Quote:
Originally Posted by JSsocal
The "Grid" Down there isn't much of a grid, that street grid turns after 2 blocks. All of the downtown streets are a sloppy mess (in a good way). And it's much better that its following park Row and city hall. That is THE major street. Park row is formerly the Bowery and is New York's very first thoroughfare dating back to Native American times.
Or think of it this way, if the building did as you said, and aligned to the alley behind the building, then then there would be a huge blank wall on the park row building. That would be dreadful.
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An even simpler explanation is that the awkward geometry of the site means that there are like 2 building arrangements that work for residential layouts, because zoning requires you to provide a residential rear yard equivalent. You can do what they did, or you can squeeze a more narrow tower towards the center of the block. That's pretty much it.