Meatpacking BID presents Western Gateway vision as community board presses for clearer public‑realm, RFP terms

The Community Board 2 Land Use and Housing Committee heard a presentation Feb. 12 from the Meatpacking District Business Improvement District on a Western Gateway Public Realm Vision that covers streets from Horatio to 17th Street and from Eighth Avenue to the West Side Highway, and the committee used the session to press the city's Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and potential developers on a separate Gansevoort Square request for proposals (RFP).

The plan, presented by Jeffrey LeFrancois, executive director of the Meatpacking District, and Evan Sweet, director of planning and operations, outlines short-term "interim" treatments such as paint, planters and temporary decks and longer-term capital work including widened sidewalks, new trees, and reconfigured curb uses on Fourteenth and Washington streets and parts of Tenth Avenue. "A vision, really is just meant to put ideas out there," LeFrancois said during the presentation.

Committee members focused on several practical issues: freight and loading needs for the Whitney Museum and other institutions; truck staging and the state-owned lot behind the Standard Hotel; how re-opening or demapping certain streets could redistribute vehicle flows; and whether the RFP's design and financial framework leave sufficient room to meet city housing goals. "If it's…