CB8 Approves of Cultural Center Makeover, Furious at FOX5 Double-Parking

A cultural center on 5th Ave. known as 1014 Space for Ideas is getting a new publicly accessible bench and entrance, as well as a redesigned exit staircase, which seemed to generate a fair amount of enthusiasm at a Community Board 8 Transportation Committee meeting on Nov. 6.

On the other hand, FOX5 employees have reportedly refused to stop double-parking on E. 67th St., which generated a massive amount of frustration from CB8 and local residents attending the meeting.

The nonprofit at 1014 5th Ave. is partially funded by the German government–with the building itself under German ownership–and sits across from The Metropolitan Museum, architect Sebastian Kaempf told CB8, and has housed the cultural center since 2010. The makeover is part of a mission to make the venue compliant with ADA regulations, and will also make the building more inviting to anybody walking by. The limestone bench will sit perpendicular to the right of the entrance, the main entrance will be expanded to allow for wheelchair access, and the cellar exit will be improved.

Some modest objections were made, including from preservationist Lo van Der Valk, who had Zoomed into the meeting. From prior discussions with 1014, he believed that the the bench would be set back “at least 15 ft. from the curb,” an agreement that he said was being violated.

”We need movement respecting a wider sidewalk and a less infringed sidewalk, and that is the spirit of our request,” van Der Valk said.

Michelle Birnbaum, a CB8 member, said that she thought it would be more appropriate to move the bench” inside of the open entrance area (which leads to another entrance door). Kaempf told her that there is already a bench set back into the corridor.

Dylan Geronimo Kennedy, a local resident and CB8 regular, appeared excited by the overhaul: “I like being able to sit in public, more benches sound good to me.”

Sebastian Hallum Clarke, another CB8 member, agreed with Kennedy: “It’s great to have more seating for people in the neighborhood, especially in such a highly trafficked area right opposite the Met. Making this building more accessible for people with mobility restrictions is excellent, and I love to see us doing that.”

CB8–which doesn’t have formal binding powers, but is consulted to take the measure of public approval by agencies and organizations–issued a resolution demonstrating satisfaction with the 1014 5th Ave. redesign. It passed by a vote of 10-1.

The next item was a source of “ongoing community complaints,” according to Transportation Committee Co-Chair Chuck Warren: drivers with FOX5 press plates taking up most of the block that their studios at 205 E. 67th St. sits on.

Warren suggested that the DOT revoke “some of the parking permits,” unless FOX5 showed up to a CB8 meeting to address said complaints.

Birnbaum concurred. “I’d personally like the press to have parking spots. I’m not opposed to it,” she said. “If they’re abusing it, causing hardships for everybody else in the community–and they’re not willing to engage with us–then we sort of have to have a carrot and a stick.” That stick, she elaborated, would be the “threat of changing” the regulation governing the parking spaces.

Ralph Mucerino, who was one of multiple meeting guests living at 220 E. 67th St., said that “I’ve never been able to pull up in the front of the building...there’s been cars double-parked there, regardless of the time of the day.”

Rhena Lipps, another resident, said that the cars being parked there were “definitely” not camera vans looking for extra space. “I had knee surgery in September. I need access to cars, Ubers, and taxis to take me to physical therapy. They can’t even stop in front of the building to pick me up,” she added.

Hallum Clarke proposed a resolution advocating for the area to become a “no-standing zone,” which would impose significant restrictions on drivers obstructing the area. It passed unanimously.