§ 93-73 Public Access Areas on the Ninth Avenue Rail Yard
ZR § 93-73
For the purposes of this Section 93-73, inclusive, the Ninth Avenue Rail Yard shall be considered the area bounded by the western street line of Ninth Avenue, the northern street line of West 31st Street, a line located 498 feet west of the western street line of Ninth Avenue and the southern street line of West 33rd Street. Such area shall include the tax lots located at Block 729, Lots 50 and 60, existing on April 29, 2014. Any development in such area shall provide public access areas in accordance with the provisions of Section 93-73, inclusive.
Public access areas on the Ninth Avenue Rail Yard shall be comprised of the types of public access areas listed in this Section. Public access areas shall also include the area of the sidewalk widenings along Ninth Avenue and West 33rd Street required pursuant to Section 93-61. The entry plaza and the art plaza, as set forth in paragraphs (a) and (c) of this Section, respectively, shall be subject to the hours of access provisions set forth in Section 37-727. All other public access areas listed in this Section shall be accessible to the public between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m.
(a)Entry Plaza
(1)Location and minimum dimensions A publicly accessible space, open to the sky (hereinafter referred to as the “entry plaza”), shall be located within the area bounded by the western street line of Ninth Avenue, the southern street line of West 33rd Street, a line 168 feet south of and parallel to the southern street line of West 33rd Street and a line 60 feet west of and parallel to the western street line of Ninth Avenue, as shown on Map 1 (Subdistrict B: 450 West 33rd Street and Ninth Avenue Rail Yard Public Access Area Plan) in Appendix B of this Chapter. The entry plaza shall have a minimum area of 10,080 square feet, shall have a minimum frontage along Ninth Avenue of 168 feet and shall provide a direct connection to the central plaza required pursuant to paragraph (b) of this Section. No more than 50 percent of the entry plaza area shall be covered by the permitted obstructions described in paragraph (a) of Section 37-726.
(2)Required amenities The entry plaza shall have the following amenities:
(i)a minimum of eight trees (or other amounts equivalent to a minimum of 32 caliper inches);
(ii)at least 336 linear feet of seating including a minimum of 48 moveable chairs and 12 moveable tables. At least 50 percent of the seating, including movable seats, shall have backs and no more than 50 percent of the seating with backs shall be movable seating;
(iii)two or more planting beds which, in the aggregate, occupy an area of at least 800 square feet. No more than 35 percent of the linear feet of the planting beds shall have bounding walls exceeding 18 inches in height above an adjacent walking surface;
(iv)ground floor transparency, in accordance with the provisions of Section 37-34, shall apply to at least 70 percent of the length of all building walls facing the entry plaza; and
(v)one clear pedestrian circulation path with a minimum width of 12 feet shall be provided adjacent to the building facing the entry plaza and shall extend for the full length of the building frontage.
(b)Central Plaza
(c)Winter Public Events Between November 15 and April 1, an ice skating rink, together with associated temporary structures, may extend beyond 4,500 square feet, provided that the total area used for the ice skating rink together with associated temporary structures does not exceed an additional 2,000 square feet and is located beyond a line drawn 295 feet west of and parallel to the western street line of Ninth Avenue. The ice skating rink shall be open and accessible to the general public, but a fee for use of the ice skating rink may be charged, provided the combined total admission and equipment rental fees do not exceed the highest of such combined fees charged at any one rink operating in a public park.
(d)Private Events The City Planning Commission may allow the closing of the event space for up to 12 private events per year pursuant to a restrictive declaration acceptable to the City and recorded in the Office of the City Register for New York County and indexed against the property.
For all events specified in this Section, temporary structures or seating associated with such an event (general public events, summer public events, winter public events and private events) permitted by this paragraph may be installed in the event space, provided the circulation paths required in paragraph (b)(2)(iv) of this Section remain unobstructed at all times.
(e)clear paths, with a total minimum aggregate width of 20 feet, shall be located at the boundary between the entry plaza, required pursuant to paragraph (a) of this Section, and the central plaza, required by paragraph (b) of this Section, and at the boundary between the art plaza, required pursuant to paragraph (c) of this Section, and the central plaza, required by paragraph (a) of this Section, provided that up to eight feet of such required clear path may be located within the entry plaza and within the art plaza, respectively, and that all clear paths counted toward the aggregate minimum width required by this paragraph shall be a minimum of 7 feet, 6 inches in clear width, and be located no further than 12 feet apart from one another.
(vi)Retail continuity At least 40 percent of the frontage of any building fronting on the central plaza shall comply with the retail continuity requirements of paragraph (a) of Section 37-76 (Mandatory Allocation of Frontages for Permitted Uses) and at least 50 percent of the aggregate frontage of all buildings fronting on the central plaza shall comply with the retail continuity requirements of paragraph (a) of Section 37-76. Such retail space shall have a minimum depth of 30 feet measured perpendicular to the wall adjoining the central plaza.
(vii)Pavilion A building (hereinafter referred to as a "pavilion") containing uses listed in Use Groups 6A and 6C may be located within the central plaza, provided that such pavilion, and any seating associated with a use in the pavilion, shall be located at least ten feet west of the prolongation of the east face of the building fronting on the north side of the central plaza. The pavilion shall have a minimum lot coverage of 1,000 square feet and a maximum lot coverage of 3,000 square feet, with a maximum width of 40 feet parallel to Ninth Avenue. Such pavilion shall be no more than one story in height, except such one story limitation may be exceeded by portions of the pavilion allocated to mechanical equipment as well as restrooms and a food preparation kitchen occupying, in the aggregate, no more than 200 square feet area. Such pavilion shall not exceed a height limit of 25 feet, except that the permitted obstructions set forth in Section 33-42, as well as restrooms and a food preparation kitchen located above the level of the first story may be permitted to exceed such height limit provided that the height of such restroom and food preparation kitchen do not exceed ten feet. Seating may be provided for the uses in the pavilion provided that the total area occupied by the pavilion and such associated seating does not exceed a maximum lot coverage of 3,600 square feet and that such seating shall not count towards meeting the seating requirements set forth in paragraphs (b)(2)(ii) and (iii) of this Section. Floor space within the pavilion shall not be considered floor area. At least 60 percent of the exterior walls of the pavilion shall be transparent except for structural supports, provided that 100 percent of the east facing wall of the pavilion shall be transparent except for structural supports.
(3)Alternative design option Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b)(1) of this Section, the minimum north-south width of the central plaza may be reduced to no less than 80 feet for at least 50 percent of the aggregate frontage of the buildings fronting on the central plaza, provided that such narrowed portion begins no further than 150 feet from the western street line of Ninth Avenue, and further provided that the minimum size of the central plaza is not less than 41,382 square feet. The minimum height of a building wall fronting upon such narrowed portion shall be 45 feet, and the maximum height of such building wall shall not exceed 85 feet. Above a height of 85 feet, the minimum setback distance shall be 10 feet and the minimum distance between buildings fronting on the central plaza shall be 100 feet.
(f)Connection to below-grade passage Where a pedestrian passage extending from the Eighth Avenue Subway beneath West 33rd Street to the west side of Ninth Avenue has been constructed, an entrance within the development shall be constructed that connects with such passage.
