PRESENTATION
Detailed explanation of land use actions for the Port Authority Bus Terminal project
0:31:03
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3 min
Adam Taubman provides a detailed explanation of the three land use actions requested for the Port Authority Bus Terminal replacement project. This chapter delves into the specifics of each action and their importance to the project.
- Explains the proposed zoning text amendment to section 74-145, updating it for modern bus terminal needs
- Details the special permit request, including approval of bus station use, construction in demapped air spaces, and zoning modifications for overbuild towers
- Describes the proposed city map change to demap various street volumes needed for the project, including portions of West 41st Street and over-street volumes for bus connections
Adam Taubman
0:31:03
Thank you, Hirsch.
0:31:04
Next slide, please.
0:31:07
Next slide.
0:31:09
So as I said earlier, there are 3 land use actions for which we're seeking approval, and those are a zoning text amendment, a special permit, and a change in the city map, and I'll be taking you through those in turn.
0:31:20
Next slide, please.
0:31:22
So section 74145 of the zoning resolution today allows bus stations by special permit, but it hasn't been amended in any substantive way since the zoning resolution was adopted in 1961.
0:31:34
So the board authority is proposing a text amendment to that provision to create a new special permit that is available within the site's geographic area and that authorizes the types of zoning approvals that are needed for a project as complex as this one.
0:31:49
That zoning text amendment would also establish new findings that reflect the city's planning goals for a modern bus terminal with an emphasis not just on bus circulation and vehicular traffic, but also on pedestrian circulation, the public realm, and quality of design.
0:32:05
The proposed special permit pursuant to that amended section would then do 3 things.
0:32:11
1st, it would approve the bus station use shown here in a gray color.
0:32:15
2nd, it would approve the construction of the bus station within the air spaces that are proposed to be demapped under the separate mapping action.
0:32:23
This image shows in an aqua color the air spaces that will contain the facility's most critical bridging elements.
0:32:30
And third, the special permit would approve zoning modifications to facilitate the development of the overbuilt towers, shown here in a very faint pink color, including a transfer of floor area within the bus station zoning lot.
0:32:43
The overbuild towers are a critical funding source for the project, as Hirsch pointed out a few moments ago, And the massings shown here and in the application are not actual tower designs, but rather maximum building envelopes that would govern the future design and construction of the towers.
0:32:59
Next slide.
0:33:03
The proposed mapping action would allow for the demapping and conveyance to the port authority of various street volumes that are needed for the project.
0:33:11
Those street volumes generally fall into 3 categories.
0:33:14
First is an at grade portion of West 41st Street that extends west from eighth Avenue.
0:33:19
Shown here is a green volume poking out of the building's frontage on eighth Avenue.
0:33:24
This volume is situated between above and below grade portions of the street that were demapped in the 19 seventies to accommodate the pedestrian connections between the existing bus terminals north and south wings.
0:33:36
The proposed demapping would fill the doughnut hole created by those prior demappings, allowing the bus terminal to be built with a unified entrance and central atrium on eighth Avenue.
0:33:47
This is the only area that the Port Authority is proposing to demap that accommodates vehicular traffic today.
0:33:54
The second category are 3 over street volumes, which I pointed out a moment ago, spanning ninth Avenue, West 40th Street, and 10th Avenue shown here again in that light aqua color.
0:34:05
These over street volumes will accommodate the proposed bus level connections between the main terminal, the storage and staging facility, and the ramp structure.
0:34:14
These connections are critical because they will allow bus loading and circulation activities to be accommodated entirely within the facility, keeping buses off neighboring city streets.
0:34:24
The third category are various at grade, above grade, and below grade volumes immediately adjacent to the Port Authority's property, which will accommodate needed building overhangs, facade extents, and foundation elements.
0:34:37
With that, I'll turn it back to Hirsch.
