Turtle Bay / Tudor City

Even in a city that seems to be undergoing constant construction, Turtle Bay and Tudor City have seen a remarkable amount of redevelopment over the last century, a condition that continues today.

In the 1920s, Turtle Bay, an area extending from East 42nd to 53rd Streets, and from Third Avenue to the East River, began to assume its present form. Brownstones that had become crumbling tenements for European immigrants who arrived after the Civil War, were restored. At the same time, the 12 buildings that make up Tudor City were built as middle class housing along First and Second Avenues, across from the slaughterhouses and cattle pens that dotted the riverfront. Those slaughterhouses explain why so few Tudor City apartments have windows with a view of the river.

By the 1940s, the stockyards were cleared away for the neighborhood's most prominent landmark, the United Nations headquarters.

Today, the cycle of razing and rebuilding continues with the demolition of the Con Ed power generating plant and accompanying buildings on First Avenue between 35th and 41st Streets. The question is: what will be built in its place?

Sheldon Solow, the real estate developer who bought the land where the Con Ed site stood, would like to build seven towers — several of which would be around 65-70 stories tall, dwarfing the U.N. Secretariat Building. His plan calls for no affordable housing, no new school for the hundreds of children who will be moving to the area, and no meaningful public open space.

Council Member Garodnick has been a strong advocate for the development plan proposed by Community Board 6, which represents community-based planning at its best. This plan envisions affordable housing, permanent open access to the waterfront and a new school.

Working with other local elected officials and community groups, Council Member Garodnick has rallied the community in support of the Community Board's plan, which would also cap the height of any new buildings in the area to 400 feet. Such a move would minimize any shadows being thrown on the landmarked Tudor City Greens and St. Vartan Park, open spaces which are as central to the identity of Tudor City as the castle-like, intricately detailed, buildings themselves.

Council Member Garodnick continues to fight on behalf of the community's vision for this development to ensure that as the neighborhood grows, its character remains the same.

View Council Member Garodnick's brochure on the Con Edison development