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The MoMA Tower Now Shorter And Stalled
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 20, 2009
Modified Oct 20, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 20, 2009
Modified Oct 20, 2009
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The recently decapitated MoMA monster, which would have measured in at 1,250 feet (the height of the Empire State Building), has been surrounded with controversy from day one. Midtown NIMBYs didn't want a skyscraper going up in Manhattan, and they eventually got 200 feet taken off the tower so that it wouldn't impact the skyline. Sigh.
When the idea was first brought up that the tower may lose some height, architect Jean Nouvel scoffed at the idea of moving forward — but last we heard the revised plan was going to happen no matter what. We awaited Nouvel's Howard Roark-inspired speech ("I am an architect. My ideas are my property." etc), but now the NY Post speculates that the the developer, Hines, is stalling the project on purpose.
They report that "Hines and Nouvel have clammed up. Hines is grumbling that a shorter tower might not be economically viable." Their conspiracy theory also notes that last month the group brought a model of the building to a meeting that was "conspicuously unfinished." One critic saying: "Better to blame the city for an ugly, empty lot next door to the Museum of Modern Art than to say, 'We bought an empty lot and it will stay an empty lot.'" Is this a stall or a game of chicken?
Tagged
architecture
Hines
Jean Nouvel
moma
MoMA Monster
MoMA tower
stall
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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