NEW YORK | Central Park Tower (Nordstrom)| 1,550 FT | 131 FLOORS

[Zapatan]

Seriously, it's almost like the Burj Khalifa before it was built except this time with whiny NIMBYS of course

[Blaze23]

This tower went from most anticipated to most annoying in a heartbeat. Tho I enjoyed Barnett giving it to those damn NIMBYs and this quote made me feel a bit hopeful about the design:

They can inveigh against the Nordstrom building, even though most criticism is based on premature and incomplete drawings and faulty information.

Now if he could only release some renderings.

[ILNY]

Originally Posted by NYguy

And he still hasn't released any renderings to answer that criticism. I know these buildings are always in a state of fine tuning. But come on already, it's one of the tallest buildings planned for the city. The "stealth mode" approach isn't working anymore. It's time to be judged...

One 57 renderings were not released until the tower was under construction. I would expect the same process with 225 W.

[JayPro]

On the other hand, tho, the first render for 11157th---and the one officially going forward BTW---were released...what?...within maybe one business week? Two, tops?
And 220 CPW came out PDQ with theirs maybe a month and a half after that, most likely because they wanted to send a message to the Extell/SG dilly-dalliers to get of their asses.
I'm really beginning to wonder if the PR people in either firm aformentioned can wrap their heads around the concept of "one-upmanship".
Yes, Rome *wasn't* built in a day and good things *do* come to those who wait barfing clichés yadda yadda yadda...but yeah; this *is* getting really tedious.

[Perklol]

Originally Posted by ILNY

One 57 renderings were not released until the tower was under construction. I would expect the same process with 225 W.

I thought renderings were accidentally released by Extell's security staff.

[ILNY]

^ Not sure about that but still the first rendering was released when the tower was ready to climb.

First render: May 26, 2010

Originally Posted by NYguy

Picked up a copy of today's Times because I knew there had to be a rendering now that things are in place...

Construction at the same date.

Originally Posted by RoldanTTLB

Also...deadlines are often flexible.

Originally Posted by NYguy

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/ny...6building.html
Building a Tower of Luxury Apartments in Midtown as Brokers Cross Their Fingers
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
May 25, 2010

[babybackribs2314]

Originally Posted by ILNY

^ Not sure about that but still the first rendering was released when the tower was ready to climb.

First render: May 26, 2010


Construction at the same date.



Also...deadlines are often flexible.

Keep in mind that One57 probably would have been finished last year, if it weren't for Hurricane Sandy.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by ILNY

One 57 renderings were not released until the tower was under construction. I would expect the same process with 225 W.

Both One57 and Ghery's Beekman were under construction before renders were released. Neither of those towers could be considered as high profile, or the city,'s tallest. There are no more hurdles for Extell to cross.

[NYguy]

A little more from Barnett's exchange with a hostile crowd...


http://nycitylens.com/2014/02/snipin...e-supertowers/

Sniping at the Supertowers





by Caroline Anderson
Feb 22, 2014

.....Unlike his buildings, Barnett tends to keep a low profile, according to a 2010 profile in New York magazine. He lives in Queens, has 10 children, and refuses to use email.

Wearing a black turtleneck and rimless glasses, he defended his buildings, saying the potential drawbacks outweighed the benefits. “We’re creating over 1,000 permanent jobs in construction, retail—and these are not minimum-wage jobs,” he said. “The buildings will contribute $3 billion in tax dollars over the next 20 years. Does the possibility of a small, minute shadow outweigh the possibility of giving our fellow New Yorkers a chance at a better life?”

The crowd got lively when Warren St. John, a journalist who wrote an October op-ed criticizing the towers’ negative impact on Central Park in The New York Times, stood up and delivered his presentation on two large screens on either side of the dais. He said he had taken his young daughter to Hecksher Playground in Central Park near 65th Street a couple of years ago. “And it got very chilly, and everyone left. I looked up and saw the sun was blocked by a building I had never seen before.”

“The following spring, I was in the park near 75th Street,” he continued. “All of a sudden, it got cold again and I realized I was in the shadow of the same building.”

