The “supertowers” designed to attract global billionaires that are currently rising above Central Park South are nothing to fear, according to the New York Post’s Steve Cuozzo.
Ultra-luxury residential towers, such as 432 Park and One57, have caused a mix of anger and fear amongst preservationists, urbanists, community activists, politicians, architectural critics and even architects. This has led to an upcoming town hall meeting with Manhattan Community Board 5 at the New York Public Library Celeste Bartos Forum.
The Wednesday meeting has been organized to discuss public space lost to “real estate encroachment,” shadows caused by the tall towers, traffic and dangers to landmark buildings caused by the five towers currently rising, mostly along West 57th Street.
But all of these concerns are short sighted according to Cuozzo. Cuozzo reflects that if today’s NIMBY culture had existed in 1930, the Empire State Building, which is both tall and “out of context” with its surroundings, would never have been built.
If fact, Cuozzo argues that the irony of activists’ fears is that, one day, they will likely be fighting to preserve the architecturally distinct luxury towers that they disdain today [NYP] –Christopher Cameron