DNA Info reports on last week’s community presentation by Aurora Capital of their plans for massive new buildings on the south side of Gansevoort Street:
Just 10 minutes into describing a new Gansevoort Street development, the architect’s presentation was already going off the rails. Harry Kendall, a partner at BKSK Architects, broke off mid-sentence from the first slide and turned to a cluster of women.
“Don’t shake your head,” he urged, offering an anecdote about his jury duty service that morning. “The underlying basis of our justice system is innocent until proven guilty,” he said, drawing a few laughs before the women interrupted with a chorus of “Guilty!” Kendall said it was “disconcerting” and “unkind” of the women to judge his plan so quickly…
The meeting represented Aurora’s attempt to woo skeptical locals, who had loosely organized under the banner Save Gansevoort. “We’re hoping to position the block as multiple luxury retail tenants,” said Jared Epstein of Aurora, the developer of several buildings nearby including one on Ninth Avenue where a construction worker was killed in April. “Gansevoort Street has been a blight on the community,” Epstein continued to gasps and grumbling. “There’s nightclubs there. There are buildings that have been boarded up.”