Newsday from New York, New York • 33

A33 Urban Planning Are the Public Plazas in Jeopardy? I The IBM building got a bonus of extra floors in exchange for creating an indoor oasis Now a 3 new owner wants to replace some of the user-friendly tables and moveable chairs with sculpture 5 DAVID McGREGOR says any changes shoula be made only after a public hearing OttieilVoices' They are going back on a bargain IBM is a particularly sorry case because It has been one of the finest of the indoor plazas Now look at the proposal for redoing the thing Good lord! a retrogressive plan Let's take the question of seating I'm biased on this because I argued for more seating space and particularly the use of moveable chairs If you take away some of the key amenities moveable chairs for example then there is reason to be alarmed The city shouldn't let them get away with it It's a breach of contract if ever there was one William Whyte urbanist creator of tha Street Ufa Project I was all against the proposed change then I got thinking about the sculpture and I think it would be a wonderful place for sculpture if they keep the bamboo trees The bamboo provide a canopy so you have a filtered light and a kind of a ceiling If you take out the trees the room is going to look harsh I think it could be a great sculpture garden I think there were only handful of spaces that were designated under this bonus for buildings that were successful and I think they need something like landmarking in addition to the original agreement to protect them Edward lairabee Banes tha architect whs designed tha IBM building There is no reason that a public plaza cannot change over time as long as it continues to provide the same level of public amenity But because these public spaces are valued and enjoyed by a broad spectrum of New Yorkers any proposed alteration must be granted a broad public review Where the local community board can and should play a vigilant role is in ensuring that private owners comply with their legal obligation to maintain these rare and badly needed midtown public spaces For instance the required food kiosk at the IBM plaza was illegally closed for the past several months It has recently reopened The Buildings Department cannot spare inspectors to police these spaces but they will enforce violations If they are made aware that they exist Given the enormous financial benefit granted to building owners in exchange for creating inviting spaces for public use we must be firm in insisting that the public trust be honored City Plasnlng Canudastoasr Amanda ML Burden Whaf needed is a careful review to see if we can improve those plazas that need improving and preserve those that are working well IBM is a beautiful space It's charming It is adding to the the menu of public enjoyment in New York extremely well designed and never heard a complaint about it So if it ain't broke why fix it? Stanton Eckstut Ehrsakraatz Eckstut Architects My board opposed most of the proposed changes at the Sony building including the introduction of corporate banners and a massive bank of video monitors replaying (without audio) Sony infomercials Sony did more violence to the original character of that space than would the introduction of world-class sculpture and the elimination of some bamboo trees accomplish at the IBM space We have experienced enormous difficulty generally forcing developers to honor their end of the bargain In fairness no one anticipated that some of these public places would come under such stress there is a large number of homeless people who have effectively turned the public space into a shelter Mlchelas Fish chabmaa ef Manhattea CammuuRy Beard 5 The sort of high-rolling corporations that were anxious and willing to create these spaces are fewer and farther between I don't think the spaces are jeopardized by venality but the city didn't look ahead to see there would be a second generation of owners and reasons of ego and economics and maybe just taste to change the space Fortunately this isn't one of those cases where somebody has to lose The interest can be protected without denying the desire to be creative and see the space evolve Beat Berwick president Municipal Art Society COMING ON top of the recent redesign of the former atrium the application by Edward Minakoff to the City Planning Commission for permission to redo the IBM enclosed ground floor public space has stirred a contentious debate What is the purpose of these public spaces and what are the obligations of their private owners? Some New Yorkers fond of sitting amid the bamboo trees and dappled sunlight in the IBM atrium want to preserve this airy midtown oasis as it is The new owner wants to turn some of this area into an exhibition space for sculpture That would involve chopping down some of the bamboo and eliminating many moveable chain But more is at stake than a simple popularity contest over interior design Because of the lack of open space in midtown for more than 20 years the city has allowed developers to build extra floors often worth millions of dollars in exchange for creating and maintaining public plazas and atriums But when spaces are privately owned tensions crop up: How public is the space? What must owners do to make the public feel welcome instead of like intruders? What happens when homeless people move in? Now a new question is arising about some of New popular indoor spaces: What happens when the owner sells the building and a new owner wants to change the design? A little history is in order The 1916 Zoning Resolution encouraged development of office buildings which rose up at the sidewalk line The 1961 zoning revision broufpit a fashion change: buildings set back from the sidewalk frequently surrounded by an open plaza Disappointment with some buildings built under those regulations on Sixth Avenue from 47th to 54th Streets led to areturn to requiring streetwall buildings in the 1970s But the return to streetwall buildings created a problem: the lack of open space on the street especially midtown To correct this the city permitted streetwall buildings to be taller if the developer built and permanently nmintoinud a density-relieving alternative to a public plaza at ground level namely a covered pedestrian space or a through-block connection Why the city just provide these amenities itself instead of giving extra floor area for them? The city own the land and pressing capital-budget needs of basic infrastructure such as schools and sewers made expensive land purchases highly improbable Instead the city chose to make certain trade-ofls with developers tailoring each so that the proposed public space fit the site and surrounding conditions Some mistake were msd- But there were also some wonderful results as city negotiators improved the regulations and got better bargains for the public realm they were obligated to protect But what if an agreement is struck and a building and space are built and then later the building is sold to Sony IBM to Minakoff and the new owner wants to change the public space? The answer is simple Once a contract is signed one party (the owner) has the right to ask for changes which the other party (the city) can grant or not as it Bees fit proposed changes may Beem proper or not depending on your viewpoint in design There are few absolutes All we should ask is that the public-policy ramifications of any proposed change be made explicit And that each change be subject to public hearings which unfortunately are not planned at present because the Planning Commission considers the application to be a Since these are public spaces the public ought to have a say about them Then ifwe like what our elected and appointed do we throw the bums out the next time A Davids in the architecturalfurban design firm Cooper Robertson A Farmers was director (planning for Manhattan for the New Ybrk City Planning Commission and commissioner of development Newadajr Daniel Sheehan Sculpture may replace some of the IBM atrium's bamboo trees and chairs 1 i.