Some Residents Oppose New Development At 432 E. 14th St.

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The developers of 432 E. 14th St., the former site of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office between Ave. A and First Ave., are getting ready to appear before the Board of Standards and Appeals on January 24th to request a zoning variance.

According to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), they will be asking permission to make the development significantly larger, and more than 50 percent taller than the zoning for the site allows.

As developer Benenson Capital Partners, LLC prepares for the meeting, GVSHP, along with Community Board 3, are simultaneously readying to oppose their project, which Executive Director Andrew Berman calls "woefully out of context for this East Village site."

"We also believe," he continued in an emailed newsletter, "that the arguments for the variance, claiming a 'hardship' based upon 'unique circumstances,' are bogus, and would open the floodgates to a slew of oversized developments on sites throughout our neighborhoods with similar conditions."

Developer Benenson Capital Partners, LLC is partnering with Mack Real Estate Group to construct the 140,000-square-foot building that will feature residential and ground floor retail space. Benenson Capital Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Residents who want to oppose the building can write to the Board of Standards and Appeals urging them to reject the variance, or testify at the public hearing on Jan. 24.

The hearing is at 22 Reade St. at 1 p.m.

Image via Google Maps.