In New York City, when someone wants to build something, there is almost always a fight over luxury high rises in Queens, a homeless shelter in Midtown Manhattan and a dog run on the Upper West Side. The Upper East Side is one of New York's wealthiest neighborhoods and has a vicious battle going on.
The New York Blood Center, one of the country's largest independent blood suppliers, is seeking city approval to replace its three-story brick headquarters in the Manhattan neighborhood with a 16-story glass tower in partnership with a Boston developer. The developer would lease the upper floors of the center to life science companies.
Community groups mounted opposition. The City Council member who represents the neighborhood joined in. They said that it would be too big on a low-rise residential block and cast shadows on a park across the street.
According to an analysis of documents obtained by The New York Times, the city is considering giving tax incentives to developers that could reach $450 million. Hudson Yards on the Far West Side of Manhattan is one of a few recent developments in New York City that have received larger tax incentives.
The campaign to defeat the proposal is indicative of a growing anti-development movement in the city. Fights have spread to all neighborhoods where they used to be concentrated.
The city's powerful real estate industry has been shaken by the protests that have disrupted other building projects in recent years, including those meant to provide some affordable housing in a city with a pressing need for it.
The Blood Center building would be doomed by this chorus. The situation got worse after the momentum shifted.
The City Council members from outside of the neighborhood negotiated a private deal with the developer after the proposal reached them in November. They bucked tradition and honored the wishes of the local member.
Black and Latino members said that a no vote would hurt the city's residents of color, taking away job opportunities at companies that would be attracted to the new development. The project would create jobs for an ailing construction industry during the Pandemic, according to labor unions.
Some members of the project were swayed by a weekend trip to Puerto Rico. The Blood Center accused Mayor Bill de Blasio of having a conflict of interest because of his outstanding debt to a law firm that also represents them. Mr. de Blasio said that the allegations were inappropriate.
Proponents of the Blood Center development argue that it could help propel New York toward becoming a national hub for scientific research and provide an economic boost as the city tries to recover from the Pandemic.
The squat three-story building on East 67th Street by the Blood Center has been occupied by the nonprofit since 1964. According to city records, the Blood Center and the Boston developer have spent about $1.6 million to lobby City Hall and Council members on the project.
The Blood Center would not be allowed to build a building taller than 75 feet without city approval.
The city has not made a commitment about the incentives. An executive at the Blood Center said, "This incentive will allow us to take a site that currently pays no taxes to the city and create a life sciences center that will pay millions in taxes over the next 25 years, create hundreds of good jobs and give the city a new Blood Center."
Ben Kallos is a city councilman from the Upper East Side. He said that the narrative everyone is giving is about NIMBY, a nonprofit and shadows. This is a 16-story tower that is 233 feet tall and is an office space for wealthy people.
Mr. Kallos said that the Blood Center could build a building on the site that was more than the amount of space it planned to occupy in the tower.
The Blood Center said that it couldn't use its endowment fund for construction projects because it would cost more than it could afford.
The City Council is expected to approve the request this month, allowing the project to move forward at an estimated cost of $750 million.
A spokesman for the mayor said that the mayor has been talking about life sciences for all of 2021. This is the type of project he would support.
The tax incentives that the city considered in the early 1990s for the then-emerging biotech industry were similar to the ones that the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School believes are still in place today.
He said that the plans were put on hold because they were concerned that they would benefit the companies receiving them and not the city economy.
Mr. Parrott said that the Blood Center deal would be one of the largest of its kind in the city's history, potentially reaching $450 million over 25 years.
Even though the city has more economic needs, it will continue to be a tradition that has been questioned in the past. This looks like a really poor deal that provides a huge subsidy for a very uncertain result.
The Blood Center has expanded beyond New York and now operates in more than a dozen states, including the Northeast and the Midwest. About 80 percent of the blood in New York City hospitals is supplied by the center.
The developers agreed to reduce the building's height to 233 feet from 334 feet in order to reduce some of the shadows. The Blood Center agreed to give money to the park and the city will give another $7 million for improvements. The Julia Richman Education Complex would get $2 million from the center.
Rob Purvis, an executive at the New York Blood Center, said in a statement that their vision for a state-of-the-art life science facility will ensure the nonprofit Blood Center continues to provide safe, affordable blood services to the region's hospitals.
The expansion of the Blood Center was important to the Bronx council member who supported it.
Mr. Salamanca said it was irresponsible to vote no on the application because of the community's complaints about shadows. I can't vote no on a project that stores blood of New Yorkers.
The height reduction led to the change of mind of the Manhattan borough president, who had reviewed the proposal and recommended against city approval. Ms. Brewer said the fight against high-rise developments had become bitter.
Ms. Brewer said there was so much ugliness. They said it was the rich who always complain.
There might be one last hurdle.
The Blood Center has a building at the corner of East 66th Street and Second Avenue. The building's majority owners have filed a protest against the center's request.
Property owners like them can force the City Council to approve a request for a rezone with three-quarters of the members voting in favor, thanks to an obscure city provision that has been used just twice in New York City since 1943. It is not an easy task.
The brother of Jeffrey Epstein is a condo owner. He has 156 of the 202 residential units.
The condo owners filed a protest because they were being forced into a rezoning to increase the value of property next to their building. It is pretty outrageous.
