, and Brookfield took over full ownership and management of the housing complex. Brookfield had initially purchased a share of Waterside in 2018.[39]

Features

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Waterside Plaza
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10 Waterside Plaza
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20 Waterside Plaza
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25 Waterside Plaza
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25th Street Footbridge
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British International School
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Central Plaza
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Swim & Health Club
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United Nations International School

The complex is made up of four residential towers as well as a row of duplex townhouses, clad in red brickwork, that encompass a large plaza overlooking the East River. Three of the towers are 37 stories high and the northern tower (40 Waterside Plaza) has 31 stories. There are 1,470 residential units along with a health club (open to non-residents) and a parking garage.[29][40] Waterside Plaza's retail space is occupied by a Gristedes supermarket and several other shops. The British International School of New York was established at Waterside Plaza in 2006 and rents several large commercial spaces in the complex.[41] The United Nations International School is located to the south of Waterside Plaza on a campus that opened in 1973.[42]

Waterside is accessible to vehicles only by entering from 23rd Street. Cars and trucks leaving Waterside can do so via 23rd Street or driving along a service road to 34th Street. Prior to changes to the area roadway network associated with the development of Stuyvesant Cove Park in the early 2000s, the only point of vehicular egress from the complex had been via the northbound service road 34th Street.[43] A footbridge at East 25th Street allows safe passage across the FDR Drive to the west. The existing footbridge is planned to be replaced with an ADA compliant pedestrian overpass as part of the development of a health and life sciences hub on the west side of the FDR Drive.[44] Waterside also contains the first two stops on the M34A Select Bus Service route.

Waterside is Manhattan's only residential complex located east of the FDR Drive.[22] The East River Greenway passes between the two. The waterfront south of Waterside Plaza, Stuyvesant Cove Park, which is part of the Greenway, includes a small manmade land mass extending out into the East River, which was created from excess cement dumped into the river.[45]

Impact

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In 2001, The New York Times architectural critic Herbert Muschamp described Waterside as a "great urban composition" that is "picturesque and historically informed."[46]

The housing development received the Construction Achievement Project of the Year Award from the Metropolitan Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1974.[47] In 1975, Waterside won the Albert S. Bard Award for Distinguished Architecture and Urban Design. A year later, it won an Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects.[48] In 2004, the Municipal Art Society placed Waterside on its "30 Under 30", a watch list of future landmarks.[49][50]

Waterside Plaza's sister development is the River Park Towers, a residential housing complex in the Bronx that was also designed by Davis, Brody & Associates.[51][52] Waterside has also served as an influence for other projects in New York City, including waterfront developments in Battery Park City and on the opposite site of the East River (Queens West in Long Island City and Williamsburg, Brooklyn),[8] the method used for leasing agreements of city-owned land in Battery Park City and on Roosevelt Island,[9] and the financing of Via Verde in the Melrose section of the Bronx.[8]

Events

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Two of the four towers looking south from the central plaza

Waterside Plaza hosts year-round events that are free and open to the public. The most popular are the outdoor summer concerts in July and the outdoor Monday night movies in August. Other events include monthly playreadings, a short play festival, a dance festival, a spring flea market, and an electronic recycling day.

In the mid-1970s, the central plaza hosted a series of contemporary sculpture exhibitions organized by arts activist Doris Freedman for the Public Arts Council, one of which included four works specifically created by Pierre Clerk for display at the venue.[53][54] In 2008, Waterside Plaza hosted the Make Music New York festival, during which 17 bands performed concerts on three different stages – on the waterside, in the gardens, and on the plaza.

