Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee approves Flatiron plaza resolution
The proposed Broadway rebuild would replace painted plazas with permanent spaces, but access for a nearby apartment building remains unresolved.
Two hosts walk through the week’s edition in conversation — capital reconstruction of flatiron plazas and, on-premises liquor license application, and what’s coming next. Generated by Aware, from this week’s verified summaries.
At the Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee meeting, a Madison Green resident supported pedestrianization but said dumpsters, moves and deliveries require service access.
Broadway's painted plazas could give way to permanent construction. The Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee approved a resolution on DOT's capital reconstruction plans for the Flatiron Plazas and Worth Square, part of the Broadway Vision Plan. The project covers Broadway from roughly 21st Street to 27th Street and areas near 5th Avenue between 21st and 26th. It would replace temporary plaza treatments with permanent improvements and improve bike access on Broadway.
For a plaza area near 21st and 22nd streets, DOT presented two options: one allowing local vehicle access and another designed as a shared street with local access. A resident of Madison Green, a building described as having about 400 apartments, supported pedestrianization but said its service entrance must remain reachable. Dumpsters, frequent moves and major deliveries depend on that access. The resident asked for limited local access to accommodate the building's operations.
The Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee's resolution asked DOT, the NYC Department of Sanitation and affected building owners to coordinate in good faith. It repeated a request for data on the effectiveness of two-way bike lanes. During the vote, members discussed raised curbs, which proposal was on the table and how votes were being counted. One member said they opposed the resolution because access for Madison Green remained unresolved. Another wanted a clause requesting an update from DOT before offering support. The resolution passed, though the final tally was unclear.
On-premises liquor license application: private event venue near East 21st Street/Lexington/Park; conditional terms for later hours
A proposed event venue near East 21st Street could hold approximately 1,000 people, but its requested hours drew objections from neighbors. The Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee reviewed an on-premises liquor license application for the approximately 30,000-square-foot space between Lexington Avenue and Park Avenue. The applicant expects typical events to draw approximately 500 people. Plans include corporate meetings, galas and fashion shows.
The applicant initially proposed operating from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. every day, then sought permission to stay open until 4:00 a.m. for occasional events. Neighbors who attended in person and virtually raised concerns about noise and crowd control. The Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee voted to deny the application unless the applicant accepted limits on later events and other safeguards.
Under those conditions, the venue could hold no more than 12 late events per calendar year, with a limit of two per month, ending by 2:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The conditions call for soundproofing and noise mitigation, plus a plan for queues and crowds. Members discussed adding contact information and smoking rules to the written resolution. The final vote tally was unclear in the meeting record.
Park Avenue redesign gains committee support
The Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee unanimously supported DOT's revised Park Avenue plan, 11-0-0. The redesign would use an additional southbound traffic lane for a bidirectional bike lane while retaining more median space for pedestrians; members still requested traffic analysis and bike safety data.
Changing the lane layout could affect pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, and the requested data would help assess safety.
Committee seeks plan for supportive housing cuts
The Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee voted 13-0-0-0 to send elected officials a letter seeking a contingency plan for potential federal supportive housing cuts. A possible 40% reduction to Continuum of Care funding prompted requests to preserve units, protect residents from displacement, maintain services and identify other funding.
A contingency plan could help keep supportive housing residents in their homes and preserve the services they use.
Winter Village plan adds earlier operational check-ins
The Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee approved a Winter Village application that largely keeps last year's footprint, with possible added decking. Members focused on circulation and earlier operational check-ins; the applicant proposed real-time reporting, and members hoped for a public survey. The recorded vote totals conflicted.
Earlier check-ins could identify circulation problems while Winter Village is operating, rather than after the season ends.
Committee backs Carnegie Hall loading zone
The Manhattan Community Board 5 Executive Committee recommended a 24-hour loading zone for Carnegie Hall on West 56th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. It would replace commercial metered parking and aim to shift deliveries away from the 7th Avenue bike lane; the reported vote counts conflicted.
Drivers would lose metered spaces, while cyclists could see fewer loading vehicles obstructing the 7th Avenue bike lane.
What we didn’t fit in this Sundays edition
Manhattan - Cb5 had 10 more items this week. Here are sixfour — the rest are on Aware.
- GOVERNANCEThree open-air cafe permits: recommendation of conditional denial. The committee reported on an application involving three open-air cafe permits, including one at Penn Plaza East. The committee voted to recommend conditional denial due to overly dense seating layouts, lack of public bathroom access, and lack of signage confirming seating remains available for public use without purchase.
- GOVERNANCECentral Park Conservancy: circulation and site improvements near Pine Bank Arch. The committee reviewed a Central Park Conservancy proposal for circulation and site improvements near Pine Bank Arch, including clearing brush, opening connections, adding seating, and plantings. The committee approved the proposal unanimously, 11-0-0, and noted Central Park presentations are reviewed by multiple community boards.
- GOVERNANCE1200 Broadway (Gilsey House): exterior conditions report and continuing maintenance program for LPC. The committee reviewed an LPC-related submission for the Gilsey House at 1200 Broadway (West 29th Street) tied to a sale of unused development rights. The scope was a continuing maintenance program supported by an exterior conditions report. The committee approved unanimously.
- GOVERNANCEBylaws amendment implementation: attendance eligibility, prior-meeting attendance requirement, and vote tally reporting. Leadership discussed implementing recently amended bylaws, focusing on attendance eligibility tracking, the requirement to have attended prior meetings to vote on items, and how vote tallies should be reported. Members discussed advance notice to ineligible members, marking agenda items discussed previously, and improving website posting of updated bylaws and meeting materials distribution.
- GOVERNANCEElections update: nominations and current slate for officer positions. The Elections Committee provided an update on the officer nomination process, noting the early nomination period ended Thursday and additional nominations could be made from the floor at the October meeting. The current nominees were listed for chair, vice chairs, assistant secretary, and treasurer, with no nominee for secretary.
- GOVERNANCEBudget task force timing and integration into upcoming agenda. Leadership noted a request to fulfill budget-related language and asked for information from the budget task force as soon as possible. They stated the budget item would likely be on the next meeting agenda and emphasized the need for time to integrate the task force’s work into a comprehensive document.
- GOVERNANCEAnnual calendar discussion: August break options, committee scheduling, Veterans Day conflict, and December meeting date. The committee reviewed three draft annual calendar versions centered on whether committee meetings occur in July or August and how the August break aligns with the full board cycle. Members discussed quorum and workload impacts, conducted an informal straw poll, and raised date conflicts including a full board meeting on Veterans Day and a proposed shift of the December meeting from December 23 to December 16.
- GOVERNANCEExecutive Committee agenda overview and start of committee reports for full board agenda. The Executive Committee opened the meeting, stated they would proceed through committee reports for the upcoming full board agenda, and introduced the first set of items to be presented and voted on, beginning with transportation-related matters.
- GOVERNANCE625 Madison Avenue: CPC authorizations under ZR 66-511 (transit bonus) and ZR 66-521 (zoning modifications). The committee presented two separate resolutions for 625 Madison Avenue related to CPC authorizations that do not proceed through full ULURP. The committee unanimously supported the ZR 66-511 transit bonus improvement (about 100,000 square feet) and unanimously recommended denial of the ZR 66-521 zoning modifications due to insufficient findings related to Midtown daylight evaluation requirements.
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