Editor's Note: Jeff Hochman works for the City of New York in urban planning, and serves on the Common Council of the Residents Association, chairing its Planning Committee. The WIRE asked Hochman for his comments on the Southtown proposals put forward last week.

Southtown architects Davis Brody Bond and Gruzen Samton have produced two plans under the guidance of a senior member of the team, Max Bond. Seventeen years ago, when I started as an Assistant Planner for the Department of City Planning, Max Bond had just been appointed to the City Planning Commission. As the only African-American and a progressive architect, he argued for and against many projects during the mayoralty of Ed Koch.

Seeing him all these years later as Southtown's senior architect reassures me that the community has at least a fighting chance for a fair design by a firm that listens to the community.

That having been said, some comments on the two proposals, the second of which is illustrated here and is favored by the developers.

This design has lower, bulkier buildings covering 21% of Southtown's 19.3 acres. The continuation of Main Street is about 100 feet east of the subway station, a boulevard of two parallel roads something like Park Avenue in Manhattan. The tall side of each building - 13 floors - fronts this dual roadway, stepping down to 10, then 8 floors, toward the river. This is the opposite of many tall buildings built before 1961, which typically step back on their street side.

The 1961 Zoning Law insisted that tall buildings be set back after every five floors. The short part of each building would be at the sidewalk, giving pedestrians a sense of intimacy and neighborhood, in contrast with high rise apartment buildings that seem to destroy that sense of community. Jane Jacobs, in her famous 1961 book, Death and Life of American Cities, wrote that any building so tall that mothers cannot see and call their children are too high.

In phase one, the Nurses Residence (gray) would remain standing and only two buildings (black) would be built, connected to infrastructure that serves Rivercross.

The open space around the buildings may be too small for adequate playgrounds, other than benches. What would we put in these open spaces? Because they are not open to the street, they could become an area of neglect or a haven for crime. The soccer field would be placed in the southeast corner of the site. There would be a loop/cul de sac from the road to the subway station. Speculation was that there might be some retail - perhaps a candy store/luncheonette/cafe to welcome people to Roosevelt Island. The same could occur near the Tram.

This option has a continuation of Main Street similar to Option I. One large two-way road is twice the width of existing Main Street. On the Manhattan side, there are six high-rise buildings. Three vary from eight to 16 floors, while two are 16-story towers. The buildings on the southern and northern end of Southtown have nine floors on the river, stepping up to 14, then 16 floors, then back down to eight, with segments of eight and 16 stories fronting the street. On the Queens side of Main Street, there are three towers with open space between them. The northernmost building is 20 stories, the next 24, and the southernmost, 28.

The building coverage in this plan is only 15% with 77% open space, a proportion much more consistent with the open space the community wants. As in OptionI, the soccer field is positioned in the southeastern section of the site.

There are many issues here:

• These buildings would interfere with light and air on the Island, casting a shadow over existing buildings. My recommendation would require the buildings to have more windows to provide more light and air.
• Some Rivercross shareholders would lose part of their view of Manhattan and the Queensboro Bridge. An adjustment of the buildings' heights might help.
• There needs to be assurance that the walkways on the Manhattan and Queens side remain, and are well-maintained. The Roosevelt Island community should insist on this assurance to continue the feeling of living in a park.
• Playgrounds and benches should be available throughout the open space. Without playgrounds and benches, the open space would go unused.
• The trees currently on Main Street should not be uprooted. Trees are the most attractive characteristic of any neighborhood.
• Will the buildings be co-op, condo, rental, market rate or subsidized? Will the number of rooms attract families or single people? The buildings should reflect the mix that currently exists on Roosevelt Island. All upper middle class, yuppie, or low-income should not predominate in any part of the Island. Moreover, the racial mix should continue in each building.
• Finally, will people leave the current buildings on Roosevelt Island to move to these new buildings (if they can afford to)? When Co-op City was built in the 1960's, many middle-class people left the rest of the Bronx simultaneously, causing deterioration in those neighborhoods. Of course, some people will move to the new buildings, but caution should be taken not to abandon the old for the new.