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Do you ever look out across the New York skyline and think, "Wow. What an achievement. And how impressive that despite the huge diversity of architects and artists whose visions make this city special, it still somehow manages to cohere into something magical, something that holds together and feels uniquely New York?"
Well hang onto that feeling because two more giant towers are coming to the Williamsburg waterfront that bear no relation to the rich architectural history of the city. This is progress?
Brooklyn Paper reports that Two Trees Management, the same company responsible for doing this to the old Domino sugar factory site, has big (as in tall) plans for River Street between Grand and North 3rd Street, which they purchased for $150 million this week. These would be the new tallest buildings in Williamsburg (the current one is 435 feet). The towers would house 1,000 residential units and would therefore require a whole mess of rezoning from the city. The rezoning process has hardly begun, but it's already been met with resistance from the local community, which has formed a neighborhood group called Sustainable Williamsburg to highlight their concerns that the local infrastructure isn't prepared for such a huge influx of new residents.
Perhaps to distract from these concerns, Two Trees' plans also include some shiny objects like a publicly accessible beach and kiosks for community activities such as fishing. Which I guess could be fun? But still. IDK, maybe don't?