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Land Use, Housing & Zoning
235 West 48th Street, on behalf of La Masseria, application for renewal of the certification of the open air café
WHEREAS, the Applicant, C.S. Ritz Residence LLC on behalf of La Masseria Restaurant, is located on the ground floor of the Ritz Apartments at 235 West 48 Street and the restaurant has operated at this location since March 2004; and
WHEREAS, Ritz Plaza, a privately-owned public space, was developed in 1987 pursuant to the grant under ULURP Application N880133ZCM of a 1.0 FAR bonus of 40,142 sq. ft. of floor area in exchange for the development of the plaza; and
WHEREAS, Ritz Plaza includes an area with a September 11 memorial which, with authorization for security reasons, is not open 24-hours per day and an area outside the memorial which is open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week; and
WHEREAS, Ritz Apartments is a mixed-use commercial and residential building; and
WHEREAS, the Applicant has filed an application with the Department of City Planning to renew the certification that permits an open air café with eleven (11) tables and twenty-three (23) seats on the eastern side of Ritz Plaza, directly in front of La Masseria Restaurant, for three years; and
WHEREAS, the Applicant is proposing no changes to the configuration and size of the café for which certification was last granted in January 2009; and
WHEREAS, the Applicant voluntarily complied with plaza improvements suggested by CB5 when it approved its 2008 certification application; these included
- Adding eighteen (18) new seats, including six (6) traditional seats and twenty-four (24) linear feet of seating, outside the gate which are available to the public 24/7; and
- Providing new privately owned public space signage; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five would like to see the following added to the plaza:
- Add five additional seats on the eastern side, outside the gate, which are available to the public 24/7;
- Keep lighting levels at current standards for public plazas as set forth by the Zoning Resolution; and
WHEREAS, the Applicant has agreed to investigate the feasibility of complying with the above recommendations, specifically:
- To review the feasibility of adding five additional seats with the owner of the premises;
- Upon review it has been found that the ten (10) pole lights currently existing in Ritz Plaza conform to Section 37-743 of the Zoning Resolution, which requires a minimum of 2 horizontal foot candles in walking and seating areas and 0.5 horizontal foot candles in all other areas. The lighting requirements of ZR 37-73 have not changed since the plaza lighting was installed and therefore the lighting meets current zoning requirements; and
WHEREAS, planters delineate the café area from the public plaza, preventing "café creep"; and
WHEREAS, the plaza is well maintained and the café is a popular neighborhood amenity, and the Applicant agreed to investigate and, where possible, implement the Committee's above-mentioned recommendations; therefore be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the application for a three-year renewal of the open air café certification.
The above resolution passed by a vote of 33 in favor, 0 opposed, 2 abstaining.