Kiss The Sky

In New York, we desperately need more lower income and middle income housing. Our new mayor suggests that we should solve this housing crisis through density and, all in all, I agree. Building bigger, taller buildings makes ecological as well as business sense. Less fuel is used heating vertical spaces, and in a city which is bursting at the seams in many neighborhoods, while others enjoy landmark status which makes increasing density more or less impossible, going high where we can looks like the best alternative. Urban populations all over the world are growing and need accommodation, and here, as in many cities, the alternatives are limited.

So why do I hear so many objections to the increased density proposals? As always, many New Yorkers want it both ways. We cannot both accommodate our growing population AND keep all our neighborhoods exactly the same. And if we are to maintain parkland and open space throughout the boroughs, those new apartments have to go somewhere. Deeper into the sky seems as good a place as any.

That being said, there are limits to how tall new buildings should be. In recent years the race for the sky seems to be reaching irrational heights, especially in midtown Manhattan. Leaving aside the question of safety (how do you get down from your 100th floor apartment in an emergency?), there remains the issue of overall aesthetics. Extremely tall, extremely thin towers are difficult to design in a contextual manner. The materials and the shaping of the building are critical, as are considerations about where and how shadows are cast from these soaring sky-borne cathedrals. Even with lower buildings in the neighborhoods Mayor DeBlasio will designate for additional development and density, these issues are critical, and should be subject to rigorous review for both neighborhood impact and architectural quality.

A balanced approach will yield the best results. The NIMBY neighborhood naysayers for increased density need to either embrace the plan or come up with an alternative (and personally I don’t think there is one.) At the same time the planning process requires real sensitivity applied to considerations of both height and aesthetics. Well designed buildings can re-sculpt the skylines of many neighborhoods, allowing additional residential space while retaining many aspects of neighborhood character. If we are not to gravitate towards being a city of the very rich and the very poor ( and who has not noticed the rise in the homeless population in recent months?),increased housing density is a necessity. And our moral and civic duty.