Riverside South, Manhattan

Riverside South is an urban development project in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, United States.

[18] The CPC designated the West Side rail yard as an urban renewal site in October 1962, allowing the plans for Litho City to proceed.

[25] Moses also planned to build an exit from the West Side Highway to Litho City, prompting objections that the street grid could not handle the additional traffic.

[26] The plans for Litho City were formally dropped in January 1966 due to disputes over the air rights; the railroad had terminated the union's lease of the site two months prior.

[29] The state rejected that proposal because of the presumed negative effect on development opportunities and because it would violate the Blumenthal Amendment, which prohibited any highway construction that would alter Riverside Park.

[37] Local politicians including U.S. Representative Bella Abzug expressed concerns about the fact that the 60th Street redevelopment would cater mostly to middle- and upper-class families.

As part of the proposal, designed by Gruzen & Partners, the site would be divided into three sectors with at least four buildings each; about 40 percent of the development would be open space, and there would be one or two schools and a central shopping mall.

[15] When the plans were announced, The New York Times' architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote that "much can be improved in the design of Lincoln West" but predicted that the development itself would alleviate the high demand for luxury housing in the city.

[86] The city government would have canceled the development if the street grid had not received final approval by that September,[87] but the Board of Estimate voted to extend the deadline by one month.

[108] Opponents ranged from small associations to the Westpride group,[50] the latter of which enlisted notable neighborhood residents and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund the effort.

[116] By early 1987, Trump was negotiating to lease the entirety of the supertall skyscraper's office space to General Electric (GE), which at the time owned NBC.

[139] Trump indicated that September that he wanted to sell NBC part of the Television City parcel for $20 million,[140] and he also tried to entice financial services firms to move there.

[142] The new EIS, published in October 1987, found that the development would cast shadows on the neighborhood, overload local transportation infrastructure, and interfere with television broadcasts.

[149] Goldberger wrote that Trump had added the affordable housing units to increase the likelihood of getting community approval,[150] a sentiment shared by the project's opponents.

[157] Community Board 7 and the Municipal Art Society jointly sponsored a study that recommended extending Riverside Park and the Manhattan street grid through the site.

[164] The project was still opposed by groups such as the American Institute of Architects,[165] and local politicians called on the city government to buy the site from Trump.

[169] In November 1990, a New York Supreme Court judge invalidated zoning permits that the CPC had granted to Trump City,[170] although the proposal was still undergoing public review as late as February 1991.

[200] Both the city and state governments of New York endorsed the project, even though Trump had not pledged funds to improve nearby subway stations, as local residents had requested.

[114][208] Following these objections, Trump agreed to slightly reduce the project's size, remove the office space, provide funds for the 72nd Street subway station, reserve 12% of the apartments for affordable housing, and build and maintain the new public park.

[212] To convince the CPC to approve his plans, Trump agreed to provide even more money for the 72nd Street subway station and designate 20% of the apartments as affordable housing.

[233] Additional attempts at obtaining funding from American financiers were also unsuccessful,[230] and Trump said in early 1994 that he would apply for a loan from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

[246] The project was jointly developed by the Trump Organization and Hudson Waterfront Associates, the latter of which represented the Asian investors;[236] they hired feng shui consultants to provide advice on Riverside South's design.

[248] In February 1995, the city government resolved one of the legal disputes by allowing Trump to connect Riverside South's sewage line to the North River plant.

[298] Trump Place's real estate brokers, the Corcoran Group, reported higher-than-anticipated interest in the apartments, despite the development's relatively remote location.

[306] Trump planned to begin constructing the complex's sixth structure, 240 Riverside Boulevard, the same year,[307][308] which would have required the closure of the West Side Highway's 72nd Street exit ramp.

[316] Trump and his partners sold Riverside South, excluding the finished condominiums, to the Carlyle Group and the Extell Development Company for $1.76 billion in June 2005.

[320] The seventh structure, 120 Riverside Boulevard, opened in early 2006,[325] and the developers began erecting the northbound West Side Highway tunnel between 62nd and 65th streets that year.

[344][345] Riverside Center, covering 3.1 million square feet (290,000 m2), was modeled on the design of Battery Park City,[346] with 2,500 residential units, retail, a cinema, a K-5 school, a hotel, and open space.

[384] As of 2012[update], the buildings housed a combined 8,000 people; the area was collectively called "Riverside Boulevard" after its main street, or "The Strip" after its long, narrow shape.

[335][409] To attract families, Extell added various amenities to these three buildings, including playrooms, a bowling alley, a basketball court, and other sports facilities.

The 60th Street Yard, seen in 1970
Southward view of the site from the riverside
Trump standing beside a model of the proposed Television City in 1985
Riverside Park Pier I
View north from Riverside Park South. Buildings and the West Side Highway are in the background; park elements are in the foreground.
200 Riverside South, one of the first two buildings
140 Riverside Boulevard, constructed as part of the early 2000s expansion
Baseball field at the southern end of Riverside Park with Riverside South buildings in the background
Street view of Riverside South buildings
The Little Engine Playground in Riverside Park South
Soccer field at northern end of Riverside Park South