WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. July 13, 2006: A reader follows up on his "retail" analysis, critiquing his views of the downtown skyline from the Highlands:
The White Plains Skyline Observed at Stratford Avenue and Longview Avenues in the Highlands. (See Editor's note below) Photo by Dean Hacohen.
Same Intersection -- But With Skyline Not Zoomed in Upon. Photo by WPCNR News
Mr. Mayor and Council Members,
221 Main is already violating our upper Highland's neighborhood tree line far worse than the Planning Department's computer renderings indicated.
(Please refer to the heart-of-the-Highlands renderings commissioned after the Council's vote on the 40 floors. You will see that none of the photos show the building looking nearly as obtrusive as the attached photo taken today.)
As a homeowner on Longview, I find this unconscionable.
(More)
Worse yet, the particular tower featured in the attachment has only risen half-way to the approved height.
When the leaves fall off the trees, we will all be walking out of our small-scale suburban homes on our small-scale neighborhood street to stare at this huge out-of-scale glass tower.
It's one thing to sit with Lou Cappelli and agree, "Hey, it's downtown. Rising over 35 stories is not really an issue."
But to do so WITHOUT accurate topographical renderings from the heart of our neighborhoods with which to make judgements that affect thousands of us and our properties? Reprehensible.
Study the attached photo from Longview Avenue and Stratford in the upper Highlands. Do you understand what we are saying? Do you, Mr. Mayor? Do those of you who live in unaffected neighborhoods further South?
Can any of you who voted in favor of this height without proper neighborhood renderings at your disposal now take a good look at the attached photo and feel that homeowners' concerns about proportion and scale are justified?
Or have we made a group decision to sweep our charming small-scale neighborhoods under the rug?
Dean Hacohen
Note: The Mayor's Office protested to WPCNR that the photograph in this article has been "blown up" to make a point by the reader. WPCNR took the second photograph in this article Friday, clearly indicating first photograph was "zoomed in" to make the reader's point, as City Hall pointed out.