Other notable events have included P. F. Chang's holding of a charity event on the roof of one of Waterside's high rise buildings on June 28, 2010, during which professional golfers Annika Sörenstam, Briny Baird and Don Vickery took turns driving golf balls at a target floating in the East River. The event raised a total of $100,000 for several charities including the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.[55]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Waterside" (PDF). Architectural Record. March 1976. pp. 119–124. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  2. ^ Pollak, Michael (June 28, 2009). "Not in Their Backyard". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  3. ^ "Waterside Plaza's Fortierth Anniversary Celebration". Waterside Plaza. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  4. ^ "Bristol Basin Historical Marker". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  5. ^ Levathes, Kiki (December 12, 1974). "East River's British Accent Recalled". Daily News. New York. Retrieved January 24, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "$1,400,000 Marina Opened at 23d St". The New York Times. April 19, 1962. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Moritz, Owen (September 13, 1973). "Brass & Polish At Opening of The Waterside". Daily News. New York. Retrieved January 28, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c Chaban, Matt (January 3, 2014). "Waterside Plaza, a revolutionary waterfront, celebrates its 40th anniversary". Daily News. New York. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Shipler, David K. (February 7, 1971). "The Long Struggle for Waterside: A Case History". The New York Times. ProQuest 119358323.
  10. ^ "33 U.S. Code § 59c - East River, New York". Legal Information Institute. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  11. ^ "Congress Is Given East River Plan". The New York Times. August 26, 1965. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  12. ^ Roberts, Steven V. (December 21, 1966). "Housing on East River Platform Is Proposed". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  13. ^ Bennett, Charles G. (April 13, 1967). "Plan Unit Votes East Side Project". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  14. ^ Roberts, Steven V. (December 3, 1967). "Plan For Housing On River Opposed". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  15. ^ "Vote Due Today On River Housing". The New York Times. December 22, 1967. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  16. ^ a b King, Seth S. (December 23, 1967). "Housing on East River Approved At a Special Session of Board". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  17. ^ Huxtable, Ada Louise (November 12, 1969). "Proposed Monument Under Glass at the U.N." The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  18. ^ a b Ennis, Thomas W. (February 15, 1970). "Waterside's Fate Now in Hands Of a City Board". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  19. ^ Horsley, Carter B. (August 12, 1973). "News of the Realty Trade: Beaux Arts Apartments Sold". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  20. ^ "Housing On River Backed On Funds". The New York Times. June 25, 1970. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  21. ^ a b c Fowler, Glenn (January 29, 1971). "9 Banks Agree to Finance Housing Over East River". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  22. ^ a b "Waterside Plaza History". Waterside Management Company. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  23. ^ "Alternative Site for United Nations School Proposed by Fund". The New York Times. May 25, 1967. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  24. ^ Kempner, Mary Jean (August 6, 1967). "A New Life For the River That Isn't a River". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  25. ^ Teltsch, Kathleen (November 4, 1968). "Park and New Offices Planned in Expansion of U.N. Enclave". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  26. ^ Teltsch, Kathleen (April 22, 1969). "Stamp Auction at U.N. to Raise Scholarship Funds". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  27. ^ "Briton Sets Pace in Trans-ocean Race". The New York Times. May 6, 1969. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  28. ^ Fried, Joseph P. (September 13, 1973). "After Nearly 12 Years of Obstacles, Waterside Housing Opens on River". The New York Times. p. 49. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  29. ^ a b c Pristin, Terry (April 13, 1999). "'Small Town' With Big-City Woes; Tenant-Landlord Fight Taints Innovative Waterside Plaza". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  30. ^ "Waterside officially opened" (PDF). Progressive Architecture. November 1973. p. 32. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  31. ^ Schumach, Murray (April 29, 1973). "City to Begin Celebrating Its 75th Jubilee Tomorrow". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  32. ^ Borough of Manhattan Department of Borough Works (May 17, 1941). Map Showing a Change in the Northerly Line of East 25th Street at East River Drive and a Change in the Easterly Line of East River Drive at East 25th Street and Laying Out Grades for a Pedestrian Overpass Over East River Drive at East 25th Street (PDF) (Map). Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  33. ^ Borough of Manhattan Topographical Bureau (February 20, 1974). Map Showing a Change in the City Map by Laying Out the Lines and Grades of a Pedestrian Overpass Across Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive South of the Southerly Side of Former E. 30th Street Prolonged and by Widening Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive on Its Easterly Side Between the Easterly Prolongation of the Southerly Side of Former E. 30th Street and a Point Approximately 218 Feet Southerly Thereof (Map).
  34. ^ a b Toscano, John (April 18, 1974). "Move Is Urged for Footbridge". Daily News. New York. Retrieved February 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ "Notice of Public Hearing Southern Extension of the Second Avenue Line for the New York City Transit System". Daily News. New York. February 16, 1973. Retrieved February 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ Stamler, Bernard (October 26, 1997). "Park to Grow on the Ashes of the Riverwalk Plan". The New York Times. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
  37. ^ Herman, Gabe (January 30, 2019). "City preserves affordable housing at Waterside Plaza". amNewYork. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  38. ^ Ferré-Sadurní, Luis (August 8, 2018). "A Rare Break for Renters: 325 Units at Waterside Plaza Could Become Affordable". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  39. ^ Larsen, Keith (November 17, 2021). "Brookfield, Ravitch ink $582M deal for Waterside Plaza". The Real Deal. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  40. ^ Lambert, Bruce (June 5, 1994). "Worries at Waterside". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  41. ^ Toosi, Nahal (September 15, 2006). "British education comes to Gotham". The Record. Associated Press. Retrieved January 26, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ Maeroff, Gene I. (January 22, 1973). "1,175 Pupils Will Attend Classes in a New United Nations School Here Today". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  43. ^ Urbitran Associates, Inc. (May 2000). Stuyvesant Cove Park Environmental Assessment Statement Supplemental Report. p. 3.
  44. ^ Ortega, Ralph R. (October 19, 2022). "Editor's Note: Rebuilt bridge to Manhattan's Waterside Plaza is a win for access". City & State New York. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  45. ^ Kinetz, Erika (January 13, 2002). "Rock Outcropping or Rubble? No One's Neutral on Old Cement". The New York Times. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
  46. ^ Muschamp, Herbert (October 5, 2001). "For Rebuilders, Inspiration All Around". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  47. ^ "Construction Achievement Project of the Year Award". ASCE Metropolitan Section. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  48. ^ "Waterside Housing Complex". Davis Brody Bond Architects. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  49. ^ "30 Under 30: The Watch List of Future Landmarks" (PDF). Municipal Art Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  50. ^ "Waterside Plaza Architecture". Waterside Management Company. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  51. ^ Goldberger, Paul (1981). The Skyscraper. New York: Knopf. p. 135. ISBN 0-394-50595-6.
  52. ^ Vanable, Ife (March 2018). "Working the Middle: Harlem River Park Towers and Waterside Plaza". The Avery Review. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  53. ^ Goldberger, Paul (September 1, 1977). "Design Notebook: Urban Sculpture That Strikes A Subtle Balance". The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  54. ^ Knight, Cher Krause; Senie, Harriet F. (2016). A Companion to Public Art. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. p. 390. ISBN 9781118475355. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Google Books.
  55. ^ Paddock, Barry (June 30, 2010). "Pro golfer Annika Sorenstam tries hand at driving golf balls from Manhattan skyscraper – for charity". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
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