Legal versus moral

I just received notice from the architect's office, Seldorf (http://www.selldorf.com/projects/residential/zwirnerresidence.htm) that they could have expanded further, but didn't as a matter of courtesy. That's kind of like saying, "I'm going to torture you, but not kill you." See how merciful I am?

There is no question that their expansion is legal, the question is whether it is right to block off people's windows just because the code allows them to. We live in a 300 SF apartment. The Zwirners probably won't even go into the area of their 14,000 SF mansion that blocks off our light. Legal, yes. Moral, no!!

Someone told me that they had hired a Gypsy to put a curse on the Zwirners and the architectual firm. That's probably legal, but it's neither moral or ethical (personally, I'm not superstitious, but wishing ill on folks is never good).

The Zwirners

Displacing the artistic community they represent for over 4 years now.

community and neighborhood

Some ideas and questions about appropriate behavior within a community or neighborhood. The east village is a new york city neighborhood that prides itself on its diversity. This is a diversity that is cultural and racial but also economic. This diversity is probably one of the attributes that attracted the Zwirners to our neighborhood originally. This diversity is also probably a reason that a couple of years ago no one took to the streets, or to the net, or to the press, although the Zwirners' original construction at 234 East 13th Street turned a multi-dwelling building into a single family house that is so out of scale with the majority of the very small apartments existing within the surrounding old tenement buildings. I, for one, try to be as accepting as possible and thought let's give them a chance (even though the original construction was extremely loud and echoed throughout the back courtyard, broke many NYC rules as to accepted construction times, caused our apartments to be filled with dust, lasted a long time, and I work from home.)

But this time is different. I find it completely inappropriate that the Zwirners are now about to double the size of their current home which is already over 7000 square feet. Their new construction will mean that 5 out of the 7 windows in my 450 square foot apartment will eventually have a wall three feet a way from them. Although my apartment is extremely small, I invested all of my savings into it because its large windows allow sunlight to fill its small space and to fill me with happiness.

These are the questions I have for the Zwirners right now:

Is this really what you want to do?

Do you know that this would completely negatively affect all of your neighbors lives not just in the short term but in the long term? And then, would you really want to live among so many resentful people and have them as your neighbors?

Is it really within a community spirit to take away so much from your neighbors who already have so little when compared to you?

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to move to an already large property on the upper east side or in tribeca where there is room and many properties like the one you are envisioning, rather than jam an extremely large mansion into a community of 300 - 500 square foot apartments in old tenement buildings and while doing so take away all of the light of your surrounding neighbors?

I really do think that when the Zwirners think things through and realize the potential impact of their actions, they will change their minds.

Some of our personal appeals

The following are scanned images of some of our personal appeals, which we have sent in hard copy to your home and/or gallery. (Obviously, we are not in touch with everyone who has been affected by or is concerned about your planned construction, so there may be more out there.)

Appeals by Matt, Peter, Natalie, and Celina (click to enlarge):

Love Thy Neighbor

We believe that you don't want to do harm to your neighbors. Your construction will block our sunlight as it did for the folks at 236 E. 13th Street. Those people were lower income tennents in small apartments. We also live in small apartments. You are rarely home (yes, we can look down on you when you are in your back yard and can see when your lights are on). You own many homes. Why must you take sunlight away from people with less money than you?

Life under the hammer

The last construction project probably took some years off of my life. I work nights, and 7 days of daytime construction was unbearable. I'm so sad to hear that this is starting up again that I will have to move. The wealthy are driving us out of our neighborhoods in more ways than one. The Zwirners are limiting the neighborhood housing stock, consuming amazing amounts of electricity, and disrupting our lives. For what?

Links to their permits and property tax records.

Here are links to official information on the Zwirner's house from NYC.gov:

232 East 13th Street Building Information and Property Tax

234 East 13th Street Building Information and Property Tax

And while I'm at it, here's that article on David Zwirner's house from the New York Observer:

But he’s been quietly expanding elsewhere too, recently paying $3.65 million for a four-floor building at 232 East 13th Street. Conveniently, the place is next-door to his five-bedroom brownstone—which was listed for $2 million when Mr. Zwirner and his wife bought it in 2002. ...the Zwirners aren’t strangers to superb home redecorations. “A complete gut—they totally ripped it apart. One of the most amazing renovations I’ve seen in the city,” said broker Patrick Vernon Lilly about the townhouse he sold the Zwirners in 2002. “They’re the type of people who see real value when other people can’t.”