W42nd Street, Dashiell Allen, April 8, 2024

Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4) says it is “mystified” at a bid by Related Companies, the developer behind Hudson Yards, to modify its plan for the Western Rail Yards to include building offices and a possible casino instead of creating a primarily residential district. 

The new proposal is a far cry from the plan agreed upon in 2009 by MCB4, Related and the City of New York, for six buildings containing 5,762 housing units on the Western Rail Yards (W30th to W33rd St bw 11/12th Ave). The new proposal would include 1,507 units, 324 of which would be subsidized-affordable, and the Community Board is none too pleased by the change. 

Related submitted its revised plans to the Department of City Planning on February 20. The new proposal includes three buildings — one that would be residential and two commercial, including a 2.5 million square foot hotel and “gaming facility.”

The change, according to Related’s Draft Scope of Work, is necessary because the zoning approved in 2009 “was geared primarily toward condominium development and does not offer the flexibility needed [for] residential, office, community facility, open space, and other uses.” 

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