STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The corner of Hamilton Avenue and Stuyvesant Place has its perks, offering great views of New York Harbor and easy access to the Staten Island Ferry. But parking is tight, food retail is lacking and the area’s public transit has its flaws. According to residents and local officials, five major development projects proposed for that same small St. George corridor threaten to make those problems worse.
“Is anyone looking at this from a holistic point of view?” asked Borough President Vito Fossella, who recently hosted a walking tour of the two-block radius where three new high-rises, an 800-seat high school and a courthouse expansion are proposed. “There are three high-rises planned on one corner. A courthouse expansion planned across the street. And an 800-seat high school proposed just one block away. City agencies are approving each of these projects individually, but no one is looking at the impact this development will have as a whole.”
The projects, each in a different phase of development, include an 18-story, 369-unit tower at 37-59 Hamilton Avenue, a 117-unit tower at 198-208 Richmond Terrace, and more than 500 units at River North, located at the corner of Stuyvesant Place. Fossella notes that together those buildings will add close to 1,000 new residences and only 500 off-street parking spaces.
“That’s not accounting for the new family courthouse which will have at least 100 employees,” Fossella said. “And a school on the next corner with a full faculty? Together these developments promise to add a significant amount of density to the neighborhood without adequate accommodations for parking. These narrow streets can’t handle that kind of traffic.”
Add in the homes, shops and services being planned for the New York Wheel and Empire Outlets sites by the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and residents are concerned…