A History of Westsiders for Public Participation
Westsiders for Public Participation began as the ultimate response of concerned West Side residents to the poorly considered and unreviewed Columbus Village (now Columbus Square), a mixed-use, mega-real estate development comprised of five new residential towers and 320,000 square feet of tri-level retail space suitable for occupancy by national and regional chain stores such as Whole Foods, TJ Maxx, Michael's, Borders, and Modell's. The density and scale of what amounts to an outdoor retail mall—compressed within only three blocks stretching from 97th to 100th Street along both sides of Columbus Avenue —is unprecedented in any residential neighborhood in Manhattan. Until 2006, only a 30,000-square-foot retail area along that same avenue served the local needs of a carefully planned and close-knit neighborhood, which had thrived for decades in large part because of its diversity.
In April 2008, WPP led residents in bringing a lawsuit to compel the New York City Department of Buildings to permit public participation in studying the adverse impacts of the entire Columbus Village development upon the surrounding neighborhood, particularly its burdensome effects on traffic and pedestrian safety. In a second lawsuit filed in February 2009, WPP alleged that the legal requirement for open space had not been maintained within the western superblock of Park West Village, the middle-income Upper West Side neighborhood that suffered the most direct impact of Columbus Village. Had that claim been upheld in court, the most massive of the five new buildings would have become subject to public review. As it was, both lawsuits were settled out of court in July 2009.
WPP’s activism led to a number of appalling discoveries, including glaring flaws in New York City’s zoning law that are ripe for continued abuse by real estate developers, the unwillingness of the Department of Buildings to respond to a request for final determination of its own decisions, the intentional reluctance of the Board of Standards and Appeals to hear public testimony from neighborhood stakeholders, and the Department of Buildings’ lack of vigilance over public safety in populated areas adjoining construction sites.
Today, WPP is creating a revised platform for public action, continuing to empower citizens who have been excluded from local planning decisions that threaten to transform their familiar streetscapes without warning, and offering education and encouragement to stakeholders of neighborhoods throughout New York City at risk of destructive overdevelopment.
Westsiders for Public Participation will go on to influence public policy in ways that strengthen public participation in real estate development decisions. The organization is now widely recognized as a thought leader in community-based planning.