Then he showed a new slide, and said, “That’s the shadow of One57 today,” referring to one of Barnett’s buildings. The audience gasped at the shadow looming over the park. Barnett looked straight ahead, arms folded, nodding his head and pressing his lips together. After criticizing the towers as playthings for the wealthy, St. John said, “I saw an article in 2012 that said Extell had over a billion dollars in sales.”

He added, “In the short term, we need a moratorium on buildings’ specific height.” The crowd erupted into applause and cheers.

Taking up his mic, Barnett remained seated on the dais and began his rebuttal:“The first thing is, I think the public discourse could be more decent and not include cheap shots.” The crowd hissed and groaned.

Barnett went on to say that he had the “right” to build an even larger building but decided not to. “We like to think we’re contributing to the art of the city,” he said to more hissing. “Art is in the eye of the beholder.”

And prepares for future cantilevers...

http://nypost.com/2014/02/04/action-...n-46th-street/

.....Barnett has long been assembling air and land on this block for his now-open International Gem Tower.

Barnett intends to take this new air, also known as transferable development rights and move it to an adjacent site he owns on West 46th Street a few steps west of Fifth Ave. This will enable Barnett to develop a tower that will at various heights also cantilever over a portion of the upcoming shorter SLG retail building. At 140 feet in the air, documents show the new tower will hover 50 feet across the SLG portion.

Two other buildings that eluded Barnett’s earlier Gem Tower TDR collections may also be incorporated into this new tower site.

“Gary is assembling in this area and he is a very patient fellow and looks at things on a long-term perspective,” said Bob Shapiro of City Center Real Estate, who specializes in air rights transactions but is not working on this one.

[Submariner]

“And it got very chilly, and everyone left. I looked up and saw the sun was blocked by a building I had never seen before.”

Evidently, Mr. St. John isn't familiar with the concept of walking several dozen feet to the west.

[chris08876]

This is going up regardless of what the Nimby's say. Kinda just busy work for their work less lives. Gives them something to do during the day.

[Zapatan]

Barnett went on to say that he had the “right” to build an even larger building but decided not to.

Either that means it won't be 1550 or it could have been bigger than 1550 and is now scaled down from that. Good to see him sticking up for himself regardless, good those NIMBYS don't have much power

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Submariner

“And it got very chilly, and everyone left. I looked up and saw the sun was blocked by a building I had never seen before.”

Evidently, Mr. St. John isn't familiar with the concept of walking several dozen feet to the west.

The statements from some of those people regarding shadows are so idiotic. You would think New York was nothing but sun a bliss for 365 days of the year. But Central Park is always a lively place, the reason being that "normal" people (the vast majority who visit the park) don't give a shit about shadows.

Originally Posted by Zapatan

Either that means it won't be 1550 or it could have been bigger than 1550 and is now scaled down from that. Good to see him sticking up for himself regardless, good those NIMBYS don't have much power

That statement doesn't bode well for the 1550 ft height, but at the same time, Barnett could have built even higher than that. But regardless, he isn't gonna win those people over with a smaller tower. The height could be cut in half, and they'd still be griping about it being too big. I wish he would have asked those people who are so adverse to skyscrapers (and the rich) when they would be leaving Manhattan.

[Perklol]

Originally Posted by chris08876

This is going up regardless of what the Nimby's say. Kinda just busy work for their work less lives. Gives them something to do during the day.

Wait so are you saying they're unemployed?

[hunser]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Wait so are you saying they're unemployed?

No, I mean after all they have to take care of their cat and watch out for the big evil shadows. It's a simple life, really.

[Perklol]

Originally Posted by hunser

No, I mean after all they have to take care of their cat and watch out for the big evil shadows. It's a simple life, really.

hah!

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Wait so are you saying they're unemployed?

Pretty much saying that they got nothing better to do by protesting towers. The average person would find it awesome, but wouldn't care(height,shadows,ect.) as they have more important manners in their lives like kids or bills or work, but they(Nimbys) take it to themselves to complain and actively protest inane issues such as shadowing when you live in a city.

[Zapatan]

Am I the only who absolutely loves this design? It looks like a skinny Chow Tai Fook centre in Guangzhou

[Busy Bee]

Apparently you are.

[Perklol]

Guangzhou

.........
Where? What is that??