Different Ideas About Development

In his campaign to becomes the Upper East Side’s next Council Member, Marco Tamayo is leaning hard into his experience as an architect and urban planner.

The centerpieces of his platform include keeping luxury development in the neighborhood in check, building an expanded resilient East River esplanade, and demolishing NYCHA’s Holmes towers, of which he’s drafted designs already

“This is fun for me,” Tamayo said of plotting out his vision for the district.

Tamayo is one of seven candidates vying to replace the popular outgoing Council Member Ben Kallos, who has served District 5 since 2014. To win, Tamayo will have to court voters of the Upper East Side, Midtown East, Roosevelt Island and East Harlem.

Originally from Ecuador, Tamayo came to the United States to study urban planning at Hunter College, and stayed when he married his wife. He’s now been a resident of Yorkville for 25 years and has become an active member of the community. He’s served on Community Board 8 for 12 years, currently co-chairing the street vendor committee, and has been a member of the East 79th Street Association for 15 years. Though he has never held a public office, Tamayo feels that he has the necessary experience to do the job well.

“I am running because our community is overdeveloped and there is no accountability for nobody,” Tamayo said in a recent interview. “We need a comprehensive plan with measurable goals and accountability for the mayor and city council. I think this is the only way we can have honest decisions.”

Tamayo is by no means anti-development – as that is partly what he’s built a career on – but he said there needs to be a balance struck between the developer’s interests and the city’s interests. The most outlandish case of development run amok, Tamayo said, is in the case of the New York Blood Center’s proposal to build a 334-foot tower, which would require the city to rezone the midblock location. The project is projected to cast hours of shadows over a nearby park and school building.

Like all of the other candidates in the race, Tamayo is opposed to the project, and is passionate about maintaining the residential zoning that protects much of the neighborhood, which he says provides sunlight and open space in the neighborhood.

Expand the Esplanade

As for what he would like to build, Tamayo has big plans for the neighborhood. He wants to expand the East River esplanade from 81st Street down to 71st Street, and then up from 91st Street to 145th Street. He said the project would repair and raise the eroding sea wall and create more open space for a neighborhood that desperately needs it.

“I want to create something new, something different,” said Tamayo. “And if we build this, all this property [along the esplanade] will increase in value and then the city will receive more money. So it’s a great benefit and will protect the FDR from flooding.”

Tamayo is also proposing that the city demolish the existing Holmes towers at 93rd Street and First Avenue, saying that pouring more money into repairs would be a waste. He wants to build four new buildings in the same space, which would add around 2356 units to the existing 536 units. In order to help pay for the project, and then create revenue, Tamayo said he would place a parking lot under two of the buildings and rent out its use.

“When I buy a house and there’s many problems, I’m not going to repair; I’m going to demolish,” said Tamayo, adding that there is a long of service and repair requests ignored at the UES NYCHA housing. Frequently, residents go without gas and hot water. The elevator, too, is frequently on the fritz.

Beyond development, Tamayo wants to improve community relations with the NYPD. He said his opponents have gone too far with “anti-police” rhetoric – referring to calls to defund or reallocate funding from the NYPD – by his opponents. Tamayo went so far to say that a recent sexual assault of a 22-year-old woman on 60th Street and Park Avenue was a direct result of his opponents’ rhetoric – though there is no evidence whatsoever that incident is at all related to the candidates’ calls for police reform.

“The police have been doing very well and working very effectively in our community,” said Tamayo. “So why should I go against them? We need to be responsible. We need to be reasonable. We need them to protect us.”

Early voting for the Democratic primary election begins Saturday, June 12 and ends on June 20. Voters will also be able to cast their ballots on June 22.

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