New Alexander Street plan has more parkland, preserves power station

Len Maniace
The Journal News

YONKERS - A revised master plan for a major new residential community on the Hudson River - one that would create more new parkland than a previous version and also preserve the Glenwood Power Station - appears headed toward the first of two key approvals next month.

Mayor Phil Amicone said he expects the Alexander Street corridor plan to be approved by the Yonkers Community Development Agency's board of directors at its next meeting, Aug. 7.

Since its unveiling Wednesday afternoon, the plan has won praise from the mayor and City Council President Chuck Lesnick, both of whom are on the agency's board of directors, as well as from an environmental organization that was critical of the original version - a rare occurrence when it comes to major development in Yonkers.

"I think it is a big improvement over previous plans," said Mayor Phil Amicone, adding that city planners changed the plan in response to criticism raised at public hearings during the winter.

Once enacted, the master plan would create an outline for future construction, including the size of the development and open space, to which future developers must conform. The site is an old industrial area with some of the land used for parking and other land vacant.

The new version keeps the number of apartments steady at 3,752, but boosts the amount of new parkland to 17.5 ares, 3.5 more than the original plan presented last year. Officials say it would produce a more transit- and pedestrian-oriented community. It contains less parking and pushes the project's biggest buildings closer to the areas' two Metro- North Railroad stations. It also calls for its towers to step back as they rise to preserve more views of the Hudson River and the Palisades from inland parts of the city.

The head of one local environmental group said she was pleased with the changes.

"I applaud the CDA for listening to the public," said Terry Joshi, president of the Yonkers Committee for Smart Development.

Some 500 people submitted comments on the plan both in public and in writing, with much of it negative. Joshi said she was pleased with the additional park space, the decrease land used for parking, and said the new version would better preserve views. Joshi said she would have preferred somewhat shorter buildings.

Amicone said the taller buildings allow for more open space than if the same number of apartments were contained in lower-rise buildings. The plan calls for 12 towers between 16 and 30 stories, with no more than five at 30 stories tall, and six mid-rise buildings ranging in height from six to 12stories. The previous plan called for 18 towers ranging from 12 to 30 stories.

The plan encompasses 112 acres, but focuses mostly on 53 acres that would be newly developed, almost all of it between the Metro-North tracks and the Hudson River.

City Planning Commissioner Louis Kirven estimated the site, which has different owners, could be developed within five years, but others have said it could take a decade.

The plan would preserve the Glenwood Power Station, which Kirven called an iconic symbol of the city's industrial past. Some community activists have called for its demolition, saying the vacant property has become a draw for gang members, but city officials say there is no evidence that gang initiations and rapes occurred there as some have claimed.

To advance, the plan requires approval by the Community Development Board, and then the City Council's ratification, something that is not expected to occur until the fall.

"I'd like this see this approved so we can start giving consideration to the projects that are before us," Lesnick said.

Two proposals for different portions of the Alexander Street corridor were informally presented last month to city officials by Altman Lighting, which operates on the site, and the development company Homes for America.